Camino Francés 2025: Day 6: Estella to Torres del Río

An absolutely glorious day—possibly even too warm for walking.

We (Stephen, Cormac and I) left Estella via the bridge at 7:30 and climbed out of the valley.

Along the way, we sampled a little free wine from a fountain.

We stopped again for breakfast at a café, where the Dutch proprietor told us how he found love on the Camino—with a woman who ran the local albergue. He gave up his career as a lecturer and bought the café.

We chatted with Cormac from Newcastle and Franklin from Chicago. Franklin had a great story about how he ended up on the Camino. He hadn’t wanted to go to college and was living in California when he hurt his eye. At the doctor’s office, a nurse suggested he walk the Camino. He was intrieged but couldn’t go immediately, as he’d just signed a six-month lease—but he hated the new flat, gave it up after three months, moved back in with his parents, and then decided to go.

The scenery changed dramatically as we broke out into wide open plains.

We caught up with the Australians, Sue and Kempton, and met a lovely couple from near Newry.

At the 20 km mark, we arrived in Los Arcos for lunch and took a long hour-long break. Then it was on to Torres del Río. We could see our destination far in the distance, but it was still another 7.5 km along a winding dirt track.

When we arrived in Torres del Río, a cherry picker had already toppled over right beside the bar we were to drink at—causing great entertainment and a bit of drama as they relighted it.