Hiking Vacations on the Way of St. James

European hiking trails have one feature that trails in North America lack: a history of foot-borne travel that dates back for more than a thousand years. Before people started walking for pleasure, they walked because it was their main means of transportation, and in medieval times the long-distance hike was synonymous with one word: "pilgrimage." Among the oldest and most important European pilgrimage routes is a long-distance trail that remains open to hikers in modern times: the Way of St. James, or Camino de Santiago.

The pilgrimage earns its name from its destination, the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain, the last resting place of James the Apostle. For medieval pilgrims, the trek across Europe to Santiago de Compostela ranked with pilgrimages to Rome and Jerusalem in spiritual importance. Pilgrims would face the obstacles of uncertain shelter and food supply, unpredictable weather, strange culture and brushes with lawless bandits during their long journey, making the journey a perilous undertaking with only the wealthy pilgrims independent of the vagaries of charity. Many medieval pilgrims did not survive their journey, and those who did confronted the equally arduous task of returning home.

Modern hikers on the Way of St. James face a challenging, but a well-marked and safe trek that passes through villages and towns. The latter eliminates the need to carry heavy camping equipment on the route, as pilgrims can proceed on an inn-to-inn route through northern Spain. A handful of potential routes have been preserved, but the most popular is The French Way, a 650-mile, four-week trek that starts at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees, surmounts those mountains, and continues on through small historic villages and major cities such as Pamplona (of the "Running of the Bulls" fame), Burgos and Leon. After departing the Pyrenees, the route stays in a country of rolling hills for the most part, running between the scorching heights of the Iberian Plateau and the green Cantabrian Mountains.

Hikers who wish to spend a more normal, one- or two-week vacation on the Way of St. James might easily hike only a portion of the route. After flying into Spain, traveling trekkers can use trains to reach a city such as Pamplona or Spain's inter-city bus network to travel to any number of towns along the route, and then return from Santiago de Compostela to catch the flight home. One of the most popular reduced hikes on the Way of St. James starts from Sarria, a small Galician town in northwest Spain endowed with 13th-century churches and a picturesque 12th-century bridge. The hike from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela is 62 miles, the minimum distance for the trip to still be counted as an expiation of sins and a journey that typically lasts for four days.

Like America's Appalachian Trail or Nepal's Annapurna Circuit, the Way of St. James is one of the classic cross-country treks. With its outdoor scenery, its trip through the history of Spain and that country's treasure trove of medieval architecture, and its footsore spiritual journey, the Way of St. James offers its travelers the opportunity for a well-rounded outdoor adventure vacation.