Via de Plata Tour

Fourteen nights, self-guided, crossing Spain from north to south along the Via de Plata, the ancient Silver Path used as a trading route since Roman times. Caminos arranges the hotels, the car and the directions, and the route runs one way from the coast of Asturias to Sevilla.

Caminos stresses the contrasts. The trip starts in the lush green valleys of Asturias, crosses the arid plains and high sierras of Castilla y Leon and Extremadura, and arrives among the orange groves of Andalucia, so the landscape, the food and the architecture change several times on the way. Along the route sit Roman ruins, pilgrim towns, wine regions and dehesa pastureland where Iberian pigs are raised, with the local jamon tasted at the source.

Three nights in Asturias set up the Picos de Europa, the cider country and the beaches with fossil dinosaur footprints. Leon and Astorga follow, then Salamanca with its university, Hervas and the Sierra de Gredos, and Trujillo with Monfrague National Park, Caceres and Guadalupe. Llerena is the base for Merida’s Roman ruins and the conquistador town of Jerez de los Caballeros, and Sevilla finishes the route with its cathedral, the Archive of the Indies, the Alcazar and Triana.

The price covers hotels on a bed and breakfast basis for two sharing a double room, an economy four-door hire car for those flying, or Brittany Ferries crossings for travellers bringing their own car, a regional guide book and a personal travel app with restaurant suggestions and weather forecasts, and instructions for finding every hotel. Flights, one-way and cross-border car hire charges, extras such as a second driver, garage parking and local tourist taxes are not included. Caminos quotes about £1,900 per person as an indicative mid-season figure for 14 nights, and adapts the route, hotels and airports to each traveller.