A walker's guide to the 778km Pilgrim Road from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the foothills of the Pyrenees on the French side to Santiago de Compostela in northwestern Spain and finally to the "end of the earth" in Finisterre on the Galician coast. It is the first original guide to the route in English, replacing the second part of the single volume previously published by Cicerone Press. As well as giving directions for walking the route, the book also provides information on places to visit along the way, the history of the pilgrimage and the availability of practical facilities such as shops, bars, restaurants and accommodation. Unlike existing guides (in any language) this one contains two features not included in any others: details of the walker's continuation from Santiago to Finisterre (75km) and a comprehensive listing of St. James and other pilgrim references along the way (as an Appendix). It also contains a list of suggestions for further reading, a glossary of geographical and other useful terms and a series of sketch maps covering the entire route, to aid the user in planning his or her journey.

Author Biography

Alison Raju is a former teacher of French, German and Spanish to adults and the author of four pilgrim guides for walkers published by Cicerone Press: Way of St. James: Le Puy to the Pyrenees, (2nd edition 2003) Way of St. James: Pyrenees-Santiago-Finisterre (3rd edition 2003), Via de la Plata: Seville/Granada-Santiago (2nd edition 2005) and the Pilgrim Road to Nidaros (Oslo-Trondheim, 2001.) A walker's guide to the Via Francigena, the classic pilgrim road from Canterbury to Rome, is in preparation. A chance viewing of a television programme in the early 1970's lead to Alison's interest in the Pilgrim Road to Santiago, at that time barely known in Britain. A walker most of her life she had the opportunity to walk the 1000 mile camino from Le Puy-en-Velay to Santiago all in one go in 1990, a time which coincided, fortuitously, with Cicerone Press seeking an author to write an original guide in English to the Spanish section of the route. Since then Alison has walked and explored many of the pilgrim roads through Europe (France, Germany, Switzerland, Portugal) as well as those she has written about.