Spain - The English Route (Camino Ingles) to Santiago by Mark Sukhija

Unfortunately, I've had to can this trip to Spain due to events beyond my control. However, I've left this page up so you can see what I did find out out.

We're currently looking at doing a Pilgrimage along the "Camino Inglese" (The English Route) to Santiago de Compostela. There are several routes for the pilgramage, but the "Camino Inglese" seems to suit our needs of being less touristic than some of the other routes and being of a reasonable length - we only have so many holidays in the year!

I've broken down the schedule to what seems to be the standard route for the Camino:

• Day 1 - Ferrol to Pontedeume (around 30km 7h30) - We being at the docks of Curuxeiras, in a neighbourhood which is built on the site of the 9th Century port. Leaving town, we follow the coast past the monastery of 8th Century San Martino de Xubio. We continue on the Camino until it merges with the Way of O Salto and, further along, the "Camino Real" (Royal Way) on the banks of the Eume estuary. We expect to head through the town of Neda - we could break this day in two by stopping overnight in Neda.

• Day 2 - Pontedeume to Betanzos (20km 5h) - Leaving Pontedeume is an uphill climb and, apparently, offers great vies over Betanzos, Ares and Ferrol. We cross the Baxoi River and through Mino and backonto the shoreline to the esturary of the Lambre River.

• Day 3 - Betanzos to Bruma-Meson do Vento (29km 7h) - Leaving town, we head south again, to cross the Mendo River at the bridge of As Casca and head through Matino and Boucello. Past the abandoned hermitage of San Paio, its across farmland until we get to the site of the medieval Hospital of Bruma.

• Day 4 - Bruma-Meson do Vento to Siguero (29km 7h30) - From Bruma, the Camino leads to Ordes. The path brings us to San Xiao church and the village of Casanova.

• Day 5 - Siguero to Santiago (11.5km 3h) - Crossing the Sigueiro Bridge over the Tambre river, we'll arrive at Santiago municipality. This route, apparently, takes us past the "Fonte do Ingles" - the English Fountain - and Meixonfrio - which is some kind of historic inn where pilgrims and travellers used to stop and rest. site of an old inn where pilgrims and travellers would stop and rest. There's a pre-Roman fort where pilgrims would add stones to the existing pile. After this we enter the city of Santiago itself through an industrial quarter of the city and the route ends at the Cathedral.

Further reading