Best books and guides of the Camino de Santiago
If you decide to organise your pilgrimage to Compostela, within the written works you can also find many answers to your questions and concerns, as well as learn about the experience that others have had and have left on paper. To do this, below, you will find the best books and guides of the Camino de Santiago, in order to help you continue your planning.
Best books and guides of the Camino de Santiago
Although there are now a large number of works written about the pilgrimage to Compostela, the following are the most important ones. best books and guides of the Camino de Santiago.
Pilgrims' Roads to Santiago: 25 Jacobean routes
Caminos de Santiago: 25 Jacobean Routes (Ed. GeoPlaneta) written by Sergio Fernández Tolosa, is an extensive volume that covers the wide network of Jacobean routes found in the Spanish territory. It includes from the most popular ones, such as the French Way and the Portuguese Way, to routes that are little known, such as the Camino Batzanés and the Camino Olvidado.
The book has a wealth of useful information, ideas and advice for both experienced pilgrims and those who are planning to experience this pilgrimage for the first time. It also contains a considerable selection of illustrated photographs and maps.
Camino de Santiago up close (Lonely Planet)
It is a pocket guide, written by Edurne Baz and Virginia Uzal, and published by GeoPlaneta, which presents in summary and with the characteristic style of the leading travel publisher, the relevant information about the cities along the French Way.
The guide includes maps of the cities and practical advice on the sites that the authors find interesting.
North Road
Juanjo Alonso, an expert walker and cycle-tourist, describes the difficult Jacobean route that passes along the shores of the Cantabrian Sea. It is a meticulous description divided into the 28 stages that, according to the author, are needed to cover this route on foot, with a lot of information about its services and accommodation, and with maps of each stage.
The guide, published by Desnivel, has an appendix if you wish to make this The Way of St. James by bicycle, including stages, nature of the terrain, distances and altimetric profiles.
The Madrid Way of St. James
It is a description of this route from Madrid to Compostela. It was published by the Asociación de Amigos de los Caminos de Santiago de Madrid. It is a route that maintains the flavour that has been erased by overcrowding on other routes.
This is a precise account of the itinerary that begins in the very centre of Madrid and goes through Tierra de Pinares until it reaches Sahagún, where it connects with the French Way.
Beyond and above
This book (Ed. Espasa), by José Antonio Vázquez Taín, is a journey through the beginnings of the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. Through a series of stories whose protagonists are the pilgrims who originally travelled the different routes that lead to Compostela.
This work recalls certain historical episodes and tells stories that occurred during the first centuries of the pilgrimage, a time that was full of doubts and mysteries, very different from the present day. The Way of St. James of this date.
Via de la Plata
The Mozarabic and Sanabrés Roads are described in detail by bicycle, through this section of the The Way of St. James which follows the route of the ancient Roman road, including its extension between Seville and Mérida. It is a journey of almost a thousand kilometres covered by its authors Valeria H. Madrones and Bernard Datcharry, two well-known promoters of cycling routes.
This volume by Petirrojo Ediciones includes descriptions of the sections, cartography, stage profiles and the nature of the terrain. The description of the route is made for cyclists, but the accuracy of the information allows it to be useful for people who wish to do the Silver Route on foot.
Well, I'm off
In this book (Ed. Debolsillo) the protagonists are blisters, stiffness and the inconveniences of sleeping with strangers. All this is written with a great sense of humour by Hape Kerkeling, a popular German television presenter.
It recounts the The Way of St. James of the author, driven by a personal crisis. The irony of the good and bad moments that the walkers go through on their way to Compostela imbues this journey with all the emotions that dominate human existence.
The Pilgrims' Roads to Santiago by car
This is a book, written by Antón Pombo and published by Anaya Touring, aimed at those pilgrims who can't afford to go on a pilgrimage. walking the Camino de Santiago on foot or by bicycle, for various reasons, having to do so by car.
It brings updated information on the French, Northern, Via de la Plata, Ebro, Catalan and Madrid routes. What's more, a guide with 32 road maps and 22 maps of localities. It also describes monuments and other places of interest, as well as a practical guide to restaurants, hotels and rural houses.
The Way of Saint James on foot
Written by Paco Nadal, a well known traveller and travel journalist, who has walked the Camino de Santiago in different epochs, witnessing its evolution over the years.
It is a practical, detailed and reliable guide that reflects the expert vision of a journalist and traveller who has travelled a great number of paths beyond the Jacobean route.
Magical Guide to the Camino de Santiago
Francisco Contreras Gil describes a journey along the French Way, emphasising the historical, cultural and spiritual reality of the most travelled Jacobean route. It is a different vision that allows the reader to grasp the mysticism of the to do the Camino de Santiago, thus gaining an experience that can be transformative.
This is a field notebook, published by Planeta, on the most popular route to Santiago de Compostela. It includes a preamble on the section that runs from Saint Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles, and as an epilogue, the stage from Santiago to Finisterre.
Practical Guide to the Way of Saint James: The North, Primitive and Salvador Routes
Putting down on paper the experience of living in the the Way of St. James is a hard work of creative synthesis. The author, Carlos Mencos, made it happen in this guide for the Caminos del Norte and Primitivo.
The guide is practical, reliable and portable, so it fits nicely in your rucksack. This way, you will always have it at hand, but protected from bad weather.
The Way of Saint James. An illustrated journey
In this book, the knowledge of 13 experts on the The Way of St. James joins forces with the talent of the watercolourist Alicia Aradilla to show an unconventional way of travelling through it, focusing on art, history and nature. This volume is published by Planeta de Libros.
