Camino de Santiago between León and Sarria
From Leon you will see that the number of pilgrims increases, and there are many reasons for this. The stretch from Leon is in many ways one of the most interesting, with many historical sights along the way (most importantly; the Cathedral of León, the medieval bridge in Hospital de Orbigo, the Bishop's Palace of Gaudí in Astorga, the Iron Cross and the Monastery of Samos), lots of beautiful villages, excellent facilities and, above all, a varied terrain through beautiful landscape.
Spain is More guests, who start their pilgrimage in León, often take the bus the first 35 km. to Hospital de Orbigo. Many people also choose to walk from León, making the trip one day longer. If you chose to walk from León, the first stage is flat, through industry and suburbs for the first 10 kilometers. Afterwards, the huge plain opens before you, followed afterwards to Rabanal del Camino, where the terrain gets quite hilly.
Many others choose to split the stage between Villafranca and O'Cebreiro, as this is long and relatively difficult. If you don't have time to split this stage, but are finding it too tough while traveling, there are good alternatives to travel by bus and taxi at that particular point. With an extra accommodation in Molinaseca or Villafranca, you can take a trip to Las Medulas, which is a spectacular UNESCO-protected nature area where ancient Romans mined for gold.
Camino de Santiago between Sarria and Santiago de Compostela
The stretch throug Galicia from Sarria to Santiago is the most popular and by far most used Camino-section, which can be clearly seen by the number of pilgrims on this route. It's very charming to come into contact with people from around the world, all of them walking in the same direction and with the same goal in mind. Sarria is 115 km east of Santiago and is the minimum distance required to walk to obtain the Compostela of Santiago.
Sarria, is also a good starting point for the Camino because there are bigger towns with all the necessary facilities you might need along this route. On this route there are two really exciting excursions, one to the huge monastery of Samos, from where you can walk back along the Camino to Sarria, and the other to Lugo and ahead to the world's best preserved Roman city wall.
The first stages after Sarria are fairly hilly, but also some of the most idyllic on the whole Camino. Many have said that these stages are their favourites of the entire Camino - it is so beautiful. You'll pass small farming communities, with stone houses and cobbled paths, you'll walk along the fields where cows graze and through forests where all you hear is the river's murmur. Nature is the main attraction along this way until reaching Santiago de Compostela. This stunningly beautiful town exudes atmosphere in the Old Town's sector of winding streets. It's the perfect ending to your Camino de Santiago. Service functions are generally very good.