Having failed miserably (and painfully) to complete this route in 2019 due to a severe hip injury, I am having another go. Previously I was stopped short of reaching Burgos by a mere few stages.

The first half of the route from Alicante was a long way from being one of my favourite camino paths – but that may well have been due to an early start at the beginning of April when there were howling winds buffeting us off course on the completely flat landscape dominated by grapevines that had not yet come into bud. And later, when the wind subsided we had to deal with the rain and the consequent deep, sticky clay mud that made our boots feel like lead weights. But there were some fabulous stages further along through deep gullies with towering cliffs and vultures soaring close overhead.

So I am returning to the Lana at the half-way point and walking from the beautiful city of Cuenca. I shall be accompanied by my much loved camino pals Nina (who was with me on the first attempt) and Paul who hasn’t had the pleasure of this particular route before.

Hopefully we will all make it in one piece (or perhaps that should be three pieces!) and arrive in Burgos after fifteen stages, which will give us time to hop on a bus to León and walk the Camino San Salvador over a further five stages.

We set off next Tuesday, 28 April 2026, so watch this space if you would like to follow the ups and downs of this latest camino adventure. And if you want to read about the initial attempt at this route, take a look here.