The Pilgrimage Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook

I have the Kindle edition, which is perfect for reference along the Camino. It is well organized and linked. The historic and cultural information adds so much to the journey, I couldn't recommend it more. I spent many times over dinner reading interesting, and entertaining, passages to my fellow pilgrims who wanted to hear excerpts from the book. Or checking with it before entering a significant church or town. The quoting of historic sources is wonderful. If anyone trashes this work for not giving turn by turn directions, they are simply clueless about what this book is meant to provide.

As is apparent from other reviews in this thread, "The Pilgrim's Road to Santiago: The Complete Cultural Handbook" by Gitlitz and Davidson elicits strong feelings, both pro and con. I personally found this book to be an invaluable reference while walking the pilgrimage route. However, I recognize how other individuals might differ in their assessment.First and foremost, it is essential to recognize what this book is NOT designed to do.The handbook is not a trail guide.It does not list refuges or explain where to camp.It does not tell you where to eat or what to pack.If this is what you are looking for, find another book.With that said and done, the handbook did provide me with an extremely valuable reference in establishing a cultural context for the sites that I was visiting. I am not an expert in Romanesque architecture, nor do I know the lives of Roman Catholic saints well enough to recognize the major figures in a Retablo. I never had the opportunity to extensively study the history of the pilgrimage. Left to my own devices, I would most certainly never have read much in the way of medieval Spanish poetry. In all honesty, even after walking the pilgrimage route, I am still far from expert in all of these areas. However, the handbook did provide me with enough information that I was able to appreciate much more of the sites that I was visiting.As other individuals have noted, time for sightseeing is often short. I found the handbook to be extremely useful in prioritizing my time and determining which sites would be most interesting to visit. As an example, none of the other sources that I consulted noted the existence of the Blacksmith forge at Compludo which may very well have been my favorite part of the trip. Without the handbook, I would have never have visted half the church nor understood a quarter of what I was seeing.As I noted at the start of this posting, when it comes to the handbook, your mileage may vary. Each person has their own reason for traveling the Camino. If you aren't interested in cultural history or architectural reference, you might find it more useful to bring another reference. However, if you are interested in understanding the "why" behind what you're seeing, I think that you will find this reference as valuable as I did.

My wife and walked part a portion of the Camino Frances (Leon to Santiago de Compostela) in May of 2004. In walking the Camino, I think one must consider several sources. One of these should be topographical and describe the lay of the land, one logistical and describe where you may find comfort, and one cultural. This book is the best that I know of in fulfilling that last category.While some may find this a useful guide to carry, I agree with some of reviewers who suggest not taking this book on the road. [Hopefully the authors will never read this review... ] I did carry this book, but I ripped out the irrelevant portions of the journey before I began, and every night I ripped out the pages covering the day's journey so as to lighten the load. [ I should point out that I bought another copy when I got home, so as to make amends for the destruction of the book. ]Even had I never walked I still think what I learned about Spain, the history and cultural of the regions covered by the Camino, and aspects of the architecture and other features covered in this book to be fascinating.

Detail beat my expectations. Good historical report. The book weighs less than you'd expect for the size, which made it easy to carry with me while I walk. I really appreciate being able to review the details of what I would be seeing the next day. Or, what I am currently looking at. I look forward to any future updates, if I can complete the walk again.

I did the Camino in 2003 using this book as a guide. In fact it was the only one I brought with me.It's strengths are not in the trail directions it gives. There are much better guides for that. I suggest you consult one of the Camino web sites to find out the most current and recommended version of those. the operative word is current. The Camino does change from year to year, new alberges open, others disappear, the trail moves, street names change (Franco related ones are definitely on the outs), etc.That said, this is a wonderful book for the historical background and descriptions of the countryside it provides. I read this book and I became fixated on doing the Camino. If you are going to do the Camino or are just interested in the Camino, read this book. If you know someone who is going to do the Camino, get them this book. It is the best book I've ever read in terms of Camino cultural information.

Ver detailed and researched guide to towns along the Camino Frances. I’ll be taking it with me on the Camino.

I am currently doing the fitness challenge by MY Virtual Mission for Camino de Santiago and this book has been most valuable to see the different places of interest on my journey ..Thank You !!!!

The first time I walked the Camino I brought along a spare copy and tore pages out as I went along. This was not a good way to use an excellent guide which is really the only one of hundreds of Camino titles to cover historical monuments and the history of places you pass in depth. On my second Camino I carried an iPad and would gladly have purchased the Kindle edition had it been available. I'm delighted to see it come out as an ebook and recommend it to everyone walking the Camino who's carrying a device to read ebooks. Taken together with the smaller Brierley guide (hard copy) which still has the maps, it's all you'll need.

Bought kindle version to take on the Camino (very overpriced at ~15 pounds) and second hand paperback to read at home in my leisure and marvel at all the great architecture I has seen. The book does what it says on the cover but is very poorly laid our, typeset etc and with no visuals at all. The hand drawn maps are too small to be of any practical use. There is quite a bit of historical background on the towns and buildings you will pass and which I enjoyed and passed on each evening at dinner in the Auberges.The main problem is 80% OR MORE of the churches were not open...or had strange opening hours that were not kept to...very frustrating for a church spotter like myself and coming from UK where in general all churches are accessible hard to understand .....so my evening briefings became a parody of the marvels we were not going to be able to see the next day. Book very good for Pamplona/Burgos/Leon etc where there were opening hours. I have glanced at the paperback a few times since returning but it is not a good read in itself....its a cultural/architectural guidebook so only really useful on the road. Buy Kindle version only if you are walking Camino and prepare to be frustrated by access issues

A MUST for anyone palnning to walk the Camino Santiago. Descriptions of what to see with their history and architecture, so you can know what you are looking at on your journey. Well worth the buy.

Purchased to read before our holiday with Saga in June when we follow the pilgrims trail from Bordeaux to Santiago.

This book provides all the information needed to make the most of the cultural monuments seen on the camino. The section for each town is well laid out with the highlights clearly shown. An essential for your backpack.

A very well done indeed