The Way of the Cid is a cultural tourist itinerary that crosses Spain from northwest to southeast and follows in the literary and historical footsteps of Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar, the Cid Campeador, the famous medieval knight of the 11th century.

The main travel guide of this itinerary is the Song of my Cidthe great medieval Hispanic epic poem that narrates the adventures of the Campeador, written at the end of the 12th or beginning of the 13th century. The places, sites and castles that appear in the Cantar de mío Cid form the backbone of this itinerary. It also covers some places that do not appear in the Cantar but which are linked to the historical figure of the Cid. All in all, this is an essentially rural route where tranquillity and direct contact with the land are assured.

Because of its length (some 1,400 kilometres of trails and 2,000 kilometres of roads), it is divided into themed routes of approximately 50 to 300 kilometres linked together, so you can fit the trip into your holiday schedule.

The two expressions most frequently used by travellers on the Camino del Cid are: "I wasn't expecting it" and "The best thing, the people". An important part of the areas through which the Way of El Cid passes were, in the Middle Ages, sparsely populated frontier lands. Things have not changed much since then: in some territories the population density does not exceed 8 inhabitants per km2 (while in Germany it is 229; in France, 119; 92 in Spain; 270 in the United Kingdom and 503 inhabitants/km2 in the Netherlands). But there are also cosmopolitan cities, such as ValenciaThe main protagonists of the Camino del Cid are its small villages. Of the 387 villages along the route, 152 have less than 100 inhabitants. Many are directly descended from the first settlers who settled in these lands and mastered them in precarious conditions. The great value of the Camino del Cid is its friendly and welcoming people. Here you will feel welcome, safe, and at ease.

The routes of the Camino del Cid cross mostly sparsely populated rural environments. This makes for a different and very attractive travel experience for fans of rural tourism, trails and the outdoors. As it passes through more than seventy natural areas protected by the Natura 2000 Network. The relict savin woods of Arlanza (Burgos), the Duero river (Soria), the Alto Tajo Nature Reserve (Guadalajara), the Gallocanta lagoons (Zaragoza), the Sierra del Maestrazgo (Teruel and Castellón), the Albufera de Valencia and the Palmeral de Elche (Alicante), among others, alternate to form a mosaic of valleys, moors, rivers and mountains that inevitably "flow" onto the beaches of the Mediterranean.

En route, you will find eight World Heritage Sites of medieval origin: the Cathedral and the The Way of Saint Jamesin Burgos; the Aragonese Mudejar, in the provinces of Teruel and Zaragoza; the Water Tribunal and the Silk Exchange (in Valencia); the Mare de Déu de la Salut Festivalin Algemesí (Valencia); and the Palm Grove and the Misteriboth in Elche. In addition, in more than a dozen towns in Castellón, Teruel and Valencia you can see examples of Cave Art of the Mediterranean Arc, declared a World Heritage Site in 1998.