The GR1-Spain’s Sendero Historico

We take a look at the new Cicerone guide to this beautiful and demanding trek in Spain.

Strangely I’m writing this review in Arctic Sweden, with a blizzard outside and an average temperature of -10C it’s not hard to visualise a warm holiday in the sun.

This new Cicerone guide is a great new addition to expand ding range of guide to Spain. There are many reason Northern Europeans like to holiday in Spain, the short travel times, the excellent amounts of sunshine and that little bit of Moorish exotic.

Spain is no stranger to long distance treks either and the mention of along distance trek in the warm sun sounds appealing. John Hayes has produced a great companion to this almost coast to coast trek across the northern part of Spain and is a real alternative to that crowded motorway the Camino di Santiago.

There is plenty of history, snippets of interesting information on climate, when to go, great paragraph ice on wildlife and plants. He even mention dogs, but no mention of the dreaded and fearful Pyrenean Shepherd dogs! The information really is a wealth of knowledge to explored before and during the trek. There is also plenty of useful accommodation options and with the aid of the internet you shouldn’t have any problems finding good a quality place to stay.

 John neatly breaks the 53 day hike into seven sections that are easily accessible as start and finish points so the route should be within the reach of most people with annual holiday. Each section has good detail, good mapping and plenty of information to get you through the section, with the aid of a map and compass of course. There is also some extra snippets of history, geography or wildlife to help you identify with the section you are walking. The grading is on a scale of 1-5, but I often forget what the grading is about so perhaps a more thorough introductory paragraph would be more useful.

Stuffed full of fantastic and sunny photographs, the Sendero Historico guide for cicerone is a great little guide to a super looking long distance trek that has hit my radar and no doubt I’ll be finding some time this Autumn to hike some sections.

SRP: £17.95

Available from Cicernone.