Camino de Santiago: Choosing Your Route, Budget, and Season

The Camino at a glance: one destination, many routes

Six in the morning in a dormitory in Galicia. Headlamps flick on one by one, backpacks get zipped up in whispers, and someone’s already hunting for dry socks on the clothesline. In the public albergues, the pilgrim hostels run by the Xunta de Galicia, Galicia’s regional government, you have to be out by 8 a.m. anyway [1]. But the real question of the Camino de Santiago comes up long before that morning, at home, in front of a map: where do you start?

There’s one destination: the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, in northwestern Spain, where the Pilgrim’s Office, the Oficina de Acogida al Peregrino, hands out the Compostela certificate. The routes, on the other hand, are many. The office recognizes as official the ones designated by Galicia’s 2016 cultural heritage law: the Camino Francés, the Camino del Norte, the Primitivo, the Inglés, the two Portuguese routes, inland and along the coast, the Vía de la Plata, the Camino de Invierno, and the extension to Fisterra and Muxía [2].

In 2025, the same office registered nearly 531,000 pilgrims, 6% more than in 2024. More than 92% arrived on foot, 4% by bike, and a few hundred on horseback, under sail, or in a wheelchair [3]. Behind those numbers are very different trips: a few days of walking in Galicia for some, more than a month from the Pyrenees for others.

Which route? The main Caminos compared

Every route has its own character, and its own crowds. The table pulls together published distances and the number of pilgrims who reached Santiago on each one in 2025. Distances vary a little from one source to another, depending on the exact starting point and variants, so treat them as ballpark figures. Maps and trail markers in Spain and France are metric.

So who’s each one for? The sources sketch out some pretty clear profiles:

• The Camino Francés: very well supplied with lodging and thoroughly marked, but also very busy, especially June through September and over the last 100 km. Between Burgos and León it crosses the Meseta, Spain’s high central plateau, then climbs to O Cebreiro, at about 4,300 feet (1,300 m) [9].
• The Portuguese routes: a shorter first Camino, 145 miles (233 km) from Porto. Together, they drew more than one pilgrim in three in 2025 [3].
• The Camino del Norte: it follows Spain’s northern coast, with a climate that’s “mild and humid all year,” and remains, according to the French Camino agency, “a real adventure route, wild and athletic” [10].
• The Camino Primitivo: the Xunta de Galicia calls it the very first pilgrim route, the one the earliest pilgrims took from the Kingdom of Asturias [11].
• The Vía de la Plata: more than 550 miles from Seville, and fewer than 9,000 arrivals in 2025. The French agency lists it, along with the Norte, among the Spanish routes that “remain little used” [12].
• The Camino Inglés: entirely in Galicia. From A Coruña, its 73 km fall short of the 100 km required for the Compostela, unless you started outside Spain on a recognized route and walked at least 70 km (43 miles) of it in Spain [13].

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To follow a route in detail, the viewer from Spain’s National Geographic Institute shows the Camino routes across Europe on a map you can zoom into, down to each stage. The Spanish Federation of Associations of Friends of the Camino also publishes a page for each route, with its stages, its albergues and tracks to download: the Camino Francés, the Portuguese Camino inland and along the coast, the Camino del Norte, the Camino Primitivo, the Vía de la Plata and the Camino Inglés. For the Le Puy route, France’s Agence des chemins de Compostelle offers an interactive map.

Starting in France: the Le Puy route and the GR 65

For pilgrims who want to start in France, the Le Puy route is the main gateway. Marked by the French Hiking Federation in the early 1970s as part of France’s GR long-distance trail network, the GR 65 was the first Camino route set up in France [14, 6]. It actually begins in Geneva, Switzerland, on the Via Gebennensis, then crosses the volcanic Velay, the Margeride and Aubrac uplands, and the Quercy, before rolling through southwestern France to the Basque Country [14, 6].

From Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, plan on about 470 miles (750 km) [6]: almost as far as what’s left from there to Santiago. It’s the busiest route in France. In 2025, it accounted for 55% of the credentials sold by the French Camino agency [17], with the most traffic between Le Puy and Conques; away from the Le Puy route, France’s main Camino routes see only “a few thousand walkers a year” [18].

