Highlights
Natural Landscape
The Camino Frances stretches from St Jean Pied de Port in France over the Pyrenees and across the north of Spain, covering just under 800kms. Naturally with such a long distance being covered there is a wide variety of terrain on the Camino Frances. Starting in the Pyrenees mountains, sweeping views from atop soaring peaks to dense forest rich in wildlife take you down to the region of Navarra where the landscape becomes more hill like as you encounter the Ebo River that provides sustenance to the La Rioja wine region. Moving on into the largest region of the Camino Frances you encounter Castilla Y Lyon which takes in the large and flat Castilian Plateau before ascending into the mountains of Leon. Gently descending from the Leon mountains you enter the green and hilly region of Galicia and the end goal perched on a hill top, Santiago de Compostela.
Built Heritage
The Camino Frances has been walked for centuries and thus along the route you will find a plethora of architectural feats and fine examples of buildings from throughout the ages. A true highlight is the numerous religious buildings, churches, cathedrals, convents and monasteries that are sprinkled along the route. Many are still in use today as religious buildings others have been taken over and are now either use by the administrative departments or have been transformed into hotels. Religious buildings are the only built heritage that you will find along the Way, crossing Roman Bridges will become the norm as you pass through not only major towns and cities but also along quite back roads and sleepy villages. Going further back in time you can also bear witness to celtic ruins as well as the archaeological site of Atapuerca where the oldest human fossils in Europe where discovered.
Gastronomy and Wine
With the Camino Frances covering such a wide variety of regions it is not surprising then that the gastronomy and wine along the Way is a highlight. Local regional dishes are the backbone of the gastronomy of the Camino Frances, from hearty vegetable soups to succulent meat dishes and fresh fish dishes and no meal complete with out being finished off with sweet treats. The epitome of the sweet treats on the Camino is of course the Tarta de Santiago.
Share on