I first heard about the Camino de Santiago when I saw the Martin Sheen movie, The Way a few years ago. While it was a sad story about loss, it showcased a beautiful part of the world where people from all over have walked since the Middle Ages. What could be better than a hiking holiday through gorgeous countryside with delicious food and wine and a splash of culture. For me, the idea of hiking The Camino was born, I just had to get my head around communal living in dormitories and carrying my stuff on my back for hundreds of kilometres.

Move forward a few years, when Paul and I found ourselves at our kitchen table at our chalet, dreaming about our next adventure and making plans. We had just booked a 6-day hiking trip in Morocco and we wanted to extend our holiday by at least a week. We looked at a map to see what is close to Morocco and ideas started to form. My desire to hike the Camino came to mind, however we would need some help to move our luggage and we did not want to stay in hostels. An internet search found the perfect trip with a company called Backroads. We would do, “A Taste of Camino de Santiago from Portugal to Spain”, staying in premiere hotels for 6 days, and timed perfectly to coordinate with our Morocco trip. In no time, we had a 16-day adventure planned and we could hardly wait!

Our adventure began with an overnight Air Canada flight to Porto, Portugal. We stayed at The Sheraton Porto Hotel, located on the outskirts of downtown Porto. We had a day to adjust to the time zone before meeting our Backroads group. It was a beautiful, sunny and warm mid-October day and despite feeling jet-lagged, we wanted to make the most of our one day in Porto. We got on a “Hop-on, Hop-off” double decker tour bus and while basking in the warm sun, we enjoyed the sites of Porto, with audio- earphones telling us about the culture and history of the city.

Porto (pronounced Portu) is located on the Douro River, which flows into the Atlantic Ocean. It is a gorgeous coastal city known for its bridges, port wine and cobbled streets. The historic city centre was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1986. The vibrant city centre was full of locals and tourists the day we were there. Porto is on my list of cities to return to.

We were excited to meet our travelling companions and tour leaders the next morning. We enjoy group travel, a lot! We like meeting people, hearing their stories and sharing tales of travel. We were the only Canadians in the group, that included three women from Florida, one woman from Venezuela, three couples from California, one woman from New Hampshire, one woman from New Mexico and a couple from New York City. It wasn’t long before we were trading stories and getting to know one another. We could tell right away that this was going to be a great group.

We began our week of hiking in Vitorino de Piaes, along the Portuguese Camino. Our enthusiastic guides provided us with snacks, maps and encouragement. We were thrilled to be able to set our own pace with predetermined meeting spots along the way. Our guides always appeared just as we were craving a mid-morning café con leche or needed to refill our water bottles. Our first hike was through farm land, idyllic villages and vineyards. We quickly got the hang of spotting the yellow arrows, pointing us in the right direction. The symbol of the Camino is a scallop shell, with the lines of the shell representing the different paths to Santiago de Compostela. Scallop shells are found in abundance along the coastline of Portugal and Spain. Years ago, pilgrims used the shells as cups to drink from streams along the way. The scallop shell is now a badge of the Camino, with pilgrims dangling shells on their backpacks to show that they are on a pilgrimage. The scallop shell is embedded in concrete and posted on signposts along the route, helping pilgrims find their way.

The Camino de Santiago or Way of Saint James is a historic network of pilgrimage paths that meet at Santiago de Compostela. Saint James was part of Jesus’s inner circle and had aspirations to be by Jesus’s side in the Kingdom of Heaven. Following the crucifixion, James went to northwestern Spain to bring Christianity to the Basques, yet he had little success. When he returned to Jerusalem, he became the first of Jesus’s apostles to be martyred. His body was transported back to Spain and buried in an empty plain. 800 years later, a Spanish hermit named Paio followed the light from a star to this empty plain and found an ancient tomb containing the body of James. The site was proclaimed to be sacred, a simple church was built, and a town formed. In Spanish, Sant translates to saint, iago to James, while compostela means field of stars. James became the patron saint of Spain, and soon pilgrims were flocking from around the world to visit the site where he was buried. The purpose of our hike was not a religious one, however one cannot help but feel spiritual when hiking through such stunning landscapes alongside like-minded individuals.

