THE PILGRIMS’ ROAD TO SANTIAGO
14 days • 13 nights

The Tour:

For 1100 years, pilgrims have taken up staff, gourd and cockleshell for the journey to Santiago. Now you can follow in their sandaled footsteps.

Our journey, by small mini-bus, will be easier than the medieval pilgrim’s. We’ll stay in castles, medieval inns, monasteries and comfortable hotels. We’ll wine and dine like knights and queens. And like them, we’ll traverse ancient mountain passes, patchworks of vineyards, windswept plains, rolling moorland, and the mysterious riverlands of the extreme northwest.

Long-dead art forms and living shrines await us. Santiago is our destination; the Way of St. James is the journey.

The Legend:

After the Apostle St. James was martyred in the Holy Land, his remains were brought to Galicia in northwest Spain where they lay undisturbed for 800 years. When the tomb was discovered in the 9th century, the King of Galicia ordered a church built on the site. Then the pilgrimages began. Later, another Christian king called on Saint James to aid him in battle to defeat the Moors who had overrun Spain. Victorious, the king declared him the Patron Saint of Spain. The image of Saint James (Santiago) riding a white horse and wielding a sword was born.

The fame of the saint’s intercessory powers spread as the centuries-long war against the Moors intensified. By the 12th century, the Camino de Santiago was the busiest road in all Christendom. Wondrous events, miracles, and apparitions of the Virgin were recorded along this route. These sites became shrines in their own right.

The Route:

Day l: Madrid •  Sigüenza

Leave hectic Madrid for your castle retreat in Sigüenza. You’re in El Cid’s Spain now—small hill towns (today artist colonies) with commanding views of the hard-baked plains of Castile.

Days 2-4: Sigüenza •  Olite • Leyre• Ujué • Roncesvalles• Pamplona

Gently rolling countryside, carpeted with cornfields, vineyards, and Frisian cows enclosed in green pastureland, tell us we’ve entered the Province of Navarre.

Here we join the pilgrim’s route to Santiago and step into the medieval world. Gregorian chants at Leyre monastery, the scent of frying trout at a mountain inn, the cool interior of Ujué’s little known sanctuary with the 100-mile-view, and the majesty of Romanesque arches embellished with centuries-old smiles await us.

Following the Urobi River, we enter the Basque/ Roman/Spanish city of Pamplona, to stand at the ramparts where St. Ignatius Loyola was wounded and turned towards a religious life. We meander the maze of the medieval quarter, then emerge in the main square to enjoy Hemingway’s Pamplona, with its art deco cafes and bullring.

Days 5-6: Olite •  Puente la Reina •  Estella •  Arnedillo•  Haro •  Santo Domingo de la Calzada

Arches and pillars, wineries and vineyards. In Puente la Reina we cross the bridge built by a queen to aid pilgrims. Beyond, rimmed by hills and low mountains, lies Estella where 14 inns awaited the 13th century pilgrim and the Palace of the Kings of Navarre kept watch over the holy road to Santiago.

Just as our route is dominated by the beautiful simplicity of the Romanesque arches and capitals, so it is enhanced by smooth yet hearty wines, enjoyed by pilgrims for centuries. Nearby, the ancient Irache monastery with its historic winery, offers the traditional hospitality to the pilgrim.

 The Oja River leads us past rocky outcrops, up into the heartland of the Rioja winemaking region, where the dark red character of the wine evokes pilgrimage.

Like those who went before, we find our inn in Santo Domingo. The descendant of a famous rooster resides in the church; in his gilded cage, he recalls for us the story of a miracle on this site.

Days 7-9: Santo Domingo •  Burgos •  Carrión de los Condes•  León•  Villafranca del Bierzo

The Oca Mountains lie ahead—a formidable challenge to the medieval pilgrim who had to fight off wolves and serpents. We pass a well where the Virgin revealed herself to a martyr.

 On the other side of the mountains lies Burgos. Its lacy spires testify to its ancient grandeur as the birthplace of El Cid and the retreat of a Spanish queen (banished to a convent following the revelation of her love affair with the royal pastry cook).

Ahead are the once prosperous towns of medieval Castile. Their masterworks in golden stone remind us of a vanishing way of life and a history of miracles.

From here, snow-capped mountains rise above an expanse of rolling wheat fields. We stop at the church of the miracle of the Virgins and 100 Bulls before entering León. Its cathedral’s glass is a symphony of light, the frescoes of its Royal Pantheon one of the great achievements of the Romanesque. We dine at a 17th century pilgrims’ inn, famed for its suckling lamb, sweet peppers and rich cakes.

Leaving León, we pass a shrine renowned for its ongoing miracles, and continue to Ponferrada’s ruined palace of the Knights Templar. The Galician mountains roll and dip beyond the palace turrets. From here, the guardians of the Way once policed this area of wildest Spain.

At Cebreiro, we climb to the highest point along the Camino de Santiago. A desolate settlement, its thatched cottages and pre-Romanesque church testify to its Celtic origins. From the ancient church on this hilltop—known for the Monk of Little Faith—Galicia stretches out below us: unspoiled, remote, brooding, a verdant landscape criss-crossed by rivers.

Out there in a field, some 1200 years ago, the Legend of Santiago began.

Days 10-14: Villafranca •  Pontevedra (Baiona) •  Arousa •  Santiago de Compostela

Behold the Holy City: gothic spires, crenelated Baroque towers, and the cathedral’s Portal of Glory. Stand in this glorious doorway and gaze at Daniel’s smile, the sweetest in the history of carved stone.

Santiago, built of somber granite walls furred with moss, is one of Spain’s loveliest cities, in spirit part Celtic, part Spanish. Beyond the city, we travel the back roads along rivers, to shrines and wineries, Celtic remains and coastal resorts.

“There be dragons,” the medieval pilgrims said. Near Fisterra, once believed to be the end of the earth, we sample fresh seafood and savor the delicate Albariño wines of Galicia.

Having survived dragons, snakes, wolves and bandits, we enjoy one last pilgrimage tradition. With the ghosts of the sandaled feet which preceded us, we dine at Queen Isabel’s 15th century hotel.

 

JUNE & SEPTEMBER

ALL INCLUSIVE TOUR:

• Exceptional accommodation in historic hotels; double occupancy room with bath in palaces and convents, distinctive first-class hotels, and unique family-run inns
• Meals sampling the fine regional cuisine; select Spanish wines
• All admissions and gratuities
• Pre-trip documentation
• Ground travel only

NOT INCLUDED: Laundry, mini-bar, telephone
TRAVEL: By minivan.

Private escorted tours and custom affinity tours are also available to all destinations. Customized packages include airfare, car rental, train vouchers, hotels, villa and apartment rentals.