The Toledo Run

Two weeks from the north coast down through Castile into Extremadura and on to Toledo, which is the longest reach south that Caminos offer from the ferry ports. Arranged as a fly-drive with the hire car included, or with the ferry and your own car.

The first half is the Castilian cities: Burgos, León, Salamanca, Ávila behind its complete medieval walls, and Segovia under its Roman aqueduct, with Zamora and Toro in the vineyards between them. Then the route drops into Extremadura, which is the part that makes this trip different from a cathedral tour.

Trujillo and Cáceres are conquistador towns, built with silver brought back from Peru and barely altered since, and Cáceres has one of the best-preserved old quarters in Spain. Mérida has a Roman theatre still used for performances, an amphitheatre and a bridge that has been carrying traffic for two thousand years. Monfragüe, between them, is a dehesa landscape of holm oak and granite crags where black vultures and imperial eagles nest. Toledo closes it, three religions stacked on a rock in a loop of the Tagus.

Fourteen nights, circular, priced per person for two sharing on a bed and breakfast basis with the car included; flights are extra and a ferry option is available. One thing to settle before you book: Caminos publish no day plan for this tour, so the places above come from their own route notes and highlights rather than a confirmed itinerary. Ask them for it. It suits anyone who wants Roman Spain, imperial Spain and medieval Spain in one fortnight, and has the appetite for the mileage that takes.