Day 8: León & Astorga (Mansilla to Astorga)

Distance: 50 mi / 80km

Climbing: 2024 ft / 617m

Taking in the León Cathedral

Another 50 mile day to Astorga ends the Meseta section of the Camino. It’s hard to imagine that it only takes 3 days to cross what has been at least 9 days walking on previous trips. Today’s highlights were visiting León early in the morning and watching the streets fill with life around the cathedral, and starting to feel the land roll again with hills, cresting in the view over Astorga at the end and ridges of the Cantabrian Mountains to the west.

Tomorrow I will cross over the highest point of the Camino Francés, even a bit higher than the pass on the first day over the Pyrenees. The approach is quite gradual, mostly between 2-4%. From here on out, it will be up and down until I reach Santiago, and then on to the Atlantic coast.

I met two pairs of cycling tourists today that each rode from their respective homes in Belgium and the Netherlands. The Belgian father and daughter had been on the road for about three weeks, and the Dutch couple quite a bit longer. It was fun to compare their gear setups and hear about their journeys.

Dutch bicigrinos David & Agnes have been on the road for a few months, starting from their home.

Belgian bicicgrinos

I keep encountering these Schwalbe Marathon 700/23c with amazing reports.

I forgot how amazing the Leon Cathedral is, as well as the city around it. There is something about Leon that is more open than Burgos, more alive and less touristy. I wish I would have had more time to explore, but I feel with my pace given the research work, it’s good to usually keep going.

Lion in León

Mural at albergue just entering León

Pilgrim statue at plaza near San Marcos in León

Epic bridge at Hospital de Orbigo

End of the climb before descending to Astorga, Cantabrian Mountains in the background.

Cathedral in Astorga

One highlight of the day was a long dinner of the local specialty Cocido Maragato featuring a variety of meets, with a suprising addition of pig’s foot (I’ve never had this before and it wasn’t that good)! See the three courses pictured below. The meal was followed by a few songs on the ukulele by a French cycling pilgrim.