YOUR TRIP INCLUDES: Round-trip air from New York (special Add-on Airfares from all US gateways) Airport Taxes, Security Fees & Fuel Surcharges Included 6 nights at 4 star Hotels, & Quaint Inns as follows: (or similar)
1 night: Hotel AC Ciudad de Pamplona, Pamplona, Spain
1 night: Santo Domingo de Silos Hotel, Santo Domingo de Silos, Spain
1 night: AC San Antonio, Leon, Spain
1 night: Hotel AC San Ponferrada, Astorga, Spain
2 nights: San Francisco Hotel Monumento, Santiago de Compostela, Spain Breakfast & Dinner Daily Drinks with dinner Half board accommodation Sightseeing and admissions fees as per itinerary Transportation by air-conditioned motor coach Local guide in Puente la Riena, Leon, Villafranca del Bierzo & Santiago de Compostela Hotel taxes and service charges Catholic Mass daily Flight bag & portfolio of all travel documents
Not Included: Lunches not specified, Travel Insurance optional at $99-$225, (www.206tours.com/insurance). Cancel for Any Reason Protection @ $199 (www.206tours.com/cancellationprotection). Tips to your guide & driver (Euro € 6-8 per day). Items of a personal nature. *"Land Only*" does not include airfare or airport transfers.
Sample Day-by-Day Itinerary: Day 1: Depart USA Departure from your home town for the overnight flight to Madrid or Bilbao. Dinner and breakfast will be served on board.
Day 2: Arrive Madrid or Bilbao - Pamplona Upon your arrival in Madrid or Bilbao this morning, we will be met by our guide and driver and transfer to Pamplona. The city is famous worldwide for the San Fermin Festival in which the running of the bulls is one of the main attractions. From the 11th century, the pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela contributed a lot to revive the commercial and cultural exchanges with Christian Europe beyond the Pyrenees. The most important religious building is the fourteenth century Gothic Cathedral, with an outstanding cloister and a neoclassical façade. There are another two main Gothic churches in the old city: Saint Senin and Saint Nicholas, both built during the thirteenth century. Also we will be able to find Saint Ignatius of Loyola basilica in the place where he was injured in the battle during whose subsequent convalescence he decided to convert to God. Dinner and overnight in Pamplona.
Day 3: Pamplona - Puente la Reina - Santo Domingo de la Calzada - Santo Domingo de Silos
After breakfast in the hotel we will depart Pamplona. In our journey we will visit two of the most important cities related to El Camino: Puente la Reina and Santo Domingo de la Calzada. Puente la Reina means literally the "bridge of the Queen" and was built by doña Mayor de Navarra in the 11th century to help the pilgrims to cross over the river Arga. In this medieval city we will be able to visit the Church of the Crucifix built by the members of the Order of the Temple and the Church of Santiago which contains one of the finest multicolored sculptures representing the Apostle Santiago that can be found along the Santiago Route. Santo Domingo de la Calzada is situated on the banks of the Oja River and its name refers to its founder: Saint Dominic de la Calzada who built a bridge, hospital and hostel here for pilgrims. There are many miracles related to Saint Dominic but he most famous one concerns that of the rooster and the chicken. The story goes that in the 14th century, a German 18-year old named Hugonell, from Xanten, goes on pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela with his parents. A Spanish girl at the hostel where they were staying makes sexual advances toward Hugonell; Hugonell denies her advances. Angry at this, the girl hides a silver cup in the German’s bag and then informs the authorities that the youth had taken it. Hugonell is sentenced to the gallows, in accordance with the laws of Alfonso X of Castile. The parents sadly decide to examine their son’s body, still hanging on the gallows, but suddenly hear his voice - he tells them that Saint Dominic has saved his life. His parents quickly make their way to Santiago de Compostela to see the magistrate. The magistrate, who is at the time eating dinner, remarks: “Your son is as alive as this rooster and chicken that I was feasting on before you interrupted me.” And in that moment, the two birds jump from the plate and begin to sing and crow happily. Dinner and overnight in Santo Domingo de Silos.
Day 4: Santo Domingo de Silos - León Breakfast in the hotel. In the morning we will do an excursion to Santo Domingo de Silos. We will visit the Benedictine abbey of Santo Domingo de Silos, one of Spain’s greatest Christian monuments. Its main feature is a great double-storey XI Century Romanesque cloister, whose beautiful sculptural decoration is in many ways unique. After the visit we will be able to listen to the Gregorian chants by the monks of the monastery. The monks are considered one of the two or three best choirs in the World. Dinner and overnight in Leon.
