THE CAMINO - A food & wine guide

Quite possibly the world's most popular Christian pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago conveniently passes through some of northern Spain's best wine- and food-producing regions

- NOAH CHICHESTER

The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St James, is a complex network of pilgrimage routes that lead to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where the T remains of the apostle St James the Elder are believed to be buried. The Camino is hugely popular, with nearly 450,000 pilgrims making their way towards Santiago in 2023 alone. Today, the route hosts not only religious pilgrims, but also a mix of thru-hikers (those hiking an established long-distance trail end-to-end continuously) and tourists.

It's easy to eat and drink well along the Camino; especially if walking along the original Camino Francés, or the French Way, the most famous of the Camino de Santiago routes, which starts in the town of St-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France's far southwest and passes through some of northern Spain's most coveted food-andwine regions. From the pintxo paradise of Pamplona to Rioja wine country, through meat-loving León to journey's end in Galicia, following the path of the Camino offers an immersion in the gastronomic culture and hospitality of northern Spain.

People have different motivations for walking the Camino Francés, from spiritual fulfilment to the physical challenge of a roughly 780km hike. But they all have one thing in common: from the minute they step into a café for breakfast to when they sit down to a communal evening meal, they will be nourished by the wonderful food and drink of northern Spain.

Pamplona

Four days or so into the Camino, pilgrims arrive in Pamplona, the capital of Navarra. The city is famous for the running of the bulls, popularised by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises, but there's a lot more to Pamplona than bulls.