The French Way of the Camino de Santiago Cycle Route in Spain

Distance: 800 km / 500 miles

This is a cycling pilgrimage along the famous Camino de Santiago taking in lovely Galician countryside, with green hills to spectacular tree plains. There are different routes that can be taken.

The French Way is the best one for first time cyclists. It is the most travelled, has a greater number of services and signposts. Plus the stages are more closer to each other. This is also true of the Portuguese Way.

The Via de la Plata is less busy due to the distances between villages.

All the routes have both easy and more difficult routes. tend to alternate in difficulty. The French and Portuguese routes are generally more accessible and simple.

Its generally thought the French Way -Camino Francés- of the Camino de Santiago is the best of the five major Saint James touring routes. It is easy throughout the year and has a good range of landscapes, architecture and local food with plenty of historical sites, cathedrals, monasteries, churches, fountains, hostels, restaurants etc.

Lots of people who ride the Camino de Santiago will have done the Camino Francés (French Way). Beginning in the Pyrenees, the popular route covers almost 750km through Navarre, La Rioja, Castilla y Leon and Galicia. Most cyclistsdo not do the full route. Cyclists that only have a weeks holiday usually start in Leon, the nearest large town that you can begin from and still obtain the pilgrim’s accreditation. The best scenery and most diverse part of the Camino Francés is between Leon and Santiago de Compostela.

The terrain and buildings change quite a lot as you cycle across the country. For example in Roncesvlles, the towns and architecture appear more alpine.