5. From Salvatierra to Estibaliz

After the hardest day it is nice to have a shorter one to look forwards to and this was our shortest day. A pleasant day mainly on minor roads and good tracks, But one point to look out for is when you come to the new footbridge over the railway line after Ezkerekotxa, described in the guide-book as an unguarded level crossing,

Do not cross this bridge unless you want to visit Alegria, the route actually swings to the right here keeping the railway line on your left-hand side. We made the mistake of crossing this bridge and didn’t discover our mistake until Alegria came into view. However, we soon picked up the official route again once we left Alegria.

The highlight of this day was staying at Santuario de Ntra de Estibaliz. The accommodation is in the guest wing of the monastery, You are also provided with an evening meal and a simple breakfast, there didn’t appear to be a system of leaving a donation here so we left ours in the church attached to the monastery.