Ines Calvo-Mori

Five nights on the Kumano Kodō, out of Osaka

5 nights · Late October to early December · Slow pace · Budget

Osaka at both ends, a night on Kōyasan, then the Nakahechi down to the three Kumano shrines. Buses do the parts I do not walk.

1. Day 1

   Land, then walk the castle grounds

   • Osaka Castle · Afternoon · Sight

     Osaka Castle. I do not go up the tower. I walk the outer moat to shake the flight off my legs.

   • Osaka Museum of History · Afternoon · Museum

     The city history museum, across the road. Good for an hour when you are too tired to think.

   • TAKOUME -the Oldest and Most Traditional Osaka-Oden specialist- · Evening · Meal

     Oden at the counter. Eat early and sleep early, the bus south leaves in the morning.

     • Seen in Time Out Osaka. Described as Japan's oldest oden restaurant, founded in 1844

2. Day 2

   Up to Kōyasan

   • Mount Kōya · Midday · Journey stop

     A working monastic town, not a museum. Photography stops at the Gobyōbashi bridge in Okunoin, and I stop with it.

   • Sacred Sites and Pilgrimage Routes in the Kii Mountain Range · Afternoon · Sight

     The whole listed landscape, Kōyasan and Kumano together. Worth reading the boards before you start walking in it.

3. Day 3

   The Nakahechi in to Hongū

   • Kumano Hongū Taisha · Afternoon · Journey stop

     The precinct is free. Arrive on foot if you can, the last hour of forest is the point of the walk.

   • Ōyunohara · Evening · Walk

     The great torii on the old river island, ten minutes below the shrine. Go at last light and stand there a while.

4. Day 4

   Down the river to Shingū

   • Kumano Hayatama Taisha · Midday · Journey stop

     A short walk from Shingū station and free to enter. Check the shrine's own calendar before you plan the day.

   • Kamikura-jinja · Afternoon · Sight

     Five hundred rough stone steps above the town. Not for tired knees, and not in the rain.

5. Day 5

   Nachi

   • Kumano Nachi Taisha · Morning · Journey stop

     Bus from Kii-Katsuura, then a long stone stair. Free precinct. Go early, the coaches come at ten.

   • Nachi Falls · Midday · Nature

     Below the shrine. The viewing platform is a small paid extra and it is worth it.

6. Day 6

   Back to the city

   • CHITOSE · Midday · Meal

     Nikusui. Beef broth and no noodles, which is exactly what five days of walking asks for.

     • Seen in Osaka Convention and Tourism Bureau. Listed by Osaka's official tourism site for nikusui, meat udon served without the noodles

   • Osaka Korea Town · Afternoon · Walk

     Tsuruhashi. A long slow browse with no hill in it.

   • Tsūtenkaku · Evening · Sight

     Loud, cheap and a bit silly after a week of cedar forest. That is why I go.

• Seen in Time Out Osaka. Time Out Osaka's list of one hundred must-go restaurants in the city, arranged by genre

The last week of the Camino Francés

5 nights · May, or the second half of September · Slow pace · Budget

One night in Madrid, then Sarria to Santiago on foot and a bus out to the cape. The walking days are the point, so most of them hold two stops and no meal.

1. Day 1

   One night in Madrid first

   • Mercado de San Miguel · Afternoon · Market

     Touristy and I do not care. Stand at the edge, eat two things, leave.

     • Seen in Time Out Madrid. Listed by Time Out Madrid as the city's only surviving cast-iron market, a designated heritage site

   • Botín · Evening · Meal

     Roast lamb, once, before a week of bread and cheese. Book it.

     • Seen in Time Out Madrid. Listed by Time Out Madrid as the world's oldest restaurant, known for its roasts

   • Chocolatería San Ginés · Night · Coffee

     Chocolate on the way back to the room. The night train and the early bus both leave from here.

     • Seen in Time Out Madrid. Listed by Time Out Madrid as a churros and chocolate institution serving since 1894

2. Day 2

   Sarria to Portomarín

   • Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain · Morning · Walk

     Twenty two kilometres. Get your first stamp in Sarria before you leave, or the office in Santiago will ask.

   • Portomarín · Evening · Sight

     The old town was moved stone by stone when the reservoir filled. The church was rebuilt above the water line.

3. Day 3

   A short day, and the walls at Lugo

   • Roman Walls of Lugo · Morning · Walk

     Not on the route. A bus takes you there and back and you can walk the whole circuit on top in an hour.

   • Palas de Rei · Evening · Sight

     A small stage town. Book the bed, eat the pilgrim menu, sleep.

4. Day 4

   Arzúa to O Pedrouzo

   • Arzúa · Morning · Sight

     Cheese town. Buy a whole one, it will not last past lunch.

   • O Pedrouzo · Evening · Sight

     Nineteen kilometres left. Everyone in the bar is doing arithmetic about tomorrow.

5. Day 5

   Into Santiago

   • Monte do Gozo · Morning · Walk

     The hill where you first see the towers. It is a car park and a monument now, and it still does the job.

   • Santiago de Compostela (Old Town) · Midday · Walk

     Come in through the old streets rather than the ring road. The last twenty minutes are worth doing properly.

   • Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela · Afternoon · Journey stop

     Free to enter. The Pórtico da Gloria, the roof and the museum are separate timed tickets. Arriving here is not the same thing as the certificate, which the Pilgrim's Office decides on its own terms.

6. Day 6

   Out to the cape

   • Cape Finisterre · Afternoon · Nature

     Three hours by bus. People burn things here. Please do not, the headland has had enough of it.

   • Faro de Fisterra · Evening · Sight

     Sit on the rocks to the left of the lighthouse, away from the crowd, and watch the sun go down.

Three nights in San Sebastián before the Camino del Norte

3 nights · June, or September · Slow pace · Mid range

The coastal route runs right through this city. I eat well for three days first, then start walking west with a heavier pack than I meant to.

1. Day 1

   Arrive and learn the bar rules

   • San Telmo Museoa · Afternoon · Museum

     Basque history in an old monastery. Go before you eat, not after.

   • Bar Tamboril · Evening · Meal

     One plate, one glass, then move on. Nobody sits down and nobody stays.

     • Seen in San Sebastián Turismo. Listed by the official city tourism board as an Old Town tavern operating since 1955

2. Day 2

   Sea in the morning, bars at night

   • Aquarium · Morning · Museum

     At the end of the harbour. I go for the old whaling and fishing rooms upstairs more than the tanks.

   • Ganbara · Evening · Meal

     Mushrooms with an egg yolk on top. Start here, at seven, before the crush.

     • Seen in The Infatuation. Named in The Infatuation's ten best pintxos bars in the Old Town

   • Txepetxa · Night · Meal

     Anchovies, second stop. The one with sea urchin and then the plain one.

     • Seen in The Infatuation. Named in The Infatuation's ten best pintxos bars in the Old Town

3. Day 3

   Last day before the coast road

   • Borda Berri · Midday · Meal

     Cooked to order, which means a wait. Take it, the veal cheek is the reason.

     • Seen in The Infatuation. Named in The Infatuation's ten best pintxos bars in the Old Town

   • Kokotxa · Evening · Meal

     One proper dinner, sitting down, the night before I start walking. It is the last table for a week.

     • Seen in San Sebastián Turismo. Listed by the official city tourism board with one Michelin star

• Seen in Time Out. Time Out's guide to the best restaurants and bars in Donostia and San Sebastián