This holiday takes the best walking stages, the most famous sights and monuments and the best accommodation to offer you a unique way of doing the Camino in style.
This very popular Best of the Camino small group walking tours run in May, June and September each year.
For this 8 day tour we have chosen the best bits of the last 300km of the Camino offering you the choice to walk as far as you feel comfortable each day with the support of the Mercedes minibuses for when you have walked enough.
Staying in the best accommodation, you’ll be doing the Camino in style yet this holiday is great value compared to other companies that offer poorer accommodation and charge more.
The tours are led by Paul Jr and Paul Sr, father and son team and owners of Walks in Spain.
Accommodation along the Camino
The Camino de Santiago walking holiday covers the last 300 km of the French way. Your daily stop over points are close to the walk in an area of outstanding beauty or in a local town or village.
Support vehicles are used to get to those extra special places off the beaten track.
Overnight accommodation has been chosen with a high priority to your comfort, so you can appreciate a little luxury after a day’s walking. Your accommodation ranges from an 18th century boutique hotel to Galician palaces and a converted 13th century monastery in the heart of Santiago.
Each accommodation has been carefully selected to give you a flavour of the area as well as being comfortable and of a high standard.
Throughout this walking holiday all travel including your luggage are taken care of with air conditioned Mercedes mini-buses.
Walking the Camino
Full use is made of the support vehicles at hand throughout the week to ensure that only the best bits of the last 300 km of the French Way are selected. You can walk as little or far as you choose each day making this a perfect walk for a mixed group of walkers.
The walks are easy to moderate and the terrain is comfortable, making for a very pleasant walking experience.
Camino Small Group Tour walking holiday itinerary
Day 1 – Arrival Day – Collection from either Madrid of Santiago de Compostela airport. After leaving behind the Leon plateau, we approach the foothills of the Leon Mountains where we spend the first night of the tour in an 18th century residence of the Earl of Tepa in Astorga. A welcome dinner for all our guests along with a briefing on the week ahead.
Day 2 – Foncebadon to Molinaseca – The walking starts here! From Foncebadon we leave the territory of Astorga and enter El Bierzo. The Camino climbs through rolling mountains to the ‘Cruz de Ferro’, a symbolic monument of a 5 metre tall bare trunk crowned with an iron cross sitting upon a heap of stones, and into the village of El Acebo where we will stop for lunch. The Camino winds it way down to the picturesque village of Molinaseca with its pretty riverside location and Romanesque bridge.
Molinaseca has been declared a ‘Patrimonio Historico Artistico’ as much of its original architecture has been saved. Our second night will be spent in Molinaseca in a very comfortable, modern, rural hotel.
Day 3 – La Faba to Tricastela – A short magnificent drive through the narrow valley of the river Valcarce, the second walking day starts from the tiny village of La Faba. A gentle climb along heather-banked paths takes you to O Cebreiro; a village with its traditional thatched stone buildings and an ideal stop off place for lunch. From O Cebreiro surrounded by rounded peaks and towering mountainsides, the trail passes through the sierra of Ronadoiro and, after crossing the Alto do Poio, it descends into the valley wherein lies Tricastela.
After refreshment in Tricastela we transfer you to the pre Roman town of Sarria where we will be staying for the night in the best hotel in town.
Day 4 – Sarria to Portomarin – Leaving the old town of Sarria, we pick up the Camino passing through many hamlets dotted along areas of cultivated land, grazing pastures and woodlands, crossing the great river Mino to Portomarin. Here you will spend the night in a fine hotel that was previously a Parador.
Day 5 – Palas de Rei to Ribadiso – On entering the province of A Coruna we stop in Melide famous for the galician speciality, pulpo a la gallega, (octopus gallegan style) which can be seen boiling in large copper kettles. After lunch and a drop of Ribeiro wine the walk winds its way through small, stone-walled fields passing churches dating back to the 12th and 14th century to the town of Ribadiso. A short drive through forests of plain trees and eucalyptus takes us to a small rustic hotel known as a Pazo for tonight’s stop over and enjoy a fine meal cooked by our chef Joaquin.
Day 6 – Arca to Lavacolla – With the chance to visit the monastery of Sobrado dos Monxes in the morning we then continue the Camino with a beautiful walk through the rolling Galician hills passing small villages on the way and greeting the local Galicians as they wish us Bon Camino. Here we spend the night in a 17th century pazo.
Day 7 – Lavacolla to Santiago de Compostela – Only 7 km and ahead in the distance the spires of the famous cathedral rise up to welcome you. The magical medieval city of Santiago awaits you. Here you will arrive before lunch and check in at the beautiful San Francisco Hotel Monumento (a converted convent) in the heart of the historical centre of the city. Leaving you with plenty of time to explore the city, in the evening you are treated to a magnificent farewell meal in our own private dining hall of the hotel.
Day 8 – Departure Day – Transfer you to Santiago de Compostela airport.
Dates and Availability
This group walking holiday runs in May, June and September each year.
Please contact the holiday provider, through the contact form below, for more information.