Backroads’ nickname is Snackroads. At the start of each day, a buffet of snacks was set-out, allowing us to fill zip-lock baggies with nuts, raisins and peanut M&Ms. They also provided sunscreen, tissues, electrolyte powder and water. The support van is never out of sight for too long, ready to top-up our water or provide an impromptu wine and cheese party, to tide us over until our next meal. We never went hungry and remarkably, with all of the walking, we did not gain weight!

Each lunch was a different experience and each meal an opportunity to taste local food. One lunch was at a lovely, old and traditional farm. The large home overlooked the acres of vineyards and farmland owned by the family. This home and farm had been passed down for several generations and we enjoyed hearing the family history while devouring a delicious lunch. Another day we visited Conde (Count) de Calheiros’s castle-like home perched high on a hill. We had to climb the hill to get there, yet it was worth it. The view was tremendous and we got a tour of the home and a history lesson on the region. One lunch was at the seaside town called A Guarda, at a seafood restaurant that served freshly caught seafood and homemade delicacies. Freshly baked bread was served with every meal. I haven’t eaten that much bread in a long time, however it was irresistible and delicious.

Our favourite lunch was on our last day of hiking, when we were walking the final stretch of the French Camino. Located one km from the Camino, we arrived at a guest house in a rural village and one of our guides had been busy preparing a buffet of local food. Every bite was delicious and despite an ample breakfast, a café con leche break and our zip-lock baggie snacks, we were ravenous. At this point in the trip, we were fast friends with everyone in our group, so conversation was easy and we all felt relaxed and proud of our week’s accomplishments.

We stayed at some lovely hotels along the way. The first was Carmo’s Boutique Hotel in Ponte de Lima, Portugal. This small hotel was eclectic, comfortable and located a short distance from the Portuguese Camino and the Labruja Mountains. One night some local musicians came to serenade us with traditional Portuguese guitar music.

Our next stop was in Baiona, Spain in the Galicia Region, at the Parador de Baiona. Parador is a chain of hotels owned by the Spanish government and are often located in smaller towns in refurbished historical sites. The stunning setting of this hotel is why you want to stay here. It is a medieval castle, perched on a hill overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. The room we stayed in was simple and functional, and the proximity to town was ideal. Our day at the near-by Cies Islands Nature Reserve was one of the highlights of the trip. The island’s beaches are thought to be amongst the most beautiful in the world. We pinched ourselves at the perfect weather we were experiencing- a far cry from the rainy, gray late October weather in Toronto.

Finally, we stayed at the luxurious Hotel A Quinta da Auga, a Relais & Chateaux, located five km from the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, Spain. The structure was originally an 18th century paper mill. We felt like we were staying in someone’s spectacular exquisitely decorated home. The food was the best on the trip and the spa treatments eased our tired muscles. We really enjoyed this peaceful retreat, in a quiet neighbourhood away from the busy city centre. In Spain, we were quite amused that you could not book a dinner reservation until 8:30 pm, with locals arriving at around 10 pm. Our final dinner was at the Hostal dos Reis Catolicos, the Parador Hotel located on Obradoira Square in Santiago de Compostela. Our party of 18, ate a delicious meal at a long table in an elegant, cavernous room that at one time was the town morgue.

In total, we hiked for six days and covered 100 km of the Portuguese Camimo, Coastal Camino and French Camino. The hiking included lots of ups and downs, with remarkable views along the way. Backroads designed the trip to give travellers a taste of the Camino, avoiding busy roads and highways which are part of the Camino. Each day brought a different hiking terrain. We hiked through vineyards and countryside, along rugged coastlines, up small mountains and through forests. The final three km of the Camino was through the city streets of Santiago de Compostela, where we marched with pilgrims from all over the world. Many of these pilgrims were overwhelmed with emotion as they made their way through the final tunnel to the front of the cathedral.

It was an incredible week with a delightful group of travellers. We were very impressed with Backroads and will definitely use this tour group again. I am glad that we got a taste of the Camino and we were thrilled to visit Spain and Portugal for the first time. We will be back!