
There's only one fitting way to describe these ancient pilgrimage routes running across Europe - and that is 'heavenly'.

Acclaimed landscape photographer Derry Brabbs from Harrogate, Yorkshire, went about capturing the walking trails on foot and his stunning images take you through fields, over mountain ridges and inside magical churches.

In total there are ten epic rambles covered in his new tome Pilgrimage - The Great Pilgrim Routes of Britain and Europe, including St Cuthbert's Way - a 62-mile route along the Scottish borders from Melrose Abbey to Holy Island - and Via Podiensis - a 460-mile traverse across France from Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

The tiny Romanesque chapel of Saint-Michel d'Aiguilhe (the needle) is perched on the summit of a 280ft-high volcanic rock that can be accessed only by means of 268 steps cut into the rock face, the book explains. This sight can be witnessed on the 460-mile Via Podiensis pilgrimage in southern France from Le Puy-en-Velay to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port

Another eye-catching place on the Le Puy-en-Velay to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port pilgrimage is Rocamadour, which Brabbs explains 'evolved into one of France's most revered sites for Marian pilgrimage and was visited by European monarchs including Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II, Blanche of Castille, Louis IX of France and many others'

The Camino France, starting at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in south western France and finishing at Santiago de Compostela in Spain’s Galicia region, is one of the tougher hikes with the 484-mile crossing taking the best part of a month to complete.

The Via De La Plata, zigzagging from Seville to Astorga, is equally as tough, covering a total of 460 miles.

Brabbs told MailOnline Travel he didn't have time to complete the routes with his publishing deadline looming.

Before setting off to various locations, he said he had to do 'a lot of intense research' in order to capture the most important architectural and landscape features of each journey into the limited number of pages allocated to each chapter.

Pilgrims on the Le Puy-en-Velay to St-Jean-Pied-de-Port pilgrimage can also take in the imposing 14th-century Pont Valentre, built over the River Lot to defend the city of Cahors. Its fortification, Brabbs explains, comprised three towers with gates and portcullises

The Via Francigena pilgrimage runs from Calais to Pontarlier and ultimately to Rome. Its passage through Switzerland includes breath-taking scenery by Lake Geneva, pictured

Tackling the Great St Bernard Pass to Rome section of the Via Francigena pilgrimage will take walkers through San Gimignano, pictured. Brabbs writes that its '13 surviving towers reflect the town's past importance and wealth dating back to the early-14th century when there were 72 such structures dominating the surrounding Tuscan countryside'

The avid traveller added: 'There were several times when I wondered whether I had bitten off more than I could chew but an exhausting combination of train stations, airports, car rental desks and walking boots got me over the finishing line in time.'

Pilgrimage in Europe is thriving on a massive scale and Brabbs says the 'solitude of days or weeks on the road can have a surprisingly profound effect on those accustomed to city life and 24-hour technology'.

In 1990 the cathedral at Santiago de Compostela recorded less than 5,000 pilgrims: today that figure is at least 200,000 a year.

The most notable addition to the rejuvenated era of pilgrimage is the Via Francigena, now a very well established path through Switzerland and Italy.

The Italian section begins on the bleak summit of the Great St Bernard Pass where a hospice still caters to the needs of passing pilgrims before heading down to Rome through some of Italy’s most beguiling countryside, which is interspersed with medieval hilltop towns and villages.

The 205-mile Rouen to Mont-Saint-Michel pilgrimage will, of course, bring walkers to Mont-Saint-Michel, pictured. Brabbs writes: 'After many years of being attached to the mainland via a solid raised causeway that resulted in severe silting up of the surrounding bay, the iconic island of Mont-Saint-Michel has once again been set free by the construction of a road bridge on stilts'

A simple wooden cross on the western edge of the sanctuary La Verna in Italy (left), which walkers will find on the Via Di Francesco pilgrimage from La Verna to Assisi in Italy. Brabbs says that it 'perfectly encapsulates the isolation, tranquility and spirituality of La Verna'. On the right is the skull of St Aubert, the eighth-century Bishop of Avranches, at the basilica of Saint-Gervais, which is 'renowned for its collection of religious treasures'. This striking relic is a highlight of the Rouen to Mont-Saint-Michel pilgrimage

The Via Di Francesco pilgrimage leads from La Verna to Assisi, pictured, a town in the Umbria region in central Italy where Saint Francis was born and died. Its most striking feature is the basilica of San Francesco

The ancient Spanish walled city of Caceres in Extremadura lies on the Via de la Plata pilgrim route (left). On the right is the spectacular altarpiece in the Church of the Assumption in Navarrete, in La Rioja, which can be found on the Camino Frances route

Wideopen Hill is the highest point on St Cuthbert's Way, a 62-mile pilgrimage from Melrose Abbey in the Scottish borders to Holy Island, and is also roughly the halfway point of the walk

Brabbs’ previous book, Roads to Santiago, focused exclusively on the 'camino' through France and Spain to Santiago de Compostela.

But his new addition expands on the theme.

He said if he could tackle one of the pilgrimages, he would choose part of the Via Francigena extending from the France-Switzerland border into Italy via the Grand St Bernard Pass.

Brabbs said of the route: 'It has glorious architecture, the World Heritage Site of the Lavaux vineyards along lake Geneva and the Alpine pass trodden by countless pilgrims en route to Rome.'

The other pilgrimages featured in his book include the Pilgrims Way, Les Chemis Du Mont-Saint-Michel, Via Coloniensis, Munchner Jakobsweg and Via di Francesco.

If you can't muster the energy to walk hundreds of miles on foot, this book - while serving as a guide - also allows you to get a taste of the journeys from the comfort of your armchair.

Pilgrimage - The Great Pilgrim Routes of Britain and Europe by Derry Brabbs, published by Frances Lincoln, an imprint of The Quarto Group, is priced at £30 and available to pre-order before it hits shelves on October 26.