Day 11: Atapuerca to Rabé de las Calzadas

Another hard day, but it only really got hard from Burgos.

We departed from Atapuerca at 07:01.

It was cold and misty again. There was nowhere for breakfast open, so we headed on to Villalbilla, 6 km away. We climbed and descended and had a mighty baguette sandwich with three fried eggs there and coffee, then headed back onto the Camino. The landscape was mainly farmland with crops and some sheep. Then we had to cross a busy motorway.

After this, we had a choice to either follow the road or deviate to the left and enter Burgos via a more scenic but slightly longer route. We chose the scenic option, and it was a good choice. Initially, we passed through an industrial area, but this quickly turned into a huge park that must have covered 8 km of the Camino following the river.

We then rejoined the main Camino and made it to the very impressive cathedral. We entered the cathedral, but I wasn’t really interested and didn’t want to waste valuable steps when I still had 13 km to go.

I said my farewells to Mark and Ron, as they were staying in Burgos. I stopped at a cafe and had an enormous chicken salad, coffee, and water before heading out of Burgos onto the final stage for today—a 13 km stretch.

It was mostly urban initially, passing through the city centre and then the university, before opening into fields. At one point, we passed a large area where streets had been built, but no houses—just dormant land. Next, we had to weave around a major intersection of two or more motorways, which was incredibly noisy. My pace started to slow here, but I had to force myself to push on.

I got to Tardajos, and then it was just 2 km more to go to my Alberge for the night.

Checked in, reserved dinner and breakfast, and also had a full-service wash and dry for €8. I’m basically doing a wash every 3–4 days, which is working well.

Dinner was excellent—soup, salad, and tortilla. Loads of food, and I even left some wine in the bottle.

Ron and Mark were great Camino friends—very generous and great fun. Ron said he’s looking at hiking the Coast to Coast in June 2026. I may even join him for part of it.