Villafranca del Bierzo (9.5km / 586.1km)

Today was definitely a “gentle stroll”. I can see I am going to have to define the differences between all the walk descriptions but that is for another day. Gentle pace, short distance, no time pressure and idyllic scenery. We wanted to spend time in Villafranco so we planned a short day giving tourist time.
We had a late start and slept in until 7:15! First breakfast was coffee and churros at a “Churreria” - it is all they make. They were lovely but didn’t really tick the nutritional box so we had a fairly short walk to our second breakfast, about 80m! More coffee tostados and orange juice this time.
The walk was [insert superlative adjective of choice]. We literally walked through vineyards and cherry tree lined roads. The video will do it justice. It certainly didn’t inspire a fast pace and we just loved it.
Villafranca is in a valley with a decent sized river, some pretty steep hills and winding streets. Not sure about google maps “mostly flat” descriptions. So it is beautiful but it is at the bottom which means climbing out! We have a couple of days of hills before a big climb at the end of Monday’s walk and the start of Tuesday’s.
There are at least 4 large churches (including one founded by St Francis when he was a Pilgrim 800 years ago) but they were all closed which was disappointing and a private castle. Very impressive! On our way back after dinner, we did pop into the biggest church, Colegiata de Santa Maria de Cluni, which was beautiful and some lovely statues. But the church was filling up very quickly for Confirmations, which makes sense being Pentecost tomorrow, so we didn’t stick around too long.
We were hoping for processions for Pentecost but that doesn’t seem to be happening. We will make it to our destination tomorrow for Mass as Sunday Masses are at 12pm.Read more