Day 27 : Alcanadre to Agoncillo to Logroño

Date	20 Jul 2025 ( Sunday )
Today's Distance:	13 Mi / 15 km
Total This Camino:	243 miles
Total All Caminos:	1859 miles
Route and Stats
Lodging (Deb & I):
Total Lodging:	$ 1963
Total Airplane(s):	$ 1427
Travel Insurance (Larry):	$ 360
Buses / Trains / Taxis (Deb & I):	$ 14 - Train fm Agoncillo to Logroño $ 10 - Taxi FM train sta to airbnb
Total Buses / Trains / Taxis:	$ 259
Food (Deb & I) :	€ 5
Total Food:	$ 1460

On the Road

6:45 a.m. Up and about on the final day of hiking. 

8:00 a.m. On the road 

10:15 a.m. The Ermita de Santa María de Aradón. Amazing geographical beauty in the surrounding countryside.

11:50 a.m. Snack break. Just outside of Arrúbal.

1:00 p.m. Pineapple juice break at a bar and fruit break from a public market. Only 2.5 mi remaining.

3:00 p.m. Agoncillo train station.

End of Camino del Ebro.

3:16 p.m. Train from Agoncillo to Alcanadre. Due to the routing system of trains, we have to take a train back to where we started this morning to transfer to get to Logroño. 

3:30 p.m. Arrive Alcanadre. Walked around a bit to kill an hour, waiting for the connecting train.

4:30 p.m. Train to Logroño. 

4:50 p.m. Arrive Logroño. 

5:30 p.m. Checked in and showered.

Lots of varied terrain from farm fields to river walking to vineyards to eroded canyons to towns.

Meaningful Moment

Such a changing landscape today . 

Started out with some road walking, followed by farm fields. (Over the day it varied from grain to pear trees to vineyards.)

Pretty soon we had a choice to turn for the Ermita de Santa Ana de Aradón or take a shortcut. 

We went back and forth for a minute about the advantages of the shortcut, but decided to follow the gpx route which passed the Ermita.

Turned out to be a great decision. After a short while, the landscape radically changed into a beautiful series of ravines carved into the mesa by erosion. We had really steep drop offs and could peer over the sides into the bottoms. 

By the time we made it to the chapel, we were descending down to the Ebro River. 

Once again the landscape changed into a series of groves bordered on one side by the railroad line and the more than 100-ft steep drop off of the mesa and on the other side at our level now by the river.

During this segment we passed by a nesting site, up high near the top of the mesa, of a group of vultures who were circling over us, catching the updrafts, flying over the mini-valley through which we were walking.

Random Thought of the Day

I have been continually surprised by what I would have thought were small farm towns along the last days of the route. 

They instead turned out to be small cities or at least communities with some sense of identity in that they had activities to see and do and expressed a sense of pride in their enclave. 

It's a balance between getting up so early enough that you beat the heat which then leaves time to explore the destination after you get there, versus sleeping later into the morning  and then arriving later in the afternoon with little time to explore.

Leaving Alcanadre. 

Our Casa Rural was the blue building.

That is going to be weather-wise a beautiful day.

On the trail

Blue skies over the brown mesas

Loving something about how the clouds blend with the sky and land

Formation of a gulch

Wondering how long it took all this erosion to form the landscape

View from the ermita halfway down the mesa into the valley

Ermita de Santa María de Aradón

Unsurprisingly it was locked. 

Wondering if anyone even maintains it anymore.

Made it down to the level of the Rio Ebro

You can get a sense of the scale

High on the cliffs is a grouping of vulture nests. 

Watching them soar over the valley was impressive 

Gave me the idea that this was their land.

Walking through the valley created by the Ebro River

Back into farmland as we approach Arrúbal

Agoncillo Turned Out to be a Pleasant Surprise

In a more perfect world, we would have spent a night here exploring.

Iglesia de Ntra Sra de la Blanca

The church at a distance

The church features a prominent bell tower and a facade with classical elements, characteristic of religious architecture in the region.

There are several large stork nests on the bell tower, common on historical buildings in many parts of Spain.

Churches like this often serve as central landmarks in Spanish towns and hold significant historical and cultural value for the local community.

I could have easily counted over two dozen storks nesting on the roof.

Castillo de Aguas Mansas (center)

Medieval fortress with a distinctive rectangular plan and corner towers.

It is a significant historical landmark in La Rioja.

Agoncillo Train Stop

Ending our month long hike here. 

On the way to Logroño

Logroño airbnb

Really making it official that the hike is over. Checking in for vaca downtime.