Spain's El Camino photo books: Leon to Portomarin and Portomarin to Santiago de Compostela

These books contain 265 colourful photos with only the main places captioned. They have been designed as a pictorial guide, particularly for walkers and pilgrims. El Camino Francés de Santiago de Compostela is a route which meanders through the northern Spanish countryside as well as through people’s everyday lives. There are villages, small farming communities and busy towns with their modern and historic buildings. There are flowers, crops, trees and animals (especially cows) to be seen too. However, it’s the people (both locals and strangers) along the way who make the journey memorable. The trail itself varies quite considerably but it is easy to follow with the yellow arrows and scallop shell logo pointing the way.

The sequence of photos is how my walk progressed, with a little bit of creative placement where appropriate. I joined a walking group which had accommodation and transport arranged so there are a few gaps in the route as well as side trips for overnight stays. No two Caminos are the same!

During mid June 2014, the weather was hot and not much rain during the day, raining only a couple of times at night. So I was very blessed with the fine weather and heavy downpours of rain occurred just after arriving in Santiago. My pilgrimage, starting in León and finishing in Santiago, was over 150 kilometres.