Castrojeriz walks

Fifty-ninth stage of the Camino de Santiago. A long, flat stage with no particular difficulty, except that you walk alongside long stretches of busy road. You enter the province of Palencia and pass through several towns and villages, including Boadilla del Camino with its Gothic Rollo and Frómista, where you can admire the four-lock system of the Canal de Castilla. After entering the autonomous community of Castile and León, you discover the town of Carrión de los Condes with its extraordinary Church of Santa María del Camino and its old town.

Fifty-eighth stage of the Camino de Santiago. This stage, with few trees to shelter from the fierce summer sun or the uncomfortable wind and rain, runs largely over good terrain through fields of grain. After passing under the arches of San Antón, you cross the village of Castrojeriz and, after climbing the Teso de Mostelares, you arrive at the village of Itero de la Vega.

The sheer number of things to do in Burgos is impressive: religious and secular monuments, parks, museums, fountains, statues and so on. Among the places to visit, perhaps the most important is the Cathedral of Santa María, a Gothic-style Catholic church converted into a museum. Inside, it houses numerous chapels, each of which is a small museum in its own right. Not far from the altar, on the floor, lies the tombstone of El Cid and Chimène. Also not to be missed are the Monastery of Santa María la Real de Las Huelgas, Burgos Castle, the historic centre, the Miraflores Charterhouse, and so on. I spent a day visiting Burgos, at the end of the fifty-sixth stage of my Camino de Santiago.

Fifty-seventh stage of the Camino de Santiago. After an urban interlude in Burgos, this stage takes you into the heart of the scorching landscapes of Castile. After Rabé de las Calzadas , you step straight onto a desert-like high plateau, dotted with villages nestled amidst the fields. Here, it is a desert of ploughed fields along a path that is often flat and straight, exposed to the wind or the beating sun! Protect yourself before you turn into a lobster.

Sixtieth stage of the Camino de Santiago. A carefree stage... it’s flat... flat... flat! Few village crossings. The route is less desolate than the previous stage, yet there isn’t much to discover. But this may be an opportunity to listen to the silence and reflect on what truly drove us to reach Santiago!

Free parking is available in the public car park at the start of the walk. Walk along the canal in the shade of the trees and cross the bridge to admire the lock. Return via the other bank of the canal to the water retention basin. Take the pedestrian crossing to enter the old town and visit the cathedral. Then return to the car park.