Book Reviews: A Handful of Camino Guides
Book Reviews: A Handful of Camino Guides
Michelin Guide to Camino de Santiago: St-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela
Michelin Guide 160, Michelin Éditions 7, 2023
96 pages (English)
Camino de Santiago: Way of St. James from the Pyrenees to Santiago and Beyond to Finisterre and Muxia
by Cordula Rabe
Rother Walking Guide, Bergverlag Rother, 2015
253 pages (English)
The Camino Mozárabe: From Almería and Jaén to Mérida
by Tim Staphenhurst
The Confraternity of St. James, 2022
186 pages
The Camino Mozárabe: Málaga to Mérida 2022
by Tim Staphenhurst
The Confraternity of St. James, 2022
70 pages
The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook
by David M. Gitlitz and Linda Kay Davidson
St. Martin’s Griffin, 2000
949 pages (Kindle)
on Goodreads
Reviewed by Jerald Stroebele | Anchorage, AK
Most pilgrims on the Caminos de Santiago carry at least one guidebook, whether in print, e-reader format, or both. I’m in the “both” category, but the paper copy must be small and light.
When I walked on the Camino Francés a couple of years ago, I stopped at a Repsol gas station for a cold drink and found a fold-out Michelin guide to that Camino route. It was light and easy to follow, but I never found another copy at a Repsol station. Last fall, I came across a Michelin guide to the Camino Francés in booklet form. It is not a fold-out, but is nice and light. It’s the paper copy I’m carrying on my Camino this fall. In a bookstore in St. Jean-Pied-de-Port, I found the German Rother guide to the Camino Frances—in English! A small and light book convenient to carry.
In the last two years, my family and I have walked some of the other Camino routes where I had difficulty finding guidebooks before I walked. In those cases, the online information provided by Gronze.com and the local Camino associations was excellent and we had no difficulty finding the way and nightly accommodations. Also, internet searches provided links to earlier pilgrims’ blogs that contained valuable information.
When my French son-in-law and I walked the Camino Aragonés last fall, the only guidebook I could find was the French Miam Miam Dodo. When we merged with the Camino Francés in Obanos, I opened my iPhone Kindle app and was surprised to find the first 139 pages of The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook were a guide to the Camino Aragonés!
Last year when we walked the Camino Mozárabe from Almería, The Confraternity of St. James guide was out of print. This year when we continued on that route from Málaga, I found guidebooks available for both sections of that route.
Keep searching. You will find some great guidebooks out there, even for some of the routes less traveled.
Got a book or film to review? Let La Concha know!
Have you published a Camino- or pilgrimage-related book that La Concha has not yet reviewed? Did you produce a film on the subject that you want fellow pilgrims to know about? Drop an email to laconcha@americanpilgrims.org with the title and a brief synopsis of your creative work, and we will connect you with one of our reviewers for consideration.