Camino Guidebooks

With the Summer 2022 publication of my guide to the Via Podiensis, I now have three books published with Cicerone Press on pilgrimage tracks in Spain and France. Those three guides are outlined below, with links to accompanying update pages and accommodation listings for each included.

The Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo

This guidebook describes the Camino del Norte and Camino Primitivo pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. The 820km Camino del Norte follows the coast from Irún, on the French border, through Bilbao and takes about 5 weeks to complete. The 355km Camino Primitivo splits off from the Camino del Norte near Villaviciosa and passes through Oviedo and Lugo en route to Compostela. It takes roughly 2 weeks to walk. This book also includes an overview of a continuation route from Santiago to Finisterre on the coast. Physically demanding, but not difficult, the caminos are best walked from late spring to autumn.

The guidebook is broken into stages of between 15 and 35km, most of which end in a town or village with a pilgrim albergue. There is indispensable information on facilities, food and lodging, 1:100,000 scale maps of the route and town maps for key locations. With notes on preparation and planning, travel and equipment, a list of useful sources of information, and a glossary, the book provides all you need to know to walk the camino.

Santiago de Compostela, whose cathedral houses the relics of St James, was one of three major centers of Catholic pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. In modern times the Caminos de Santiago have seen a resurgence in popularity, drawing walkers for all sorts of reasons. Passing through the Spanish regions of the Basque Country, Cantabria, Asturias, and Galicia, the northern caminos are popular enough to offer sufficient facilities, clear routes, and a community of pilgrims, without suffering the overcrowding of the Camino Frances.

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The Camino Inglés and Ruta do Mar

This guidebook covers the Camino Inglés and Ruta do Mar camino routes through north-west Spain to Santiago de Compostela. The 116km Camino Inglés begins in Ferrol in Galicia and takes around a week to complete. It offers reliable waymarking, pilgrim facilities, and the opportunity to earn the Compostela certificate on completion. An alternative start in A Coruña gives a walk of 73km. The Ruta do Mar from Ribadeo provides a 190km coastal link between the Camino del Norte and the Camino Inglés. A newly recovered camino, its pilgrim infrastructure and waymarking is less well developed, but for those seeking solitude it offers striking scenery along a wild coastline. The book also includes an overview of a continuation route from Santiago to ‘the end of the world’ at Finisterre on the Atlantic coast.

The guidebook presents the route in stages of a day’s walking. In addition to the route description, there is full information on facilities, food and lodging, 1:100,000 scale maps of the route and town maps for key locations. With notes on preparation and planning, travel and equipment, a list of useful sources of information, and a glossary, the book is an indispensable companion for any one walking these caminos.

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The Via Podiensis

This guidebook describes in full the 735km Via Podiensis (GR65), a historic pilgrimage route through southern France from Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, where the trail meets the famous Camino Francés to Santiago de Compostela (Spain). Also detailed are 2 major variants: the Célé Valley (GR651) and Rocamadour (GR6 and GR46). Split into 28 stages, the full route takes 4 to 6 weeks to complete but can be divided into shorter sections – Figeac and Condom are well positioned to break the walk into three 2-week chunks. It can be adapted to suit all abilities, with regularly spaced accommodation and baggage transport available, and is best walked in spring and autumn, with May and September the most popular months. Abundant accommodation options offer a warm welcome to walkers and pilgrims and a chance to enjoy delicious home-cooked meals made with local ingredients.

Walking directions are accompanied by 1;100,000 maps showing the route line and the facilities available at different locations. Accommodation listings provide invaluable information on where to stay. There are useful town maps for Cahors, Condom, Figeac, Le Puy, Moissac and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, and a stage planning table listing intermediate distances between accommodation means the schedule can be easily customised to individual requirements.

The Via Podiensis leads pilgrims and walkers through the best of French village life, offering a unique combination of pleasant trails, quaint historic communities and cultural delights. It passes through charming Estaing, Saint-Cirq-Lapopie and Lauzerte, and visits pilgrim shrines including Conques and Rocamadour. Pilgrims carrying on to Santiago can either proceed directly from Saint-Jean on the Camino Francés or transition (via the GR10) over to the Camino del Norte – a skeletal outline of the routes linking Saint-Jean and Irún, Spain, is included in the guidebook.

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