The Camino de Santiago now also on rails
The Route of the Caminos de Santiago finalize the details to start this summer within the framework of the seventh edition of the Galician tourist trains. The designed route, which can be done in one day, will take travelers to discover sections of four of the 10 Jacobean itineraries: the English Way, the Northern Way, the French Way and the Primitive Way.
The itinerary, which, in addition to the train, includes sections by coach and on foot, Starts at A Coruna , a city from which one of the variants of the English Way starts and from where passengers will arrive at the Teixeiro station.
Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria de Sobrado
There, a bus will take them to the Cistercian monastery of Santa María de Sobrado, in the council of Sobrado dos Monxes (A Coruña), which is part of the Camino del Norte.
Once you have visited this monastic center of the High Middle Ages, the next stop will be the Chapel of Santo Alberte, in the council of Guitiriz (Lugo) which can also be reached by bus. This 'stage' includes a short walk of about 2 kilometers that runs between forests, meadows and villages before taking the train to travel to Sarria, first contact with the French Way.
In Sarria, stop and eat for lunch (not included in the price) before taking a bus to the Samos Benedictine Monastery, in a corner of the Sarria river valley.
Back to Sarria, a train will wait for the passengers to take them to the city of Lugo, on the Camino Primitivo. There, after visiting its walls and monuments such as the Cathedral or the Plaza Mayor, the journey to A Coruña is undertaken, where this journey ends. All this, accompanied at all times by a Renfe expedition leader and an official tour guide.
The Route of the Caminos de Santiago allows you to discover sections of four different paths
And yes, it probably seems strange to you that being the Route of the Caminos de Santiago, the route does not lead to Santiago , but it is that as they explain to Traveler.es from Tourism of Galicia, this option “is not a route to Santiago, it does not want to occupy the space of pilgrimages to Santiago (…) In this train we approach four different points through which as many historical routes to Santiago pass, which allows approach the living phenomenon of pilgrimages as a privileged observer”.
“Furthermore, we wanted a train that made the route from Coruña to Lugo, since we have in our map of the other routes other itineraries completing the entire geography of Galicia”, They explain by referring to the other 11 routes that shape the tourist trains of Galicia and that, between June and October 2019, have planned perform 57 sorties.
Of these outings, two will be carried out by the Route of the Caminos de Santiago (July 27 and September 28 between 08:42 and 21:00). "Every time we start a new train, we do it in a 'pilot' phase, that is, with few exits to know what the public's response is. (…) If the reception is favorable, we can think about increasing the number of trains”, tell Traveler.es
The tickets, which will be on sale this spring, will cost 45 euros for adults and 20 euros for children up to 14 years old. They can be purchased **through the Renfe website **, at the ticket offices of any station or in the travel agencies arranged with Renfe.
Good way!