Camino de Santiago Biking – Escape

We will meet you at the hotel lobby at 7 pm. If you arrive early, you can spend the afternoon relaxing and exploring Leon.

Leon to Rabanal del Camino

Riding out of Leon we’ll visit Hospital del Orbigo arriving in time for lunch in Astorga. For Epicureans, Astorga is known for mantecadas, one of the famous delicacies in Spanish pastrymaking. We’ll overnight in Rabanal del Camino, one of the more famous pilgrimage sites along the trail staying in a beautiful posada.
Distance: 74 km, elevation gain 690m.*

Rabanal to Villafranca

Our route today will begin with a visit to Castrillo de los Polvares, a town immortalized by the writer Concha Espina in her novel The Maragato Sphinx, a portrait of the village and its centuries-old customs. Just before lunch we’ll reach the Cruz de Ferro, one of the most symbolic monuments along the pilgrims’ route. Whenever pilgrims add a stone to the pile they become part of an ancient tradition; the Romans called these stone heaps, ‘mounts of Mercury’ after the god of travelers. In Ponferrada, you can visit the impressive Templar Castle, one of the oldest and finest examples of Spanish military architecture. We’ll finish the day in Villafranca, one of the most attractive towns on the camino. Our hotel for tonight is in a 3-star parador hotel.
Distance: 58 km, elevation gain 820 m.*

Villafranca to Sarria

From Villafranca, you will climb through unspoiled countryside of heather and broom, pines, chestnuts and oaks enjoying a magnificent view over the Valcarce valley up to El Cebreiro, famous for its pallozas, straw-roofed dwellings. In Samos we visit a monastery before continuing on to Sarria and its Monastery of La Magdelena and its hospitable Mercedarian monks.
Distance: 70 km, elevation gain 1500 m.*

Sarria to Melide

From Sarria, the terrain changes again, as you find yourself in a rural part of the country with people living much as they did centuries ago. We’ll have lunch in Portomarin, and then enjoy some of the best biking of the camino on rolling terrain through Leboreiro to Melide, particularly rich in pre-Roman remains and on to our hotel, a most charming inn with outdoor swimming pool.
Distance: 71 km, elevation gain 1200 m.*

Melide to Santiago de Compostella

This is our shortest day – we will pass many small hamlets hidden among eucalyptus trees before reaching the environs of Santiago. Your adrenaline will surge as you make your way through Santiago itself, packed with vestiges of the pilgrimage. Nothing quite prepares you though, for arriving at the Cathedral itself, where you can share in the sense that pilgrims have felt since time immemorial. We’ll stay at one of the finest hotels in the city located just 200 meters from the Cathedral. Enjoy.
Distance: 46 km, elevation gain 740 m.*

We recommend a leisurely last day and leave time for those who wish to do last minute shopping or time to explore the monuments of Santiago. For those that are heading back to Madrid, there are flight, train and bus connections.