French Way Ultreya Coach

day 1 - Making our Way to the Capital of Navarra, Pamplona

We will pick you up at Bilbao airport and drive you to the 5 star hotel La Perla in the Center of Pamplona. Pamplona certainly owes some of its fame to its adopted son, Ernest Hemingway, who spent a considerable amount of time in Navarra during the Spanish Civil War and was a big fan of the San Fermín Festival. Hemingway wrote about the festival and the “Running of the Bulls” (“Encierro” in Spanish) in The Sun Also Rises. The San Fermín Festival starts on July 6th and lasts for a week. During this time the city is flooded by more than 1,000,000 visitors and turns into one of the world’s largest fiestas. But Pamplona has so much more to offer, so spend the afternoon discovering its beautiful Old Town and the citadel park.

You will have the afternoon free to visit the city of the running of the bulls and forget about today’s transit at Hemingway’s favorite hotel. Dinner will be served just next door in Café Iruña, which although very touristic is a must visit in Pamplona.

day 2 - 13 km - Navarra & La Rioja - night in Logroño

After breakfast, we will drive you out of Pamplona to walk 2 km up to Alto del Perdon, one of the most recognizable monumental sculptures of the Camino de Santiago with stunning views of the regions of Navarra and la Rioja.

We will then head to Church of Saint Mary of Eunate, a 12th-century Romanesque church few kilometers from the medieval town of Puente de la Reina, where we we start walking along the Camino de Santiago. We will walk across beautiful vinyards and charming hamlets for about 4h until we reach Mañeru.

You will spend the night in a 4* hotel with character in the heart of Logroño. Late afternoon, enjoy a guided-tour of the Bodega Franco Española just across the River before dinner in your hotel.

You also have the choice of going a bit further towards Laguardia, a the wine Capital of La Rioja, sleeping in a beautiful mansion and going for a guided tour of Casa Primicia, the oldest bodegas in the region, or modern architecture award-winning bodegas like the Marqués de Riscal and Bodegas Ysios.

day 3 - 12 km - Bodegas of La Rioja - night in the Parador of Santo Domingo de la Calzada

We continue our journey into Medieval La Rioja along the iconic red earth Trails. Our first stop is the Hospital de Peregrinos de San Juan de Arce, 1,5 km before Navarette, a town build in the 12th century by the “Knights of the Holy Sepulcher” with stunning panoramic views of the region. You will walk about 4h through stunning countryside towards the royal city of Nájera, home to an outstanding Gothic cloister and a royal pantheon where a number of Navarrese kings and queens are buried.

Tonight, you will be sleeping and dining at the Parador of Santo Domingo de la Calzada, a magnificent 12th-century hospital near the Cathedral, one of the most emblematic villages on the route. According to legend, the resuscitation of a roasted cock and hen served as a harbinger of an even greater miracle: the resurrection of a pilgrim unjustly hanged for theft, through the intercession of the saint for whom the village is named. Visit the Cathedral where a live rooster and hen keep watch from their pen overlooking the main altar in commemoration of the miracle; later sample some of the region’s fine wine’s in one of the nearby bars along the town’s main street before dinner at your hotel.

You also have the option to visit and sleep in the UNESCO World Heritage Site San Millán Yuso and Suso Monasteries in the afternoon. The monastic community founded by St Millán in the mid-6th century, a beautiful, peace retreat, is considered to be the birthplace of the modern written and spoken Spanish language.

day 4 - 8 km - entering the Meseta - night in Burgos

Today, we will let you leave with the other pilgrims directly from the doorstep of your hotel. We will walk for about 2h through crop fields, oak woods and vineyards into the region of Castilla-y-León, the medieval kingdom that led the re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula from the Moors, gave birth to modern Spain and gave the world Castilian Spanish.

If interested, we can schedule instead of the walk a guided tour of the archeological site of Atapuerca, where the oldest humanoids were found in Europe.

Your driver will bring you to the UNESCO World Heritage City of Burgos, home to one of the most magnificent Gothic Cathedrals and the final resting place of the Spanish national hero El Cid. Spend the evening discovering this beautiful city, enjoying its world famous tapas including Morcilla (black pudding) & cordero lechal asado (succulent roast lamb) and relaxing in your 4* hotel next to the Cathedral.

day 5 - 10 km - the gold fields of the Tierra de Campos - night in Carrion de los Condes

Today, we will be getting deeper into the Meseta, which is a vast plateau in the heart of peninsular Spain with elevations around 700m, very flat. It is said the Camino Frances has three stages: Physical, Mental/Emotional & Spiritual. The Physical part happens in the first week of walking as your body gets accustomed to the effort.

By the time pilgrims arrive in the Meseta their legs and back are strong enough to not feel the stain of the day’s walk. But until then the landscape was varied, beautiful and helpful. There was shade, regular towns, water fountains. Once you get into the Meseta it is just flatness, little shade and long distances. This is when pilgrims need to work on their Mental. The Meseta is a time for introspection and a time to strengthen your will.

