Small towns and a beautiful forest walk today! Belorado flashed by swiftly and it was the bridge out of town and then into countryside. Another plethora of small, quaint villages flew by in the first 12km – Tosantos, Villambistia, Espinosa del Camino, and Villafranca Montes de Oca.

Given my love of a great name I stopped at this last one for coffee and breakfast, and the Camino then led directly up the hill behind town for the even better half of the day’s walking.

The next 12km lead through wintry deciduous and green pine forest, to a maximum height of 1,150m. This was a really lovely change from the more rolling, town-y landscapes of recent days. And despite staying super cold, it remained nearly entirely dry. Huzzah!

The final few miles were deep through the forest, with one random visit from a chap selling coffee and fruit from his car… then more pine trees until, quite suddenly, the trees cleared to fields and San Juan was visible in the near distance.

Another great – tiny – town, with a beautiful church and a fantastic albergue for the night. A communal three-course dinner for all twenty-plus of us around one huge table, starting with incredibly welcome pumpkin soup. It’s cold outside but warm within these stone walls, and I’m looking forward to a great night’s sleep.

Final fact for now – this lovely village has a permanent population of only 20, meaning the pilgrims in our albergue alone more than double the overnight head count… I thought that was neat.

Stats for today:

• 24.5km
• 507m ascent
• 278m descent
• 1/3 of the Camino Francés walked, by days