Cultural Itinerary of the Council of Europe is a distinction granted by the Council of Europe to those routes, routes and journeys that bring together a series of values.[1]​ With cultural itineraries, the Council of Europe aims to go beyond the simple launch of cultural or tourist products and is committed to protecting European cultural values, promoting new forms of encounters between young Europeans, highlighting underappreciated heritage and developing cooperation programs.

The program began in 1987 with the declaration of the Camino de Santiago as the first cultural itinerary, and in 1997 the European Institute of Cultural Itineraries was created, an institution dedicated to accompanying the promoters of the itineraries already chosen, to helping those who contribute new projects to put their initiatives into practice and to disseminate information about this program.

It has a list made up of 45 certified European cultural itineraries, more than 1600 members, 61 countries on four continents. olive tree (2005), the routes of Emperor Charles V") (2015) and, more recently, the Via Charlemagne") (2018), among others.

In 2019 they received the Carlos V European Award, with which their initiative prevailed over the personal careers awarded until this 13th edition of the award.[3]​.

Spain is one of the countries with the most routes, with 25 itineraries.[2]​ The Camino de Santiago was the first of all Europeans to obtain this mention in 1987. Subsequently, Spain appears on the Viking (1993), Andalusian Legacy (1997), Phoenician (2003), Pyrenean iron (2003), Jewish heritage (2004), and Clunician routes. (2005), the olive tree (2005), the Via Regia (2005), Transromanesque (2007), the vine (2009), Cistercian abbeys (2010), European cemeteries (2010), rock art (2010), cities with thermal baths (2010), megalithic culture (2013), Art Nouveau (2014), emperor Charles V (2015), Napoleon (2015), impressionism (2018), Charlemagne (2018), industrial heritage (2019)[4]​ by d'Artagnan (2021) and the route of historic cafés (2022).

On June 7, 2010, the Council of Europe approved including “Paths of Prehistoric Rock Art in Europe” as a new Cultural Itinerary. This itinerary that brings together the continent's first art has been recognized for its historical-artistic values ​​and its tourist attraction. This is the first Cultural Itinerary on the continent based on archaeological destinations from European Prehistory (until now, only itineraries with historical, religious and social themes had been approved), in addition to recognizing the first artistic expressions developed by Homo sapiens in caves, shelters, rock outcrops and megalithic structures, as a reference to their common past. This new I.C.E. “Trails of Prehistoric Rock Art in Europe” brings together practically all the major European tourist destinations based on Prehistory and its rock art (including the enclaves declared World Heritage by UNESCO, which are geographically concentrated in the Southwest of Europe (France and the Iberian Peninsula) and in certain areas of Ireland, Scandinavia and northern Italy. As a whole, it offers up to 100 large archaeological and rock art destinations of great interest. scientific, cultural, artistic and archaeological, all of them open to the knowledge and enjoyment of European and global society, destinations that currently total more than one million visitors per year. Its approval represents the creation of the first large European network of rock enclaves, with top-level cultural and tourist values, in which joint activities of scientific study, expert training, conservation, sociocultural dissemination and sustainable tourism will be developed. The headquarters of the organization of this route is in Santander "Santander. (Spain)").[5]​.