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Day 8 | 2 August 2025 | Walking the Camino Francés
From Villatuerta to Los Arcos | 25.4 km 15.8 miles
Our intended destination for yesterday’s stage was Estella, though due to the Running of the Bulls, accommodation was unavailable. Consequently, we stayed 4 km prior in Villatuerta.
Walking through Estella early in the morning it was evident that there had been a Bull Run street party the night before – many were still partying!
Not far from Estella we passed the La Forage de Ayegui (Forge of Ayegui), where a blacksmith artist was hammering out iron gifts that were being sold in the adjacent gift shop. It was a fascinating place and we spent some time watching him at work.
Not far from forge we passed the famous Fuente del Vino (Wine Fountain), where courtesy of the Bodegas Irache (Winery Irache), red wine is available to all those that would like a tipple. As we were leaving we saw other pilgrims cupping the wine in their scallop shells which we thought was a clever idea.
The winery also had a wine museum in the former monastery Monasterio de Irache.
Today’s walk offered little shade and there were few drinking fountains along the way – especially in the isolated last 13 km (8 miles). We carried 1.5 litres of water each which we topped up when we could. It got very hot in the late afternoon and our bottles emptied faster than we expected. A Cafe movil (Food truck), was marked on the map with some 6 km left but when we arrived they had left.
Thankfully who ever run the food truck had left behind a large container filled with ice & water bottles with a sign that read: Help Yourself – how kind! We did.
