Today is a longish day and a varied one. Depending on the route selected yesterday, we shall see various villages along two routes. They both meet at Hospital de Orbigo where we again have to decide on two possible routes onto Astorga.

The distance for today os over 30kms or nearly 19 miles. The majority of this stage is relatively solitary so we need to bring food and water with us. There are attractive sections with trees under which to rest in the shade.

Hospital del Orbigo is the lowest point of the journey, we then rise upto Alto Santibanez, down to the river valley at rio Lagunas then a steep climp upto Alto Santo Toribio at 905M. Then it is a down and up route to Astorga.

Villavante - a small village with limited facilities, a bar and the 17th century parish Church of the Candles Iglesia de las Candelas. We take the bridge over the railway turning left onto a track alongside it till we cross the arroyo Huergas with a view up along the tree-lined banks to one of the several old mill buildings in this area.

We now make our way together onto a cobble path for the remaining 0.4 km into the village of Puente de Orbigo with the parish church of Santa Maria (right). The significance of this village diminished in the 12th century when the Knights Hospitaller of St. John built a hospital on the far side.

Puente de Orbigo - on whichever route we previously decided, we will meet here on one of the longest and oldest medieval bridges in Spain dating from the 13th century and built over an earlier Roman bridge which formed one of the great historical landmarks.

Its myriad arches carry us across the Rio Orbigo via the passage of honour Paso Honroso, so called because of the famous jousting tournament that took place here in the Holy Year 1434.

Villares de Orbigo - with parish church dedicated to St. James with an image of Santiago Matamoros. We now enter onto a pleasant pathway that climbs gently passing rest area to join an asphalt road down across a small stream.

Santibanez de Valdeiglesia - we continue up out of the village onto one of the most serene and naturally beautiful paths of the camino. For a glorious 7.2 km the track winds its way through orchards, woodland with holm oak and citrus trees down to pass a small isolated lake before climbing out of this gentle valley through scrubland into arable fields past a farm building.

ASTORGA- an attractive city set atop a steep ridge with a wide range of shops and general facilities and an interesting array of historic buildings.

Originally a powerful Asturian community (Asturica Augusta) it became an equally important Roman town, on account of its prominent position at the junction of several major routes.

This is where the French Way Camino Frances (part of the Via Trajana) joins the Roman Vin de La Plata (otherwise known as the Camino Mo,arabe) from the south and Sevilla.

This convergence of routes gave rise to over 20 pilgrim hospitals in medieval times.