ULTREYA TOURS www.ultreyatours.com [email protected] +1 646 934 6859

PARISH GROUPS TOURS ON THE FRENCH WAY

Experience the Pilgrimage to the resting place of the Apostle Saint James with your community. Travel the Camino de Santiago with other members of your local parish for an enlightened journey that will bring you closer to God.

Follow the last 100 km (62 miles) of the French Way from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela staying in 3 or 4* spa hotels in the outskirts of the towns with your priest, a local guide, luggage transfers each day, bus support, private Mass in English each day, buffet breakfast & dinners, and the Ultreya Tours awards-winning service.

PRICE & DATES FACT FILE

• This tour is aimed at large groups of between 20 and 50 participants. Individual, twin and triple rooms are available Accommodation 3 and 4* Spa on request. Hotels • Rates depend on the number of participants so please Total Walking Distance 100 km contact us for customized rates including extra activities, Duration 8 days / 7 nights shorter walking days, travel insurance, stop-overs and day tours. Overnight Lugo, Palas de Rei and Montouto Stops Sarria, Portomarin, Lestedo, Melide, Arzua, Pedrouzo Ends Santiago de Compostela

PARISH GROUPS TOURS ON THE FRENCH • Dedicated bilingual guide traveling with WAY INCLUDES the group • Walkie-talkies and hand-held GPS • 7 nights in en-suite accommodation in 3 or 4* devices for the group leaders hotels with AC • Chapel booking for Daily Masses with • A Pilgrim Kit per person including an official group priest Pilgrim Passport (Credential), a waterproof zip bag, a scallop shell, a poncho, a sweet, luggage • Pre-orders of the Compostelas, the tags & detailed John Brierley guidebook Certificates of Achievement, and individual tubes for safe keeping • 7 early morning breakfasts and 7 buffet dinners (wine & water included) • Large bottles of water provided each day for each participants • Portage services for luggages • Emergency support from our local team • Private bus at disposition of the group, including in Santiago and in Palas de Rei Airport transfers, transfers to and from the Camino and the hotels, and walking support • All taxes and gratuities for hotels (waiting for the group every 3km) ULTREYA TOURS www.ultreyatours.com [email protected] +1 646 934 6859

PARISH GROUPS TOURS ON THE FRENCH WAY DAY BY DAY ITINERARY

This 7 nights route brings you along the last 100 km (62 miles) of the Camino Frances - French Way into Santiago de Compostela.Santiago de Compostela.

DAY 1 - MAKING YOUR WAY TO YOUR STARTING POINT OF THE CAMINO

Our driver will pick you up at Santiago Airport and drive you to your first spa hotel, where you will spend the next 3 nights while you walk from Sarria to Palas de Rei. The hotel with a swimming pool and a thermal circuit is located in the outskirts of the UNESCO World Heritage City of Lugo, a city famous for its impressive Roman Wall built between the 3rd and 4th centuries AD. A buffet dinner will be served at your hotel after a welcome Mass in a nearby chapel and depending on your arrival time you might have time to discover the City.

DAY 2 - 10 KM - WALK FROM MORGADE TO PORTOMARIN

Finally, this is the day you start your pilgrimage! After a short 30 min drive to Sarria, our driver will leave you at the main church Sarria, so you can get your first stamp on the French Way before heading 12 km further to the 100 km market where we will start our journey on the Camino de Santiago. Walk along easy paved trails through beautiful countryside, meadows and oak woods, charming villages with slate roofs towards a huge medieval bridge. Expect some steep uphill and downhill at some point today, but it will be made up by the beauty of the route. Your destination today is the unique town of Portomarin, a replica of the Medieval town relocated in the 60s rock by rock to avoid floods. We will attend Mass in Portomarin in the main church of the town before heading back to the same hotel near Lugo as yesterday for our second night.

DAY 3 - 20 KM - WALK FROM PORTOMARIN TO LESTEDO

After a 20 min drive back to Portomarin, we leave the small town on a bridge over the artificial lake of Belesar. The next kilometers will then be uphill through woodlands into the hamlet Gonzar. Near Castromaior, the path borders the ruins of a 2200 years old Celtic Castro, and in Ligonde, you will find a hospital which ULTREYA TOURS www.ultreyatours.com [email protected] +1 646 934 6859

received the emperor Charles V and his son Philip II, the most famous pilgrims of the sixteenth century. Once passed Lestedo, our driver will bring us back to Lugo taking a short detour to the Romanesque church of Vilar de Donas, where we will find one of the most striking examples of Galician Romanesque Architecture and the burial place of several knights of the Order of Santiago. We will spend our last night in Lugo so make sure you visit the old town of Lugo during the free time between Mass and dinner.

