Top spot: Compostela
Santiago de Compostela has been attracting visitors for centuries. The site boasts the Sepulcher of the Apostle James and many thousands of Catholics complete the 800-kilometre walk from St-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees every year. Many non-Catholics, however, find the walk across northern Spain interesting and appealing on its own, and one student who walked the route last summer strongly suggests you don't do it with Catholic friends in spiritual turmoil.
If you can't spare a whole month out of your summer, why not join the Pilgrim route half-way? You can get cheap ferry tickets to Santander. Brittany ferries have two departures every week from Plymouth. Alternatively you can fly to Madrid and then take the train to the Pilgrim route. Probably the best place to join is at Burgos, birthplace of El Cid. There you can see a cathedral to rival that at Compostela and it's a lot quieter into the bargain. If you decide to walk the Pilgrim route go prepared. Purchase the official map, it's well worth it, and plan your route every day. The path is very well sign posted (follow the trail of litter...), but you'll want to know whether you'll turn up at a refuge by night fall. The refuges are more comfortable than you'd think - more like a youth hostel, and the food provided there will be plentiful.
If you travel in July, and this is a great time to go because the feast of St James falls on the 25th, the weather will be very hot. Always carry a litre of water on you and fill up at the refuges over night. Also watch your feet, the hot weather will make them swell so it may be a very good idea buying boots a size too big.
If you decide cycling's for you either take your bike on the ferry or, alternatively hire one when you arrive. Most of the towns on the route have bikes for hire. The only problem is you have to return them to where you picked them up. Remember you'll be cycling through very hilly country and so instead of fifty miles a day calculate for an average of about 35 kilometres. Whether you go on bike or foot, be enlightened.
• The entire pilgrim route takes about four weeks' walking and a fortnight if you cycle.
• The ferry from Plymouth to Santander costs around £100 return, if you don't mind sleeping in a reclining chair. The crossing takes around 24 hours and you can take bikes.
• You can buy a 'Pilgrim Pass' at many of the towns along the route from France. These are very cheap (around £20) and entitle you to stay at the refuges and get a meal there. The refuges are open all summer.
30th May 2002