Camino de Santiago is 'some kind of earthly paradise'

People planning hiking holidays should travel along El Camino de Santiago (The Way of St James) in Spain, an ancient Christan pilgrimage which was recently the subject of an Emilio Estevez film.

Jonathan Gregson, photographer and director, said that the climbing section of The Way of St James was difficult, but definitely worth it for idyllic the sights that can be seen.

"[The climb] is one of the most arduous sections of The Way, but as I passed red-shuttered Basque farmhouses perched above flower-studded meadows, it was possible to imagine one was ascending into some kind of earthly paradise," he wrote.

"Higher still, I entered rolling grasslands where golden-maned ponies were grazing. One mare guarded a new-born foal between her legs."

The film based on El Camino, called The Way, stars Estevez's father Martin Sheen as a pilgrim.

Public relations expert Rob Williams has recently also praised the Camino de Santiago route as a "fantastic antidote to our stressful lives", in The Guardian newspaper.