along the camino: navarra & la rioja

Puente la Reina's eleventh century bridge, named for the Queen who commissioned it. Before the bridge was built, unscruplous ferry captains charged high prices to carry pilgrims across the Río Arga

The camino heads through Navarra and La Rioja through lovely towns little-changed since medieval times and stuffed full of glorious Romanesque churches.

You'll also eat and drink like royalty. Rioja wine is smooth, gorgeous and dirt cheap, and the region's Lodosa peppers, white asparagus and veal are known throughout the country.