DAY 4 - 18 KM - WALK FROM LESTEDO TO MELIDE

After a 25 min drive back to Lestedo, walk the remaining kilometers into Palas de Rei, where you should stop to visit the town church and maybe enjoy a coffee in one of the many bars. You then have about 4h left to walk before reaching Melide. Make sure to arrive in time for lunch (2pm in Spain) as Melide is renown for having the oldest surviving cruceiro (calvary) in the world and for the best “Pulpo a la Gallega” (Octopus) in Galicia. Once in Melide, we will drive you to your hotel for the next couple days. Choose from a 3 star spa hotel with a Celtic inspired architecture, thermal waters just South of Palas de Rei and with gorgeous views onto a lake or a modern 4 star hotel 25 min South near the town of Lalin. Mass will be celebrated in a chapel near the hotel. DAY 5 - 14KM - WALK FROM MELIDE TO ARZUA

After a transfer back to Melide, continue your journey through the peaceful Galician countryside. You will find by now, the way you live the Camino is changing. As your body and feet are getting used to the activity, the path becomes gentler. Take it in and enjoy this time-off from your busy life to think, relax and interact with fellow pilgrims. You have done more than half of your journey but the best parts are still to come. You will be walking into Arzua, which is famous for its peculiarly shaped cheese, where our driver will pick you up and bring you back to your Spa hotel 40 min South of the Camino.

DAY 6 - 19KM - WALK FROM ARZUA TO O PEDROUZO

After a 40min transfer back to Arzua continue your way towards the City of the Apostle with the destination of O Pedrouzo today. With only 40 km left before Santiago, you will notice the atmosphere along the Way is changing as people plan to celebrate their arrival and start realizing it will soon be time to part with people they might have been walking with for a month. The countryside itself changes as you enter forest with totally symmetric rows that produce curious visual effects. The villages you pass virtually have no name and seem stuck in time. Stop in O Pedrouzo or continue as far as you can before asking your driver to bring you to a 4* spa Hotel 20 minutes away and South of Santiago.

DAY 7 - 20KM - WALK FROM O PEDROUZO TO SANTIAGO

This is it! After a 20min drive back to O Pedrouzo, only twenty kilometers separate you from your goal. On your last walking day on this pilgrimage, you will cross Lavacolla’s river, where traditionally pilgrims would bath and clean their clothes - and hence purifying their soul - before stepping into the ULTREYA TOURS www.ultreyatours.com [email protected] +1 646 934 6859

Cathedral. You will then climb up to Monte do Gozo (Mount of joy) which offers stunning views on the City before walking into the Medieval Town, which you will enter via the “Camino Door”. A few minutes later, you will finally pass the Azabachería Door, the official entrance to the Cathedral on a non-Holy year (in 2021 you will be able to enter through the Holy Door on the Quintana Square), and continue down to the Plaza del Obradoiro. You have finally finished the Camino de Santiago! Enter now if you wish, we recommend continuing down to the Plaza del Obradoiro and simply stopping there. Breath in and truly live this moment, do whatever feels right. You will have free time for lunch and to visit the city before we drive you back to last night’s hotel (5min drive away) for a quick shower and nap before returning to the Cathedral for Pilgrim Mass at 7:30 pm and dinner in the old town!

DAY 8 - START OF YOUR NEXT ADVENTURE

A wise pilgrim once told us “the real Camino starts where the Camino de Santiago finishes but I will not be afraid because the Camino will always be there for me.” We hope the Camino has brought you whatever you were looking for and wish to see you again soon! www.ultreyatours.comwww.ultreyatours.com ULTREYA TOURS [email protected] +1 646 934 6859 [email protected] +1 646 934 6859

ABOUT ULTREYA TOURS WHY CHOOSE US?

Ultreya Tours is an incoming Tour Operator Fully bonded, ensured and registered as specialized in organizing comprehensive and retail & wholesale Travel Agency in Spain highly personalized walking, cycling and horse- We are based in Santiago and you can riding tours for groups and solo travelers on reach us 24/7 while you are on the Camino the Camino de Santiago. Founded and based in Santiago de Compostela, at the end of the Camino, Founded by a women, we understand the we know the region of Galicia and the secrets of the concerns of single women traveling the Camino by heart. Camino and are here to help! We carefully choose, rate and regularly The Camino de Santiago is not just our business it is visit all our providers & ONLY book quality our way of life and we would love nothing more than accommodation to introduce you to our vision of the Camino. Create your own Camino! All our tours are fully customizable to provide the most Our name Ultreya comes from the Latin word for magical experience possible Onwards. “Ultreya, Suseya, Santiago” was the common greeting amongst pilgrims in Medieval You will get a dedicated Camino Account times. It meant courage, further and higher is Planner to assist at every step Santiago. We are already in Santiago so our goal is Excellent commission structure for resellers to bring you there & help you every step of the Way. and travel agents

ONLY 4 STEPS AWAY FROM YOUR JOURNEY

STEP 1 Get in touch with one of our Camino Planner for a personalized quote STEP 2 Once you are satisfi ed with the Terms & Conditions of your tour, we will invoice you for a 50% of the total price non-refundable deposit to process the booking

STEP 3 Immediately after receiving the initial deposit we will start booking your accommodation, meals, activities, guides and any other services

STEP 4 30 days before the departure, we will request the 50% remaining deposit and you will receive the list of your accommodation, confi rmation vouchers for extra services & activities, your pilgrim kits (including the Pilgrim Passports & guidebooks) will be sent to your fi rst hotel

If you dream of walking the Camino de Santiago, don’t delay it any further contact [email protected] or visit our website to fi nd the best Way for your group!

Ultreya Tours www.ultreyatours.com +1 646 934 6859 (USA) +34 881 249 039 (Spain) Campus Stellae - Praza da Quintana, 3, 15704 Santiago de Compostela Travel Agency License #XG569VAT / CIF #ESY3768081M