Other Ways of St James - Caminos de Santiago

The French and Northern routes have the best facilities for walking to Santiago but alternative routes exist if you're starting from somewhere other than the France to Roncesvalles section a number of alternative Caminos de santiago are recognised.

Aragonese Way

It enters Spain from France via Somport, in Aragon, and continues through the provinces of Huesca, Zaragoza and Navarre before reaching - after 6 days and 167 kilometres- Puente La Reina, where it joins the French Way.

Itinerary:  Somport – Canfranc – Jaca – Sangüesa – Lumbier – Puente La Reina.

Primitive Way

The first devotees from Oviedo, the capital of the Asturian kingdom, followed the ancient route that, according to tradition, led King Alfonso II the Chaste to the Apostle’s tomb, in the first third of the 9th century.

This route from Oviedo to Santiago was a safe itinerary that was frequented until well into the 10th century, when the present-day French Way was consolidated from León, the new capital of the kingdom. However, thereafter it was still an important alternative, especially due to the spiritual value that was attributed to visiting Oviedo’s Holy Chamber of the Saviour, as well as the Cathedral of Lugo, with its permanent exhibition of the Holy Sacrament.

Itinerary:  Oviedo – Tineo – Grandas – A Fonsagrada – Lugo – Palas de Reis – linking with the present-day French Way.

Portuguese Way

There are numerous routes, depending on the pilgrim’s starting point in Portugal, but the main itinerary starts in Oporto and enters Spain via Tui. The international Valença do Miño-Tui bridge has facilitated the crossing of the River Miño, but some branches still cross the river by boat. Other Portuguese routes reach the Spanish border via Chaves, Bragança and, inside Galicia, join the Via de la Plata (Silver Road).

The 116-kilometre Galician itinerary passes through:

Tui – Porriño – Redondela (where the other routes meet) – Caldas de Reis – Padrón – Santiago.

English Way

The European pilgrims that travelled by ship to the Iberian Peninsula’s northern coast, especially the British, disembarked in A Coruña or Ferrol, thereafter heading for Compostela along the following routes:

Itinerary A:  Ferrol – Pontedeume – Miño – Betanzos – Abegondo – Ordes – Santiago.

Itinerary B:  A Coruña – Culleredo – Cambre – Carrall – Ordes – Santiago.

Silver Way

The Vía de la Plata is the longest Jacobean route, as a prolongation of the Roman road that crossed the western Iberian Peninsula from south to north, linking the cities of Emerita Augusta (Mérida) and Asturica Augusta (Astorga). After the conquest of Seville and Cordoba in the 13th century, this south-north was spontaneously reused by Jacobean pilgrims from Andalusia and Extremadura. Some continued as far as Astorga, joining the French Way. Others headed towards Compostela via the route from Puebla de Sanabria to Ourense, which was shorter and straighter, while some crossed northeast Portugal and entered the south of Ourense province towards Verín.

Itinerary: Merida - Caceres - Plasencia - Bejar - Salamanca - Zamora - Benavente - Astorga - Ponferrada - Samos - Sarria - Portomarin - Palas de Rei - Melilde - Arzúa - Santiago de Compostela

Arousa Sea and Ulla River Jacobean Itinerary

This sea-river route via the Ria de Arousa and the River Ulla commemorates the arrival, by sea, of St. James’ body in Galicia, the region where he had preached. According to tradition, the boat entered the “ria” and sailed up the River Ulla, arriving at the Roman city of Iria Flavia (Padrón), as remembered today by a sea-river procession to Pontecesures and Padrón.

Itinerary:  Sanxenxo – O Grove – Cambados – Vilanova - Vilagarcía de Arousa – Catoira – Pontecesures – Padrón – Santiago; or entering via Ribeira – A Pobra – Boiro – Rianxo – Pontecesures.

Finisterre Way

If all roads lead to Santiago, the Finisterre Road is the only one originating in the holy city. The visit to the Holy Christ of Finisterre and the Sanctuary of A Barca, in Muxía, surrounded by the impressive landscape of the ancient Land’s End (finis
terrae), is a ritual followed by many pilgrims to round off the Jacobean pilgrimage.

Itinerary:  Santiago – Negreira – Mazaricos – Vimianzo – Dumbría – Cee – Corcubión – Finisterre – Muxía.