Important/historic walking paths (pilgrimages, etc)
 

Good morning

What great routes/walks/pilgrimages have you done or would like to do one day (either all in one go or in parts at a time)? I'm mostly thinking by foot but I know there are some which lend themselves to cars or bikes, too. I don't necessarily mean walks with a religious or spiritual meaning, either (although I am sure many of them are, to the people who have done them for a particular reason).

I find myself thinking of El Camino quite a bit these days but there are so many others in so many places. El Camino itself can start from nearly anywhere in Europe, I understand. There is a Via Francigena in Italy which goes from France to Rome and which I've seen parts of in Tuscany (I haven't walked it).

Looking forward to hearing about this...

Some pilgrims, including the previous owner of this house, walk the Camino (Jabikspaad) all the way from St Jacobiparochie, near me, to Compostela. Now that is a walk!

There are lots of long distance paths in the UK, some truly ancient, like teh Ridgeway, tothers like teh coastal routes more modern. Same here in teh Netherlands where there are a several long distance paths, including the aforementioned Jabikspaad and the Pieterpad from Groningen to Maastricht. Many link up with long distance paths through other countries. The French have an excellent network.

I won't ever do it but this one, in Norway, sounds interesting. https://pilegrimsleden.no/en/

The Via Francigena starts in Canterbury btw, not France.
A shame this thread was moved, as I was going to say there a some fantastic walks/hikes to be taken in the United States too.

I hope to do the Camino Frances from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago this Spring. I would love to also do part of the Le Puy route (whole route is from Lyon to Saint-Jean Pied-de-Port where it hooks up with the Camino Frances). Particularly interested in Moissac Abbey for its fantastic Romanesque sculpture around the portal and cloister. Also very interested in the town of Conques and its Abbey Church of Sainte Foy.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_..._of_Sainte-Foy

EXACTLY. WTH.

I wanted to know about walks people did other than in Europe. I already know the ones I'm interested in, in Europe.

I was just reading about the US rail trails and the plan to link them into a coast to coast walk. It sounds ambitious but wonderful.
There are of course other places with rail trails around. A great use of old railway routes, though nowadays perhaps trains on them would be even better.

The Shikoku 88 is on my list, but as I stopped flying, I doubt I will have the chance.

I think the term pilgrimage by definition means religious. Your entire post talks about Europe and asks about Europe, so I don't think there is any way the moderator could know, nor it is likely, that you really were asking about historic walks in the US.

Narrowly, yes, but not necessarily. Any meaningful journey can be called a pilgrimage.

"Any meaningful journey can be called a pilgrimage."

Yes. Pacific Crest Trail. Meaningful enough for several people to write books about their journey. One book (Strayed) became the basis of the movie "Wild."

https://www.cloudlineapparel.com/blo...hat-arent-wild

Similarly, the Appalachian Trail.

The only trail I've personally hiked is the John Muir Trail in California. In my much younger days...

I think almost all multi-day walks are hard work for most of us and we who do them must certainly have more feeling & commitment than to simply get from 1 place to another. That, for me, is the meaning of pilgrimage, the feeling I get from doing something hard and loving it.