The “El Camino” is the most famous pilgrimage route in world, but you we can devise a little-

visited alternative in Spain. Let’s call it “The Way of Don Quixote”.

Published in 1605, Don Quixote has become the most widely translated book on earth after the
Bible and the best-selling novel of all time.

The figure of Don Quixote represents the essence of human culture. The delusional nature of
things that grant humans conviction. And the need to acquire this conviction to experience the
richness and, ultimately, the reality of life.

Miguel de Cervantes wrote a fiction, but based it on reality. The geography is real, some
characters existed and what they eat and drink were common foods of the time.

The story plays out in the La Mancha region of Spain, that is today the southern part of the
Castille-La Mancha autonomous community. It’s the largest highland in Spain, an arid but fertile
area surrounded by mountains.

Deep rural interior areas, growing wheat, cultivating olives, raising sheep, and producing cheese
are still some of the main activities here. And there is the endless sea of vineyards accompanying
you as La Mancha has the largest vine-growing area in the world.

Here is where Don Quixote confused mills with giants, taverns with castles and sheeps with
armies. And it can also serve us to understand the local cuisine as it is also an authentic
compendium of La Mancha cuisine, making reference to 152 typical dishes of the region.

But it’s not only a cultural landscape but also a natural one. La Mancha’s sparsely-populated
plateau provide endless horizons and magical landscapes in Spain. Home to 9 national and
natural parks.

We could follow the whole story through its many chapters in La Mancha, but it could take a
while as 148 localities are involved in it. Here, I pieced together a shorter route away from urban
areas that can be done on nature and livestock trails, and Roman roads. It gets you trough
Spanish Golden Age with orange castles and white windmills.

But ultimately, it's up to you to create that story. The book has over 700 characters every kind of
person throughout society, from the lowliest muleteer to the noblest duchess. And you choose the
main characters. And then plot is taken from what is considered the best novel ever written.