After the newest edition of our guidebook to the Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo was released in May, we had to wait a whole 22 days for our next book to hit the shelves. It was interminable!
But here we go! Our newest guidebook, The Camino Inglés and the Ruta do Mar, is now available from Cicerone. It’ll take a little while for it to trickle over to US distributors and to ebook platforms, but Cicerone will ship it pretty much everywhere.
The heart of the text in the Camino Inglés section will look familiar, as it comes over from earlier editions of The Northern Caminos. We’ve added one new route option, an unmarked variant we scouted that follows the coast between Pontedeume and Miño. I really recommend it! It bypasses the large hill leaving Pontedeume and brings you past a few beautiful beaches, including Miño’s (which many pilgrims sadly miss).
However, much like our updated guide to the Norte and Primitivo, the maps have gotten a total makeover, and we’ve added elevation profiles as well.
Meanwhile, the section on the Ruta do Mar is brand new and really exciting. The Ruta do Mar is a developing route, not yet recognized as an “official” branch of the Camino de Santiago but with a clear historic lineage. Waymarking exists, but is often unreliable. There are no pilgrim albergues. But it provides an opportunity to remain by the sea after Ribadeo, when the Norte veers inland, continuing on or near the coast all the way to Ferrol. At that point, one can follow the Camino Inglés into Santiago, avoiding the Camino Francés completely. And it is spectacular!
To learn more about the Mar’s history and the sacred sites along the way, check out this short post that I wrote for Cicerone Extra.
