Catherine

We are driving from Leon to Santiago de Compostela--can anyone recommend where to stop along the way? To sitesee as well as stop for lunch. How about Acebo or Astorga? We would love to hear about anything off the beaten track.

Maribel

Catherine, <BR>We're leaving soon for that neck of the woods, and when we do the Leon-Santiago drive we take the N120 to Astorga then follow the NVI through Ponferrada which becomes the A6 through Lugo and up to La Coruna, then down the very quick A9/E to Santiago. I would suggest a stop in Astorga, an important way station on the pilgrimage route, the Camino de Santiago, to visit the Cathedral (a hodgepodge of styles, not pure Gothic, but it has an impressive altarpiece) and the fairy tale-ish, castle Palacio Episcopal, built by Antonio Gaudi in the late 1800s, his Astorgan "flight of fancy". Everyone samples the local chocolates/pastries and "mantecadas" (but one poster here found the donuts a lot more to his liking!). Beyond Astorga, I'd pass through congested, industrial Ponferrada and make the next short stop in Villafranca del Bierzo, another Camino way station, and walk down the medieval thoroughfare, the Calle del Agua, filled with 16th-17th palaces with their coats of arms intact. Peek into the 12th c Romanesque Iglesia de Santiago, which gave indulgences to those pilgrims too old or infirm to finish their pilgrimage by allowing them to pass through the "puerta del perdon" (gate of pardons), and there's also the Cistercian Colegiata de Santa Maria. You may want a coffee break at the modernish Parador on the outskirts of town. If you're wine lovers, Villafranca produces a white wine, the Senorio de Arganza, (the Bierzo area is a DOC region), which is quite pleasant, and you may be able to purchase it right at the Palacio de Arganza on the square next to the Jesuit college. Beyond Villafranca, the village of O Cebreiro in the mountainous Os Ancares is worth another stop-noted for its collection of 2,000 yr. old Celtic "pallozas", oval 2 room huts, one room for man, the other for beast, made out of rough grey stone with conical straw roofs. You can visit one that has been furnished and turned into an Ethnographic museum. O Cebreiro marks the entrance into Galicia on the Camino de Santiago-you should encounter a few modern day pilgrims here on this route. In Lugo, I would suggest a lunch stop at the turn of the century Restaurante Verruga in the Old Quarter on Calle Cruz, which serves traditional Galician dishes in a typical Castillian decor, has wood burning ovens for roasts and "filloas rellenas" (crepes) and "tarta San Jorge" for dessert-an institution, closed Mon. Also tapas bars are plentiful in the old quarter, such as "A Tasca", also on Calle Cruz. <BR>Hope this gives you a few ideas. <BR>Have a great trip! <BR> <BR>P.S. I saw your other post, Catherine, and would have responded, but from Baiona to Zamora we've take the northern Spanish route through Verin. Never been through Braganza and Braga in Portugal.

Maira

Maribel's advice is, as usual, totally awesome. If I may add, I was pretty impressed with the Knights of Templar Castle in Ponferrada. The Knights had the mission of protecting the safety of pilgrims on the Way to Santiago and this castle was their headquarters. Very, very old and impressive. However, my main interest in stopping at Ponferrada was to see the iron Roman bridge ("Ponferrada"). Well, let me just say that we drove over it and missed it! I would "shoot" for lunch at Astorga or Villafranca del Bierzo. <BR> <BR>Leon is one of my favorite cities. Where are you staying?

Maribel

Maira, <BR>Forgot about Ponferrada's star attraction, the Castle (open 10- 2, closed Mon). Always fun to stroll the ramparts and to imagine what life would have been like in the 13th c.! <BR>The iron bridge (ponferrada) no longer exists-replaced by a modern one, that's why you didn't see it, so you didn't miss it after all! <BR> <BR>Catherine, <BR>Forgot to say it should only take about a half hr to reach Astorga, then an hr more to Villafranca from Leon. There's also another kind of cutely restored little village with noble homes and a wide cobblestoned main street built for the mule trains, right off the Camino, 7 km west of Astorga, called Castrillo de los Polvazares, which has a nice little inn "Cuca la Vaina". <BR>This is the Margateria, or the land of the "maragatos", a strange, very marginalized subculture of unknown origins whose men were the muleteers who transported goods between Castilla and Galicia- extremely hard-working, scrupulously honest and notoriously trustworthy but kept strictly to themselves and never married outside their clan. For special occasions they still dress in their unique native costumes which consist of big slouched hats, wide bottomed britches and red garters. Their specialty is the "cocido maragato", a quite heavy chickpea stew, a type of "pot au feu" which the maragatos eat backwards; first the meat, then the vegetables, then the soup! They also make the famous "mantecadas" (sponge cakes).

Catherine

Thank you for the quick responses! This is just what I was looking for. It is so hard to make plans when you don't know how long it will take you to travel from one place to another. Experience has taught me that "how far" does not always tell me "how long". We are staying at the Pardor San Marcos in Leon, Maria.

Maribel

Catherine, <BR>We'll be at the Parador San Marcos as well the last of June and the one in Baiona before that. They're both wonderful places to stay, and we can hardly wait to reach cool, lovely Green Spain. Hope you have a great journey!