Nine wondrous pilgrimage routes to embark on in 2024

Spirituality flows through northern India just as the holy river Ganges – sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists – snakes down from the Himalaya to the Bay of Bengal. On Wild Frontiers’ Classic Northeast: Sacred Ganges & Holy Cities tailor-made tour, you’ll be immersed in the ancient cultures and religions of this kaleidoscopic region. From the Jain monuments of Kolkata, venture to Bodh Gaya and the Mahabodhi Temple, built at least 15 centuries ago on the site where the Buddha is said to have found enlightenment. Next stop is Varanasi, studded with Hindu shrines, for a dawn boat ride on the Ganges alongside the burning ghats where the remains of the devout are cremated. Continue upstream to the holy towns of Allahabad, where pilgrims flock to have their souls cleaned, and Rishikesh, where the Beatles sought Nirvana.

More information: Wild Frontiers. Tailor-made; 14 days from £4,545pp, excluding international flights.

The peaks of Japan’s densely forested Kii Peninsula have been venerated by Shinto, Buddhist and Shugen devotees for centuries. Take a deep dive into the ancient beliefs and timeless customs of this World Heritage-listed region by trekking its pilgrim trails on Inside Japan’s Honshu Hiking self-guided adventure. Prior to that, warm up in the Japanese Alps, slurping Matsumoto’s famous soba noodles, then strike out along the Nakasendo Way, the ancient highway linking former capital Kyoto with Edo (now Tokyo). You’ll explore both cities, as well as savouring culinary epicentre Osaka, before finishing on the trails of the Kumano Kodo network, where you’ll climb to the pagoda of the Nachi shrine alongside the cascading Nachi-no-Otaki waterfall.

More information: Inside Japan. Best Mar–Nov; 14 nights from £2,660pp, excluding international travel.

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Le Puy-en-Velay is quite the stunner. Built in, around and, in some cases, on top of a mini-forest of volcanic pinnacles, its holy sites have attracted pilgrims for over a millennium. They flock here to venerate relics such as the Black Madonna in its extraordinary cathedral, and to walk the Chemin du Puy (or Via Podiensis), the route taken by Bishop Gothescalk in 950 AD on what is thought to be the first French pilgrimage to Santiago. Macs Adventure’s Camino Le Puy Way: Stages 1 & 2 self-guided hike heads 201km west via the eerily beautiful moorlands of Aubrac, visiting impossibly picturesque medieval villages such as Estaing and ending at walled Conques, complete with a Romanesque church boasting a treasury of sacred relics.

More information: Macs Adventure. May–Oct; 11 nights from £1,395pp, excluding travel. Other stages are available.

The 156km waymarked St Oswald’s Way, named after the feisty 7th-century king, takes in Northumberland’s historic and scenic highlights as it winds across England’s northernmost county. Starting from Heavenfield – site of the pivotal battle at which Oswald consolidated his vast medieval kingdom of Northumbria – HF Holidays’ St Oswald’s Way Complete Guided Trail tour visits Hadrian’s Roman border bulwark, market towns and the formidable castles at Alnwick and Bamburgh. Finish up with a toast of mead on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, where you can explore the storied remains of the medieval monastery founded by St Aidan on land granted by Oswald, and watch for dolphins and grey seals in the roiling sea.

More information: HF Holidays. 2 Aug 2024; 7 nights from £1,149pp, excluding travel.

Even pilgrimages have to keep up with the times, so pedalling peregrinos (pilgrims) who cover the final 200km of any camino to Santiago are now awarded the prized Compostela certificate. Exodus Adventure Travels’ Cycle the Coastal Portuguese Camino guided tour notches up the required kilometres while traversing the glorious Atlantic shoreline. Gliding north from Porto, you’ll take in historic marvels such as the ancient port of Viana do Castelo, with its dazzlingly diverse architecture, and the medieval fortress at Caminha that guards the border on the Minho estuary. There’s ample time to feast on fresh seafood in traditional fishing villages and cool off in the surf before crossing into Spain for the final legs through Galicia to Santiago.

More information: Exodus Adventure Travels. 19 May, 9 & 23 Jun, 8 & 22 Sep 2024; 8 days from £2,099, excluding flights.

Pilgrimages aren’t supposed to be easy, but sometimes they’re plain impossible – as in 1123 AD, when the route to Jerusalem was off-limits during the crusades, so the pope recommended the alternative trek to the shrine of St David in Pembrokeshire. As long ago as the 6th century, Irish saint Aidan travelled here to study under the titular Welsh sage; his route is now traced by the newly recreated Wexford-Pembrokeshire Pilgrim Way. You can walk part of that trail alongside a respected local leader on Guided Pilgrimage’s Way of St David tour, absorbing legends and poems that reveal hidden facets of this region, as you make your way to the UK’s smallest city, St David’s, via burial chambers, seal colonies and beautiful coastal hamlets.

More information: Guided Pilgrimage. 13 May, 9 Jun, 12 Aug 2024; 5 nights from £825pp, excluding travel.

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According to legend, after St James was martyred in 44 BC, his disciples carried his remains from the Atlantic coast across north-west Spain to what is now Santiago de Compostela. The route they followed, now known as the Variante Espiritual, isn’t only considered by many to be the oldest of all the caminos, it’s also among the most peaceful and diverse. On Inntravel’s Camino de Santiago: The Old Way self-guided walk from the Portuguese border at Tui, you’ll follow the distinctive scallop-shell markers between medieval monasteries, sip Galicia’s finest Albariño wines among the vineyards of Meaño, and board a boat for Europe’s only waterborne pilgrim route along the Ulla River before joining peregrinos in Santiago’s cathedral.

More information: Inntravel. Apr–Oct; 10 nights from £1,465pp, excluding international travel.

St Francis knew a thing or two about walking – he spent years roaming Umbria on foot, equipped only with a staff and his humility. And the long-distance trail named after him is a corker, approaching his fresco-adorned hometown of Assisi via a string of medieval hilltop settlements. SloWays’ St Francis Way: Stage 3, Città di Castello to Assisi self-guided tour explores one of the finest sections, as you set out from an ancient city whose churches and galleries are lavished with artistic masterpieces by Renaissance painters. Over the following days your journey reveals the gastronomic glories of the Umbrian hills, shaded by olive groves and orchards, while you fill up on local specialities such as rocciata (Umbrian strudel).

More information: SloWays. Apr–Oct; 6 days from £504pp, excluding international travel. Other stages are available.

A little like the Silk Road, the Camino de Santiago isn’t one route but many, a network of trails spidering across Europe. Why tackle just one when you can pick highlights from several Spanish paths? That’s the idea behind Pura Aventura’s Three Caminos Inn to Inn Walking Holiday, which splices together sections from a trio of classic trails. From the French border, hike dramatic stretches of the Basque coast along the Camino del Norte between fishing villages and curious rock formations. Then explore the gleaming spires of the Picos de Europa mountains along the Camino Vadiniense. Finally, join the popular Camino Francés for the approach to Santiago’s soaring, russet-hued cathedral through woodlands, farms and thatched hamlets.

More information: Pura Aventura. Best Apr–Jul, Sep–Oct; 12 days from £3,560pp, excluding international travel.

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