The pilgrimage route of Spain’s Camino de Santiago (“Way of Saint James”) is full of the history, legends, and traditions of the seekers and adventurers who have followed it for the past 1,100 years. Easy Rider Cycling tours offers guided trips for modern-day pilgrims who want to experience the historic route by bicycle. 

The Camino de Santiago (“The Way of Saint James”) is an 1,100-year-old pilgrimage route across Spain ending at Santiago de Compostela, where, tradition has it, the bones of the saint are buried. Seekers and adventurers from around the world sojourn to Santiago under their own power – by foot, bicycle, even donkey – to earn that most esteemed souvenir: the compostela, or certificate of completion. It’s a challenging journey, complete with mountain passes, unpaved roads, and weather that can be less than cooperative. Easy Rider Cycling Tours, an adventure travel company that specializes in European bike trips, has been guiding bicycling tours along the Camino since 1998.

 

“Each person’s experience of the Camino is unique,” says Easy Rider founder Jim Goldberg, who has guided the tour several times. “Most of our biking guests come for the challenge, the history, and the personal sense of achievement. Very few are in it for religious reasons, although we did once have a church group who brought their own cycling priest! But most people (myself included) do find themselves moved by the journey, even those who least expected to be.” An Easy Rider guest agreed: “The Camino de Santiago bike tour was an exhilarating, breathtakingly beautiful trip…Our surprise reward was that it was also a powerful spiritual adventure.”