Pilgrimage Road to Santiago

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.

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.

In preparation for my first official pilgrimage to Compostela, I've sought out references from every possible fountain. Davidson and Gitlitz offer the consumate guide to the novice pilgrim, with plenty for the seasoned shell-bearer. This book is thorough in its detail, appealing in its prose and appetizing in its descriptions. Having lived in many of the places along the road, I've been critical of many of the books I've read as too heavy on the "Big C" culture: That which isn't really culture at all...just the obvious stereotype. This book is heavy on the "Little C" culture, as a book which delves into little-known asides which inspire the traveler to seek and find, and create a unique memory for themselves.It offers a variety of insights on history, lore, architecture, terrain, and other "bonuses". It's a quick read, but allows you enough of the whole to enitce you to explore and gain the rest on your own industry.Of all the guidebooks I've purchased, this is the ONLY one that will be travelling in my pack on the Road to Santiago.

This is THE guide to the Road to Santiago, written by the foremost American experts, who bring the culture and context of the pilgrimage alive. Here and there they include personal recollections of their own pilgrimages through the years, from the seventies, as some of the first walkers to revive the pilgrimage, to today. On their first journey, for instance, they were almost arrested in one tiny village for wearing shorts and being "half-naked," as the mayor insisted. Today, tourists sunbathe topless in the same village.

David Gitlitz and Linda Davidson have written a remarkable cultural handbook on the Road to Santiago. Basing the book on their own information gained from over a quarter of century of walks to Santiago, they have composed a text that is a must read for all manner of pilgrims to Santiago as well as any student of Spanish cultural history. It is also the one book written over the past 500 years that would have been both credible and interesting to pilgrims from the Renaissance. Examining layer after layer of medieval, Renaissance and modern culture from even the most obscure sites along the road, Gitlitz and Davidson make it possible to finally see the Road to Santiago for the rich cultural, social and religious experience that it is.