DESTINATION

Sarria to Santiago de Compostela. (The last 100 km of Camino Frances, the French Way of the Camino de Santiago)

DATES

April – Oct 
(lots of available departures-)

WHO? 

• Besties who like to move about, are comfortable with being quiet around one another and or relish each other’s company; 
• Solo Travelers who want to travel solo while also having the option for camaraderie with fellow enthusiasts; 
• Hikers and Trekkers who love a new destination every day; 
• History buffs 
• Those seeking their spiritual selves!

THE WHY? Why does this trip matter?

This trip is a Walking Retreat of sorts, a rare time of combining the Inner and Outer experience. Trekking on the sacred ground through green valleys, forests, up and down, lovely villages towards historic Santiago, creates space for our bodies, mind and spirits to roam.

You’ll engage with your surroundings and this means indulging in local fare,  garnering a jolt of caffeine at a village cafe, sampling the region’s wine.  You’ll move every day for six to ten hours, celebrating your body and its incredible strength! 

Interactions will be poignant since you can’t be more present than when on the trail.

There’s time for “going the quiet route”- yes, you don’t have to say anything, “perform” in any way. This is your time to savor each arrival and departure from pretty town to town.   

THE WHERE?

The last 100 Km of The Way of St. James starts in Sarria and then to Portomarín, Palas de Rei, Melide, Arzúa, Amenal, ending in Santiago de Compostela

INCLUDED SAMPLE EXPERIENCES

This is a sample list of what’s included:

• Breakfast every morning
• Take a break at the lively market town of Melide 
• Sampling octopus, Galicia’s most classic dish at one of many ‘pulperías’
• Receive you “Compostela” (“Certificate of Distance” or “Latin Compostela”)
• In Arzúa, visit the churches of Santa María and A Magdalena
• Pilgrim’s mass at the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral (small entry fee) which houses the supposed tomb of St. James the Apostle
• Marvel at the Fuente de los Caballos, the fountain in the square of the Santiago de Compostela Cathedral
• Accommodations enroute at small family-run hotels or pension

ASK ME ABOUT EXTRAS

Every trip is customizable! 

• Include Airport Transfers ($145 pp)
• Make your room private ($358~ )
• Stay a few days before or after your trip in Madrid or Barcelona!
• Acclimate in Lugo, a Unesco World Heritage site, for a weekend, a short bus ride from Sarria. Lugo has an extensive and intact Roman wall that surrounds the city. Not many people can say they’ve walked on a Roman wall before!
• At the end of your journey, on your first day off the trail, take a day trip to Muxia and Finisterre, towards the “Worlds-End” as the Romans used to call it (or you can continue on the trail and hike there for an additional five days) 
• Rent a car in Santiago de Compostela, Spain and drive to San Sebastian for a few nights, a gastronomic superstar in Spain’s northern Basque Country
• Take another week and travel down the coast of Portugal

DID YOU KNOW? 

• You can cancel and rebook up to 30 days before departure.
• Book Your Bubble! This tour is part of a Collection that offers travellers and their travel friends availability for a private departure.  Greab you buddies and let’s go! 
• The Spanish equivalent of the name “James” is “Santiago”. 
• G Adventures has received the World Travel and Tourism Council’s Safe Travels stamp. 

GIVE BACK 

G Adventures created Planterra, a leading community tourism organization working to reduce poverty around the world, making travel a “force for good”.

WOW 

Check-Out The Wanderlist of Additional Experiences for this region of Spain as well as in Madrid and Barcelona: https://www.virtuoso.com/wanderlist/#/list/7335

PRICE

Starting at $1429~ pp

 

The Pilgrim’s Prayer 

Although I may have traveled all the roads,

crossed mountains and valleys from East to West,

if I have not discovered the freedom to be myself,

I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have shared all of my possessions

with people of other languages and cultures;

made friends with Pilgrims of a thousand paths,

or shared albergues with saints and princes,

if I am not capable of forgiving my neighbor tomorrow,

I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have carried my pack from beginning to end

and waited for every Pilgrim in need of encouragement,

or given my bed to one who arrived later than I,

given my bottle of water in exchange for nothing;

if upon returning to my home and work,

I am not able to create brotherhood

or make happiness, peace and unity,

I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have had food and water each day,

and enjoyed a roof and shower every night;

or may have had my injuries well attended,

If I have not discovered in all that the love of God,

I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have seen all the monuments

and contemplated the best sunsets;

although I may have learned a greeting in every language

or tried the clean water from every fountain;

if I have not discovered who is the author

of so much free beauty and so much peace,

I have arrived nowhere.

If from today I do not continue walking on my path,

searching far and living according to what I have learned;

if from today I do not see in every person, friend or foe

a companion on the Camino;

if from today I cannot recognize God,

the God of Jesus of Nazareth

as the one God of my life,

I have arrived nowhere.

Fraydino