LOURDES TO PAMPLONA
VIA TOLOSANA AND CAMINO ARAGONES
22 June - 7 July 2019
VIA TOLOSANA AND CAMINO ARAGONES
22 June - 7 July 2019
NB: This route requires a higher level of fitness than the Camino routes. 
We are thrilled to be able to offer this stunningly beautiful walk - a route less travelled through majestic landscapes and historic villages. We will meet in the pilgrimage town of Lourdes in the south of France, visiting the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, the shrine of Bernadette, and take part in a candlelight procession. We will walk to Betharram, Arudy and Oloron Ste Marie on the Via Tolosana, after which we turn south to Sarrance, Borce and the Somport Pass. [1640m ] 
Camino Aragones
This is one of the most ruggedly beautiful Camino routes in Spain. From Pyrenean grandeur at the 1 640 m Col du Somport the path drops sharply to 400 m in 7.5 km, into an ancient, crumpled valley formed by a shallow sea that covered Aragon some 100 million years ago. In places, the lunar landscape is spectacular with ingrained fossils of marine micro-organisms in the grey rocks. Long before Charlemagne led his third expedition across the Pyrenees in the 8th century to become Master of Spain, the ‘Summus Portus’ was traversed by Romans, Vandals, Visigoths, Arabs and merchants. It is ± 165 km from Somport through Jaca to Puente la Reina Navarra where it joins the Camino Frances and is well supplied with pilgrim shelters but has fewer hotels or accommodation for groups. This means sharing rooms and in one or two places, dormitory accommodation. In the official guide books some stages are over 30km but we have tweaked the mileages to keep them close to or even under 20km per day. This is a more rugged route than the Camino Frances with not many opportunities to stop for a coffee and few pilgrims. |
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