Itinerary, description of stages, practical informations, accomodation, GPS tracks from Aachen to Santiago especially for the more unknown parts (Via Mosana, Toulouse-Conques, Assisi way…)
Other Caminos hiked (totally or partly)
France :
Iberian Peninsula :
Italy :
My way from Aachen to Santiago
Linked with the image below : the GPS track of all the hike (this GPS track has been remade after the hike)
The legend tells that one night Saint James appeared to Emperor Charles the Great to ask him to free his tomb from the Saracens. To find it, he had to follow the Milky Way. Thus, according to legend, the Camino from Aachen to Santiago is the original one. Hiking the first path and following the stars, the idea was beautiful. So I started in Germany and built my way through Belgium, Reims, Vézelay, Cluny, Puy-en-Velay, Conques, Toulouse, Saint-Bertrand-de-Comminges. These places were either historically or personally important landmarks. Then via the Camino Aragonés and the Camino Francés, I reached Santiago. After passing through Cape Finisterre, by the Camino Portuguese, I finished my long hike after 3500km in Porto.
From Aachen to Santiago, I followed more or less the path(s), allowing sometimes walking my own way…
From Aachen to Vezelay, I walked on the Via Mosana then on the path number GR654.
The way of Vezelay is going then to Limoges. For my first camino, I found it a pity not to go through the most famous section from Le Puy to Conques. So, I followed a part of the way to Assisi which links Vezelay to Italy through Cluny. The Cluny monks, in the middle age, promoted the Santiago pilgrimage. Their influence is strong all along the way to Spain.
From Cluny to Le Puy, I left the ways of pilgrims to follow more or less the path number GR7, along the line of the watershed between the Rhone and the Loire basin.
From Le Puy to Conques, I was back on a famous way to Compostela, the Via Podiensis.
I went then south from Conques to Toulouse using a new trail, unfrequented and marvelous.
The traditional way from Toulouse to Somport and then to Camino Aragonés is going through Auch. I went south straight to Pyrenees Mountains to reach Saint Bertrand de Comminges.
The path of Piedmont can reach Saint Jean Pied de Port. I followed it to Lourdes where due to the heat, I decided to cross the Pyrenees at the Col des Moines in the Ossau valley.
From the pass of Somport to Puente La Reina, the Aragonese way join the Via Tolosana to the Camino Frances. These paths led me to Santiago.
After Santiago, I walked to Muxia and Cape Finisterre, I walk back to Santiago to take the Portugues path to the suburbs of Porto.
Aachen, Reims, Vezelay, Le Puy, Conques, Toulouse, Saint Bertrand de Comminges, Burgos … a path on the footsteps of Christianity in Europe.
I described the day route on the less travelled part. From Le Puy to Conques or in Spain, you just have to follow the path … :
Thru hikes in Europe, Asia, USA... 
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