To begin at the end: the remains of the apostle Saint James (or Sant Iago, in Spanish) are believed to repose in an urn, in a tomb, in a crypt, in the looming medieval cathedral of the city named after him. Santiago de Compostela was built around the saint’s burial site, as revealed to a shepherd by a guiding star almost a millennium after the body was carried here by stone boat from Jerusalem, with angels guiding the way. Or so the story goes. It has since led more than 1,000 years’ worth of pilgrims to this convergence point of myth and history, via the network of cross-country trails known as the Camino de Santiago. In 2022, a record 438,000 people completed one of those routes, some of them covering only the final 62 miles (or 124 miles for cyclists) required to qualify for the official pilgrim certificate, the Compostela. It’s a measure of how popular the pilgrimage has become, drawing not just the Catholic faithful but recreational trekkers, mountain bikers, group tours and solo travellers, coming to work off their worries — or a few extra pounds — in the wilds of the Iberian peninsula.
There are seven main caminos (ways) and while they all end in Santiago de Compostela, they’re not all confined to Spain. The French Way, from the foothills of the Pyrenees, has some of the best infrastructure and is by far the busiest. Lesser-travelled alternatives, meanwhile, trace the Portuguese coast, the Cantabrian Mountains and the inland plains of Castile and León. Each route offers its own distinct pleasures in terms of climate, landscape, physical challenges and regional cultures. But there are recurring features, with all paths marked by holy ruins, shrines, monasteries and albergues (simple hostels that have served the routes since the Middle Ages). There’s always camaraderie among the wayfarers. A bottle of water or wine shared with strangers in the ruins of a hilltop hospital built for early pilgrims might be the defining moment of your trip. There’s also solitude, if that’s what you want, and the profound satisfaction of moving through all this natural beauty under your own steam. If you don’t find God, or even yourself, on the way, there is at least the promise of deep peace and quiet.
The classic Portuguese Way from Porto is a largely inland option, but there’s also a 170-mile coastal alternative that skirts the Atlantic coastline through northern Portugal and Galicia — the edge of the known world in Roman times.
Days 1-3
With its Romanesque facade and ethereal blue azulejo tiling, Porto Cathedral makes for an eye-catching starting point. Divert to Matosinhos and follow the ocean along wooden walkways through landscapes of dunes, flowers and market gardens. Browse for lace in the old naval town of
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The French government is set to finance an expansion and improvement of its rail sector to the tune of €100 million ($110 million) and has decided to do it by increasing the tax on airline tickets. After its recent introduction of banning short-haul flights under 2.5 hours, this is a new phase in encouraging domestic train travel over air travel to meet its environmental targets.
Journeying through Mongolia’s epic landscapes is a mesmerizing adventure. The sheer scale and emptiness of the steppe has a hypnotic lure that stays with you long after returning to civilization.
As summer travel continues to remain chaotic, more and more people are losing their luggage. So it's no surprise many travelers are sticking to carry-ons — including Tan France.
The narrow path weaved along the side of a vertiginous promontory carpeted with ferns and the occasional cluster of buttercups and purple hollyhocks. Wispy tendrils of fog dissolved, and the June sunshine warmed my back as I stood on a wind-sculpted granite boulder and peered into the Atlantic Ocean's cobalt depths. The cries of gulls mixed with the sound of waves crashing against the rocks, releasing cascades of salt-charged spray. I could still see the fingernail outline of the creamy beach we'd traversed earlier, where plovers scuttled from the incoming tide.
When I started packing for the Camino de Santiago this summer, I didn’t want to get things wrong—after all, the stakes are a bit higher than a day hike when you’re packing for a month-long trip.
A passenger on a low-cost airline in India discovered on Monday that she'd arrived in a city some 1,000 miles from her planned destination after being told to board the wrong flight.
Hanoi has always been a city of tales and legends. Its ancient name, Thang Long, which means “the Rising Dragon,” comes from a tale about Emperor Ly Thai To witnessing a golden dragon ascending when he moved the capital here in 1010. The city is now the heartland of Vietnamese literature — home to many of our finest writers, literary festivals and book fairs.
With summer in full swing, Cannes becomes its own festival, long after the last end credits have rolled at the city’s annual film fête. The Croisette is abuzz, restaurants packed and designer stores brim with the latest in resort luxe. It’s hard to find better settings for enjoying la belle vie than a Cannes beach club, where celebrities have long come to see and be seen/snapped, the seaside menus menus offer rosés chilled and fish grilled to perfection, and views from the sun lounger take in the yacht-strewn Bay of Cannes. And just before summer slips into fall, the always highly anticipated Yachting Festival (September 12-17, 2023) comes to town.
It has the same chalky soil as the Champagne region and its wine has the same protected status – and often beats French fizz in blind tastings. Now Sussex has launched a plan to attract many more visitors to its 138 vineyards, aiming to increase the value of wine tourism from £25m today to £283m by 2040.
For travelers to, from, or through Los Angeles International Airport, it may seem as though the airport, the world’s seventh busiest, is in a semi-permanent state of modernization and remodeling, with all the construction, traffic, and delays that entails. A pretty picture it ain’t.