The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook

• Paperback - July, 2000 - St. Martin's Griffin
• Usually ships in 24 hours
• By: David M Gitlitz and Linda Kay Davidson
• ISBN: 0312254164

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Reviews by readers

Wonderful Book on the Cultural Background of the Camino

I did the Camino in 2003 using this book as a guide. In fact it was the only one I brought with me.

It's strengths are not in the trail directions it gives. There are much better guides for that. I suggest you consult one of the Camino web sites to find out the most current and recommended version of those. the operative word is current. The Camino does change from year to year, new alberges open, others disappear, the trail moves, street names change (Franco related ones are definitely on the outs), etc.

That said, this is a wonderful book for the historical background and descriptions of the countryside it provides. I read this book and I became fixated on doing the Camino. If you are going to do the Camino or are just interested in the Camino, read this book. If you know someone who is going to do the Camino, get them this book. It is the best book I've ever read in terms of Camino cultural information.

Great guide

For anyone planning to walk The Way of St James pilgrimage across Norther Spain, this book provides fascinating local history. I read it after I walked, and wish I had done it the other way around.

Camino Junkie

I walked the Camino in the Fall of 2004 and took this book along with a much thinner more practical guide book. I loved, loved, loved having this book! My thin, practical guidebook told me of the trail, and places to stay and eat. This guidebook brought the experience alive for me. Everynight before I went to sleep, I would read the passage about the day I had just walked, and then would read the passage about the next day's walk. I saw and experienced things I would have totally missed if I did not have this book. I would walk along and think of the millions of pilgrams that had walked this path for over 1000 years. In this books there are excerpts from journals of medieval pilgrams, which really made me feel the history of this pilgramage. I too worried about the weight of the book, but found that in the long run it was really worth the added pound in my backpack. I do recommend taking a more practical guidebook as well. I found the guidebook put out by the Confraternity of St. James to be great! If you are not one bit interested in the History and Folklore of the Camino, then skip this book. But if you are, this book is invaluable. I found that I was sharing it with other pilgrams all the time, who wanted more info on what we were experiencing.

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