FOLLOW THE CAMINO…

PILGRIMS HAVE BEEN walking the Camino de Santiago for a thousand years or more. It is a Christian pilgrimage with routes all over Europe, each leading to the same majestic destination: the cathedral at Santiago De Compostela, in Spain.

While many people of course still take it on for religious reasons, others do it with their own purpose: as a physical challenge; to improve their mental health; because they are at a crossroads in life and need to clear their heads; or to simply find some breathing space.

‘Doing the Camino’ is becoming ever more popular, with the final stages attracting walkers in their thousands. In fact, around 300,000 people lace up their boots and set out on the challenge each year.

There are many routes. Perhaps the best-known is the one that starts at St Jean Pied de Port at the foot of the Pyrenees, in France. However, in Portugal the Camino – or Caminho as it is written there – is becoming more of an attraction as recently some of the route’s ancient networks