Day 5: Leon- Astorga/Ponferrada After breakfast in the hotel we will meet with a local guide. Leon aMasses some of Spain’s most important historic-artistic monuments, like its Cathedral, a Gothic gem and a masterpiece of the Gothic architecture with the best collection of stained-glass windows in Europe (only after Chartres). Next to the Cathedral, there is the Roman Saint Isidoro Basilica (eleventh and twelfth century), where Saint Isidoro of Seville tomb is kept; and the Saint Marcus Monastery, with its fantastic front in Plateresque style bedecked with shells (the symbol of the pilgrim). After the visit we'll continue our journey. Depending on the available hotels we will stay in Astorga or in Ponferrada. The historical and religious city of Astorga, called Astúrica by the Romans, once had 25 hospitals. On it the French and the Plata Routes to Santiago converge. The extraordinary Gothic Cathedral, from the 15 C presides over the town. The Episcopal Palace or Gaudí Palace houses the Museo de los Caminos, which displays pieces from all churches related to the Route to Santiago. The city of Ponferrada, with Prehistoric and Roman antecedents, had two accesses in the middle Ages. One was via the Roman bridge spanning the Boeza river, sunk in the 18 C; the other was via the path of the Gallegos and then, crossing the river by the Medieval bridge of Mascarón. At the end of the 11 C, the Bishop of Astorga, Osmundo, commissioned the building of a new bridge, "la Pons Ferrata", a pass with iron banisters which gave name to the city. Later on, between the 11 and 14 C, the Castle of the Knights Templar was built. At the end of the 15 C, the Catholic Monarchs commissioned the construction of the Hospital de la Reina, next to the fortress. In this monumental town also stand the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de la Encina, from the 16 C (built to commemorate the apparition of the Virgin in a grove of Holm oaks) and the Baroque church of San Andres, from the 17 C, which is home to an outstanding retable from the 13 C, "The Christ of the Wonders". Overnight in Astorga or Ponferrada.
Day 6: Astorga/Ponferrada - Villafranca del Bierzo - O Cebrerio - Santiago de Compostela After breakfast at our hotel we will depart for Santiago de Compostela. In our way we will visit Villafranca del Bierzo, a town founded in the 11 C, where the Cluny Order had an important representation. We can enjoy the Collegiate Church of Santa María, built between the 13 and 16 C; the churches of Santiago (12 C) and San Nicolas, as well as the Agua Street, full of palaces and emblazoned houses. The Castle-Palace of the Marquisate is worthy of being visited. Later we will enter Galicia by Lugo, not far from Santiago. The first village in the region of Lugo along the Route is Cebreiro, with an altitude of 1,300 meters. A group of "pallozas" can be seen (Pre-Romanesque circular houses with straw roofs) and a beautiful Pre-Romanesque temple, from the 9-10 C, containing a Chalice, the Paten of "Santo Milagro" (Holy Miracle) and a precious Romanesque carving of Santa Maria la Real. In the evening we will arrive to Santiago de Compostela. In the beginning of the 9C the sepulcher of Santiago el Mayor (James the Greater), evangelist in Spain, was discovered. Pelayo, a hermit who lived in the former diocese of Iria Flavia, had a "divine revelation" in the deep of the forest. He sees "altar lights" and hears "angels singing". The parishioners of San Félix de Solobio, at the foot of the forest, announced the event. The Bishop Teodomiro went in the forest, found the mausoleum and identified it as the Apostle Santiago’s tomb. At a time when Europe needed to be united, the Route to Santiago was the first element that made it possible. The find of the sepulcher of the first Apostle Martyr became an unquestionable symbol, compatible with the diverse conceptions of the Christian people. Dinner and overnight in Santiago de Compostela.
Day 7: Santiago de Compostela Breakfast in the hotel. We'll set out in the cool morning air to join the walking pilgrims at the Monte del Gozo (Mount Joy) from which the spires of the Cathedral are first visible. We will walk the last couple of miles of El Camino. Very soon, we will arrive at the Cathedral, the destination we have been yearning to reach for a long time. After arrival in the Cathedral square and give thanks to God for taking care of us during our pilgrimage, we will visit and attend the International Pilgrim Mass at the Cathedral of St. James, one of the finest examples of architecture in all of Europe. Access to the Doorway of Glory is via the Obradoiro façade. Once in its interior, we will be carried away by the emotions produced by the sight of so many extraordinary valuable works of art. Tradition invites us to perform some rites: The most important and meaningful one is the hug to the Saint, go under the main altar and visit the crypt where the relics of St. James are preserved. Later on, the pagan rite of the bumps. It consists in reaching for a branch on the mullion, below the figure of the Sitting Apostle and, later making three wishes. On the other side of the column, there is another statue believed to impart wisdom and talents to whoever bumps his head against it. In the afternoon we will visit the city of Santiago: Obradoiro Square, Fonseca Palace, Gelmirez Palace, Franco Street, etc. Dinner and overnight in Santiago de Compostela.
Day 8: Santiago de Compostela - USA Breakfast in the hotel. In the morning we will say hasta luego (see you soon or good bye) to our new friends. We transfer to Santiago Airport for your departure and/or additional tours that are available.
6 nights at 4 star Hotels, & Quaint Inns as follows: (or similar)
333 Marcus Blvd 