The Camino de Santiago – A food & wine guide

The Camino de Santiago, also known as the Way of St James, is a complex network of pilgrimage routes that lead to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where the remains of the apostle St James the Elder are believed to be buried. The Camino is hugely popular, with nearly 450,000 pilgrims making their way towards Santiago in 2023 alone. Today, the route hosts not only religious pilgrims, but also a mix of thru-hikers (those hiking an established long-distance trail end-to-end continuously) and tourists.

It’s easy to eat and drink well along the Camino; especially if walking along the original Camino Francés, or the French Way, the most famous of the Camino de Santiago routes, which starts in the town of St-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France’s far southwest and passes through some of northern Spain’s most coveted food-and-wine regions. From the pintxo paradise of Pamplona to Rioja wine country, through meat-loving León to journey’s end in Galicia, following the path of the Camino offers an immersion in the gastronomic culture and hospitality of northern Spain.

People have different motivations for walking the Camino Francés, from spiritual fulfilment to the physical challenge of a roughly 780km hike. But they all have one thing in common: from the minute they step into a café for breakfast to when they sit down to a communal evening meal, they will be nourished by the wonderful food and drink of northern Spain.

Pamplona

Four days or so into the Camino, pilgrims arrive in Pamplona, the capital of Navarra. The city is famous for the running of the bulls, popularised by Ernest Hemingway in The Sun Also Rises but there’s a lot more to Pamplona than bulls.

Historically a Basque-speaking province, Navarra is steeped in the pintxo culture that’s ubiquitous in this northern corner of Spain. Not to be confused with tapas, pintxos (from the Spanish word pinchar, ‘to puncture’) traditionally come on a small slice of bread with a toothpick through the middle to hold all of the ingredients in place. Navarra is home to some of Spain’s best produce, and it’s common to see fire roasted Piquillo peppers, mushrooms and white asparagus perched atop slices of bread, not to mention everything from shrimp and fried eggs to spicy local txistorra sausages. Hungry pilgrims should make their way to Pamplona’s main square, the Plaza del Castillo, where Hemingway fans can sit down at one of the writer’s favourite spots, Café Iruña, for coffee and people-watching.

The pintxo party gets started in the evenings, around 8-10pm, when the Spanish gather for a (literal) moveable feast as they hop from bar to bar. From Plaza del Castillo, start the pintxo crawl at Bar Gaucho, renowned for its gourmet pintxos, such as truffled egg and foie gras. Another must-visit is Baserriberri, where the modern menu features quirkily named pintxos such as the Singapore Tiger and #SuperhotDogKreativo. Wash these tasty treats down with a glass of Garnacha from Navarra, or perhaps a wine from nearby Rioja.

Those with time on their hands should pay a visit to the Gothic Catedral Metropolitana de Santa Maria de la Real or the Museo de Navarra, which features art and artifacts that date all the way back to the Roman occupation of Navarra and before (with an entry fee of only €2).

Logroño

Another four days’ walk or so along the Camino takes you through Rioja, Spain’s most famous wine region. Though best known for its barrel aged red wines, the region also makes rosé and white wines from grapes such as Viura and Malvasía.

In the capital city, Logroño, head to the iconic Calle Laurel area, where more than 80 bars are packed into roughly 300m of narrow streets. A stop at Bar Angel is obligatory for its champis: three grilled mushrooms on a skewer placed onto a slice of bread, topped with a prawn and then smothered in garlic butter.

You can usually get a €1 glass of wine in a bar, but for a more elevated experience, head around the corner to Roots, a modern wine bar with a rotating by-the-glass selection of wines by small producers from Rioja, the rest of Spain and beyond. A street over, Tastavin combines great cooking with a fantastic list of wines by the glass.

Pilgrims who need a dose of liquid courage to help them along their way can stop at one of the wineries near Logroño. Pay a visit to the urban winery of Javier Arizcuren, walk across the Ebro river to Bodegas Franco-Españolas, or catch a taxi out to Marqués de Murrieta or Viña Ijalba. If you’re pressed for time, centrally located Wine Fandango offers wine flights by Rioja producers. And the next stage of the Camino, on the way to Navarrete, passes Bodegas Corral.

Burgos

As the Camino continues west, the vineyards of Rioja give way to the plains of Castilla y León. About five days’ walk from Logroño is Burgos, named a City of Gastronomy in 2015 by UNESCO.