We want you to experience all these stages on the Camino Ultreya. So, today, you will walk twice 5 km (more or less on request) through the endless green and gold fields of the Tierra de Campo. The first section will be between Hornillos and Hontanas and the second between Boadilla del Camino and Fromista on the Canal of Castilla. We will then transfer you to Carrión de los Condes, where you will spend the night in a historic monastery.

day 6 - 10 km - the land of the Reconquista - night in León

We continue our journey through the Meseta of Castilla-y-León. In the morning, we will have a 3h walk in the Tierra de Campos before a short stop in the medieval city of Sahagún, the town once known as a center of the arts and letters, the “Spanish Cluny” but who lost most of its grandour at the end of the Medieval Ages. We then head west via the village of Bercianos del Camino and plan to arrive in León for lunchtime.

After checking into your 4 star hotel in the city center and a siesta, you will spend the afternoon discovering the city’s historic sites, including its remarkable cathedral, filled with more than 100 stained glass windows.

day 7 - 11 km - Roman towns, Templar and Gaudi - night in the Parador of Villafranca do Bierzo

We have another busy day awaiting us today, so wake up early to reach the ancient Roman city of Astorga. Astorga or Asturica Augustus was an important communications hub for the Romans and the most important city in this region of Spain, known as the Maragatería, due to its proximity with the Gold Mines of Las Medulas. This fascinating town offers to its visitors a beautiful Gothic Cathedral, an unusual Episcopal palace designed by Antoni Gaudí (mostly known for designing the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona) and a Chocolate Museum as well as plenty of terrace bars and tapas restaurants.

After free time for a tour of the Palacio Episcopal, we will attempt to cross one of the highest mountain peaks of the French Way and arrive at the Cruz de Hierro, the Iron Cross. Here, it is common for pilgrims to leave a souvenir of their passage, a rock, piece of paper or even shoes. So, don’t forget to bring along a symbolic token.

After reaching the Altar, we will drive to Ponferrada, a beautiful Medieval town where you will have a few hours to visit one of the last remaining Templar Castle and the old town before heading to Villafranca do Bierzo.

Our destination for the night is the Parador of Villafranca del Bierzo. This lively medieval town has great importance for the pilgrimage as Pilgrims who could not make it to Santiago de Compostela because they were ill were given the jubilee blessing once they passed the Puerta del Perdón gate (again remember “the Pilgrimage” by Paulo Coelho).

day 8 - 5 km - Visits, miracles & breathtaking views - night in the Parador of Monforte de Lemos

You are in for a treat today, so wake up early. After breakfast at the Parador, we will drive you up the mountain to the border of Castilla-y-León and you will walk 5 km through beautiful mountain paths into the region of Galicia by the timeless Celtic village of O Cebreiro. With stunning panoramic views of the valleys below from 1300 meters up, the ancient pallozas (circular pre-Roman stone dwellings built by the Celts of the region) and the rebuilt Romanesque church of St. Mary’s, site of a 14th century Eucharistic miracle, few places along the Camino are as enchanting as O Cebreiro!

After the walk, we will drive to the Ribeira Sacra, one the most spectacular gorge scenery in Europe. We will pass Samos, Sarria and Monforte de Lemos before reaching Doade where you will enjoy a 1h wine-tasting catamaran cruise in the Sil canyon with stunning onto the vine terraces. After the cruise, your driver will bring you to the Parador of Monforte de Lemos where you will spend the night.

day 9 - 10 km - Walk from Lavacolla to Santiago! - night in the 5* Parador of Santiago

Early morning, we will drive you in 1h30 to the outskirts of Santiago where you will start walking the last 5 or 10 km into Santiago starting either in Lavacolla or Monte de Gozo. You will enter the Medieval Town through the Porta do Camino, pass the iconic Plaza de Cervantes and a few meters further you will find the Azabachería Door, the official entrance to the Cathedral on non-Holy years.

You will finally reach your goal, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela and the resting place of the Apostle Saint James on the Plaza del Obradoiro, the main Square of the Cathedral, where you will find the Portico de la Gloria and the most impressive view of the Cathedral. Simply stop here. Breath in and truly live this moment, do whatever feels right. Your hotel, the Parador de los Reyes Catolicos, is on your right when looking at the Cathedral.

You still have a few things to do today - attend Pilgrim Mass, marvel at the architecture of our beloved City and visit your hotel, the 5* Parador of Santiago de Compostela on the Plaza del Obradoiro which is no less than a jewel. Dinner will be served tonight in your hotel.

DAY 10 - 3 km - Journey the End of the world - night in the 5* Parador of Santiago

Congratulations, you have made it to Santiago de Compostela. However, there is a tradition to go 88 km further towards Finisterre, also known as the land at the end of the World. So today, we will make our Way to the Atlantic Coast stopping in some traditional villages.

So today we will drive 2h by the coast towards Finisterre stopping at the main attractions along the way: the fishing village of Muros and the Ézaro Waterfall. Once In the harbour town of Finisterre, you will get to walk the last 3 km to the lighthouse in Finisterre to the KM0. You will then have free time for lunch before driving back to Santiago by the Virxe da Barca Sanctuary in Muxia.

You will spend the night again in the 5* Parador of Santiago and you’ll have more time to visit the old town. Dinner will be in the Michelin Star restaurant across the street - Casa Marcelo.

day 11 - Start of your next adventure

A wise pilgrim once told us “the real Camino starts where the Camino de Santiago finishes but I will not be afraid because the Camino will always be there for me.”

Today, you will have the morning free before we bring you to your departure Airport. We hope the Camino has brought you whatever you were looking for and wish to see you again soon in Northern Spain!