Cycling the Camino de Santiago? Find inspiration in our list of the Best Books & Movies about this historic Spanish route. ¡Buen Camino!
The Camino is a bucket list adventure for any cyclist! It’s popularity attests to that. Make your plans early to fly to Spain and relish this centuries old venerable walk or of course ride. Here is some inspiration for you to get out there and do it!
Cycle with the Sun until your Shadow Disappears!
Motivational Movies & Books about the Camino
Best Movies about the Camino de Santiago
Ok, if you ever had the idea to experience Spain’s famous route, a good place to start is this real life story. Get off your bike or trainer for the moment and wander over to the couch and watch Walking the Camino: Six Ways to Santiago (2013), a documentary about 6 people walking the Camino. From ages 3 to 73, we watch their personal journey on the trail. The Camino is always a fascinating human story and this is captured here.
Cycling the Camino de Santiago Inspiration – The Way
Easy to find but more Hollywood is The Way staring Martin Sheen with his son, Emilio Estevez. Estevez wrote this inspirational 2010 film about a father who has to recover the body of his estranged son who died while walking the “El Camino de Santiago”.
On his arrival in Spain, he decides to take the pilgrimage himself. “Life is too big to walk it alone.” It is a little contrived in parts, with a few stereotypical characters but the shots of the scenery are fantastic and give a good feel of the Camino.
Walking or Cycling the Camino, Inspiration can be taken by this very nice short documentary (only 25 minutes long). Camino the Journey to Santiago is a very intimate voyage, directed by Matthew Nothelfer & Alicia Wszelaki (2013) and shows some lovely footage of the Camino with not a word spoken.
Still debating going to Spain to try the Camino? Another short documentary to look up is the 2013 The Pilgrimage – A tale of the Camino de Santiago. It charts the voyage of two brothers and their quest of getting to Santiago de Compostela. For those with Amazon Prime accounts, you may be able to stream it from there.
Good Books to Read if cycling or walking the Camino
Let us start light as a lot of Camino books can be quite philosophical and in parts, heavy. In a different genre, this funny book Spanish Steps: travels with my Donkey is by Tim Moore, who has done several travel journals, including one about cycling the Tour de France (French Revolutions). The history of the Camino is paired with his own journey on Shinto, a donkey, all the way to Santiago. A real tale of friendship… at times!
One of the better travelogues about the Camino is Cees Nooteboom’s Roads To Santiago. He is resident to Spain and you can tell with his in-depth explanation of every town and village passed, and how much he cares for Spain. Intriguing stories about a myriad of topics through a fascinating country.
For those who believe that age is a barrier to walking or cycling the Camino, they should read Russ Eanes’ book The Walk of a Lifetime: 500 Miles on the Camino. His novel details his journey to walk the Camino at 61, a decades old dream, and provides the reader with inspiration, practical details and a personal reflection about this historic route.
Cycling the Camino de Santiago, Inspiration and Motivation in a Book!
A quirky and fun take is The Only Way Is West: A Once In a Lifetime Adventure Walking 500 Miles On Spain’s Camino de Santiago by Bradley Chermside. A light travelogue look at walking the Camino and the possibilities of finding love on it.
It does not matter how slow you go, so long as you do not stop.
Cycling the Camino de Santiago – Inspirational books about overcoming hardships
Many books and films about the Camino deal with an adversarial element to overcome. On the Primitive Way written by Landon Roussel, is one of these. A true travel story about two brothers (Landon being the oldest) who decide to walk the Camino, starting in the north, in order to re-connect. The struggle is the coming to terms with his brother’s drug addiction and time in prison as well as the physical toll the route takes.
One last one, and another Hollywood take on it, is the New York Times Best seller The Camino: A Journey of the Spirit by Oscar winner Shirley MacLaine. A really interesting read on MacLaine personally (including her past lives!), her thought process and on her Camino adventure itself.
TThe way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing. Walt Disney
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