Le Chemin du Puy, or Le Puy Route, is the most popular of the Camino de Santiago routes in France.
Starting from the monumental pilgrim town of Le-Puy-en-Velay in Auvergne, southern France, the route runs through the volcanic hills of the Velay region and the foothills of the Pyrenees before joining the Camino Frances in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the French side of the Pyrenees.
It takes on average 4 to 5 weeks to walk Le Chemin du Puy. The 736km long route is well-waymarked throughout as the GR65, with the red and white balises of the French Grande Randonée network.
Similarly to the Camino Frances, the Chemin du Puy was the “classic” and most frequented pilgrimage route to Santiago in France. Pilgrims gathered at the Puy Cathedral, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, to be blessed each morning before starting their pilgrimage. The whole route is filled with pilgrim churches, historic monuments, abbeys and cathedrals.
There are many options for your journey. You can tackle the full Puy Route as one complete journey, or break it up into smaller sections to be completed at your leisure, year on year. You should ‘Walk the Way, your Way’. Contact us and we will create a personalised itinerary designed specifically around your needs and interests.
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£1185
The Chemin de Saint-Jacques in France is burgeoning with culture, history and many sights to be seen. The most popular highlights amongst our clients walking Le Puy Route are:
Towns, history and landscape of the Chemin in France
As France’s major pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, the Chemin is filled with a thousand years of pilgrimage culture and architecture. Le Puy is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with pilgrim churches, historic monuments, abbeys and cathedrals spread all along the way.
Estaing
Estaing is a picture-postcard village in a lovely setting on banks of the River Lot. The Chateau of Estaing dates from the 15th century and is open to the public. The village has fine medieval and renaissance period houses and the Church of Saint-Fleuret holds the relics of St Fleuret and has a 15th century stone cross outside the church. The Gothic stone bridge across the river is a listed UNESCO World Heritage site as part of the pilgrim route to Santiago de Compostella.
Make your way to the ‘Hospitalité Saint Jacques’ where you can get your pilgrim passport stamped. As you leave keep your camera to hand as the views across to the village from the riverside, are beautiful.
Conques
Conques sits high above a river gorge, surrounded by mountains and forests. The village retains many original medieval features with narrow cobbled streets, fine medieval houses and great views over the valley. Plan to see the Abbey and its Treasury at least – plus the stone gateways, convent, castle and fortifications.
The Sainte-Foy Abbey is officially designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the pilgrim path to Santiago de Compostela. Benedictine monks settled here in the 8th-century with the relics of Sainte Foy from Agen – reputed to cure blindness. The Abbey tympanum has a carving of “The Last Judgement” with 124 figures destined for hell. It may be possible to have a night visit to the Abbey, illuminated and with organ music playing. The main treasure in Conques’ Treasury is the statue of Sainte Foy, a reliquary containing part of the Saint’s skull and encrusted with precious stones.
Walk through southern France and indulge your culinary senses. With an abundance of small inns along the way, pilgrims walking Le Puy Route can enjoy freshly prepared local dishes and wines.
Every town in the Camino has a variety of inns and small restaurants, so there will be plenty of opportunities for you to enjoy the world-famous French gastronomy and locally-produced wines.
From Le-Puy-en-Velay, the route runs through the rural southern France to the Pyrenees
Starting from the monumental pilgrim town of Le-Puy-en-Velay in the Auvergne region, the route runs through the beautiful hills of southern France before joining the Camino Frances in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, on the French side of the Pyrenees.
It takes on average 4 to 5 weeks to walk Le Chemin du Puy. The 736km long route is well-waymarked throughout as the GR65, with the red and white balises of the French Grande Randonée network.
As France’s major pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, the Chemin is filled with a thousand years of pilgrimage culture and architecture. The Puy Route is a UNESCO World Heritage Site with pilgrim churches, historic monuments, abbeys and cathedrals spread all along the way.
There are many options for your journey. You can choose to take 7 days or 7 weeks out of your busy life. We are experts in the Chemin Le Puy and have considerable experience tailoring walking tours of the Puy Route.
Comfortable, small establishments with high levels of personal service
We usually choose comfortable, small, family-run establishments on the Camino. All rooms have en-suite facilities. Our high level of personal service and customer care strives to offer the best in the local food, culture and history.
In the larger centres, we offer all accommodation on a Bed and Breakfast basis to allow you the chance to try local dishes in the immediate vicinity. This allows you the widest range of French cuisine and the chance to soak up the local atmosphere.
Some of our locations are very rural and the lodgings are Chambres d’Hotes, which are family-owned guest house establishments, offering lodgings and half board. Table d’hote menus are famously delicious and good value – as one would expect of rustic French cuisine.
