St. James Trail

Paulo Coelho did it, Shirley MacLaine did it, and every year there are more people making pilgrimages. Pilgrimages are in again. What is it that motivates people to trudge for days on end? Perhaps these people are moved by the feeling of gratification resulting from walking for days through the mountains with minimal equipment and without a vestige of luxury.

In this context the Austrian St. James Trail that has been rediscovered and comprehensively described by the Tirolean “Pilgrimage Pioneer,” Peter Lindenthal, enjoys new popularity. Actually the reference should be to several trails, since many trails led from the major cities of the former k.u.k. monarchy – from Graz, Marburg, Budapest or Vienna – throughout Austria to the Spanish city Santiago de Compostela.

Many make the pilgrimage without concrete wishes or goals. These are people who are mainly interested in escaping the daily hustle and bustle in exchange for up to twelve hours per day of a different stride. The simple life in itself offers a welcome change: the cabins or mountain hostels often have only cold water and there is hardly room in a backpack for makeup and other luxury articles. After a long day trekking through the landscape one is quite appreciative of a spartan lodging with a warm bed and a good shower.