- Time of past OR future Camino
- Gibraltar to Galicia
I’ve come up with a three week (roughly 400km) hike that combines some uniquely exciting aspects of three very different Camino routes. I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Granja de Moreruela is the spot where the vast majority of Via de la Plata pilgrims turn west on a beeline to Ourense and Santiago. According to villagers I spoke to, the 85km (normally three-day) stretch that runs north from Granja to Astorga barely sees one pilgrim per week! Yet it is spectacular country (a real highlight of my 1,225km hike from Gibraltar to the north coast) with incredibly rich history and some lovely villages.
If you enjoy contrasts you couldn’t ask for anything more dramatic than to coincide with the French Way in Astorga. The two-day hike westward via Cruz de Ferro to Ponferrada is often said to be the most challenging on the Camino Frances. While the social aspect of that route is legendary, many people might find that two days on the relatively crowded trails is ample.
In Ponferrada my suggestion therefore would be to swing south to the rarely-trodden, and breathtakingly beautiful, Camino del Invierno. You pass through the Roman gold mine at Las Médulas before trekking high over the Sil Valley (avoiding the highland chill) for the last 270km to Santiago. I walked this route in June...and my only regret was that it was over too soon.
Granja de Moreruela is the spot where the vast majority of Via de la Plata pilgrims turn west on a beeline to Ourense and Santiago. According to villagers I spoke to, the 85km (normally three-day) stretch that runs north from Granja to Astorga barely sees one pilgrim per week! Yet it is spectacular country (a real highlight of my 1,225km hike from Gibraltar to the north coast) with incredibly rich history and some lovely villages.
If you enjoy contrasts you couldn’t ask for anything more dramatic than to coincide with the French Way in Astorga. The two-day hike westward via Cruz de Ferro to Ponferrada is often said to be the most challenging on the Camino Frances. While the social aspect of that route is legendary, many people might find that two days on the relatively crowded trails is ample.
In Ponferrada my suggestion therefore would be to swing south to the rarely-trodden, and breathtakingly beautiful, Camino del Invierno. You pass through the Roman gold mine at Las Médulas before trekking high over the Sil Valley (avoiding the highland chill) for the last 270km to Santiago. I walked this route in June...and my only regret was that it was over too soon.
