The Camino del Sur is a route for anyone who wants some peace and quiet. You start in the port city of Huelva and soon leave the bustle behind you. What follows is the interior: fields, hills and small villages, each with a square and a bar. Out here, you walk at your own pace.
After a few days the scenery changes. Around Minas de Riotinto the earth turns red, a landscape you won’t forget in a hurry. Then you climb into the Sierra de Aracena, with its mountains and oak woods. Beyond the hills, the land opens out and stretches wide. You walk into Extremadura and arrive in Zafra, where you join the Vía de la Plata. If you want to carry on, you can continue from there to Santiago.
The best time to walk it is from March to May, or in October and November. In summer it gets very hot here, with daytime temperatures averaging up to 35 degrees. That’s why most pilgrims walk it in spring or autumn. At around 180 kilometres, it’s a solid trek, but not an extreme one. It’s quite manageable if you’ve already walked a few days in a row before.