Burgos has a thriving culinary tradition that boasts deep ties to both Spanish history and local ingredients. Iconic dishes such as morcilla de Burgos (blood sausage made with rice) or lechazo asado (suckling lamb roasted in a clay dish in a wood-fired oven) pair well with hearty crianzas and reservas from Ribera del Duero, the well-known Spanish wine region renowned for powerful, barrel-aged Tempranillo. Burgos also abuts the lesser-known DO of Arlanza, which makes increasingly interesting red, white and rosé wines.

Locals agree that the place to go for a lechazo is Restaurante Casa Ojeda, which has been turning out plates of succulent roast lamb since 1912. Go all out and splurge on a bottle of Vega Sicilia from the impressive vertical of vintages on offer, or pair dinner with another standout local wine.

To help digest all of that roast lamb, wander the streets of the old city and marvel at imposing buildings such as the World Heritage-listed Santa María de Burgos cathedral, or walk a bit further, across the river, and visit the monasteries of Las Huelgas or Cartuja de Miraflores

Back in the city, oenophiles should take the time to visit Tiempos Líquidos, a wine bar opened and run by award winning sommeliers Diego González and Laura Rodríguez. With a 600-strong wine list, the bar has become a mecca for the city’s wine lovers.

León

After a roughly eight-day trek across the vast plains of Spain’s northern Meseta, pilgrims arrive in León, where the skyline is dominated by the towering cathedral of Santa María de Regla. A Gothic masterpiece and the first building in Spain to be officially declared a monument (in 1844), the cathedral and adjoining museum are well worth a visit.

In León, we’re back in the land of tapas, perfect for the pilgrim on a budget. Each glass of wine comes with a free bite; visiting a few bars in Barrio Húmedo can take care of dinner. This neighborhood is tapas central, and each bar has its own speciality. These days, vegetarians will be able to find options, but León is a meat-eater’s paradise: from the famous cecina de León (a cured meat, similar to jamón, but made from beef and smoked) to León’s own take on morcilla (blood sausage), you’re never far from a carnivorous delight. No tapas crawl is complete without a visit to the tiny bar Entrepeñas in Plaza San Martín, famous for its artisan cecina, or El Rebote, the place for classic croquetas.

The nearby DO of Bierzo is famous for Mencía, a black grape that makes spicy, red-fruited wines that are lighter than the Tempranillo-based reds of Rioja or Ribera del Duero. The region also makes some rich and concentrated expressions of Godello, a white-wine variety on the rise in Spain. Other local options include red wines made from the black Prieto Picudo grape, or the white Albarín (not to be confused with Galicia’s Albariño) wines from DO Tierra de León, just to the south of the city.

Santiago de Compostela

After a month of walking, to finally reach Santiago de Compostela is an unforgettable experience. From the moment the cathedral first comes into view at the top of the Monte do Gozo (meaning Mount of Joy, named for the pilgrims’ cries of delight at the end of their journey), the walk into the city is a rush of excitement and relief. Reaching the end of the Camino calls for celebration, and Santiago is full of places to fully explore Galician gastronomy.

The best street for tapas is Rúa do Franco, where the bars and restaurants serve Galician staples such as pulpo á feira (boiled octopus with olive oil, paprika and salt) and raxo (sautéed marinated pork loin). If you’re keen to try the famous Galician tortilla de patatas, cross over to Rúa Nova and go to Bar La Tita, where they serve a free tapa of tortilla with every drink.

Pilgrims have their choice of wines from Galicia’s five DOs: Rías Baixas, Ribeiro, Valdeorras, Ribeira Sacra and Monterrei all pop up by the glass in the region’s capital; stop at Café de Altamira or Xénese for a selection of some of the area’s best. There’s no shortage of choices for dinner, but one standout for its authenticity and fantastic wine selection is Pampín Bar a hole-in-the-wall restaurant hidden away on a side street. Behind an unassuming exterior, guests will find traditional Galician flavours at their finest.

For those who choose to stick around in Santiago, wander through the Mercado de Abastos and buy some food to enjoy over a glass of wine at A Viñoteca do Mercado. A few freshly shucked oysters from the seafood stand, paired with a crisp local Albariño, is a winning combination.

You can learn about the history of the Camino in the Museo das Peregrinacións e de Santiago pilgrimage museum, or about the Galician people themselves in the fascinating Museo do Pobo Galego centre. For a unique Galician keepsake, head to Sargadelos on Rúa de Montero Ríos, a local Galician ceramic maker.

As poet Antonio Machado wrote: ‘Traveller, there is no road; you make your own path as you walk.’ Whether making the pilgrimage along the whole Camino Francés or just visiting the region, the gastronomy, culture and history of these northern Spanish cities are themselves worthy of the journey.

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