In 2025, 2,800 of the pilgrims who reached Santiago had started in Le Puy [3]. Many others walk the route a piece at a time: people buying a credential from the French agency most often plan 4 days to two weeks of walking [17], and the agency points out that you can do the Camino in several trips, one section a year [12].

Sarria and the last 100 km: where everyone meets up

One number sums up the Camino’s crowds: in 2025, 162,000 pilgrims started in Sarria, nearly one in three overall and two-thirds of everyone who arrived on the Camino Francés [3]. The reason is the rulebook: the Compostela requires 100 km (62 miles) on foot [13], and Sarria sits just beyond that mark. Same story on the inland Portuguese route, where Tui and Valença, facing each other across the Minho River on the Spain-Portugal border, were the starting point for six pilgrims in ten [3].

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Over those final kilometers, the Camino changes character: more people, more services, dorms that fill up early. The French Camino agency notes heavy traffic on the Camino Francés, “especially in summer and over the last 100 kilometers” [9]. If you’re after peace and quiet, you’ve got two levers: go outside the peak months, or pick a less-traveled route.

How long does it take? Stages and pace

On the Camino Francés, the pilgrim association that runs the welcome office in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port counts “about a month of walking, at 25 to 30 km a day” (15 to 19 miles) for just under 500 miles (800 km) [19]. American Pilgrims on the Camino notes that most people walk 20 to 30 km (12.5 to 18.5 miles) a day, and suggests a few rest days on a long route [20]. At 20 km a day, the Camino Francés’s 780 km take close to 40 days.

At the start, the Xunta de Galicia’s safety guide recommends shorter stages, and reminds you that your body has to handle 20 to 25 km (12 to 16 miles) a day, several days in a row, with a pack, in heat, cold, or rain [21]. The Xunta also sets a limit that ultralight gram-counters will love: never more than 10 kg (22 lb) on your back [22]. To estimate your own stages, our guide to estimating hiking time walks you through the method, breaks included.

The credential: your pilgrim passport

Before you leave, get a credentialThe pilgrim passport, or credencial: a personal document stamped along the way that gets you into pilgrim albergues and serves as proof of your route when you apply for the Compostela.. The French Camino agency calls it mandatory in Spain and recommended in France [23]. The Pilgrim’s Office gives it two jobs: getting you into the albergues run in the tradition of Christian hospitality, and proving where you walked so you can receive the Compostela [24].

Only the Church and the institutions it authorizes issue it: parishes, confraternities, Friends of the Camino associations, some albergues; you can also ask for one at the Pilgrim’s Office itself [24]. It never expires, and it needs at least two dated stamps a day [2]. You get stamps where you sleep, but also in churches, monasteries, town halls, and hostales, Spain’s small guesthouses [24].

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The Compostela: 100 km on foot, 200 km by bike

The Compostela is a free certificate, written in Latin, that the cathedral awards to those who walked the Camino in a Christian spirit, “devotionis affectu, voti vel pietatis,” on one of the recognized routes [13]. Here are the conditions published by the Pilgrim’s Office:

• On foot or on horseback: 100 continuous km (62 miles) toward Santiago, on one single official route, with the last stage at least the one immediately before you reach the cathedral.
• Starting outside Spain: on a route recognized by the office, at least 70 continuous km (43 miles) in Spain.
• By bike: 200 km (124 miles), under the same conditions as on foot.
• Under sail: 100 nautical miles, then the rest of the Camino on foot from the port, stamped stage by stage.

Two details matter. You don’t mix routes: you pick one and stick with it to the end. And if you cover that 100 or 200 km minimum in several trips, get a stamp at the start and end of each section, to show you picked up the Camino where you left off [13].

Once you arrive, on Rúa Carretas, you register by scanning a QR code, then get a numbered ticket to pick up your Compostela. The office is open every day from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., except December 25 and January 1, and warns that on busy days, same-day pickup isn’t guaranteed [13]. To record a longer journey, it also issues a certificate of distance showing your starting date and place, the kilometers covered, and your route [30].

How much does the Camino cost? Published prices

For the budget, we only use figures published by the people who run or support the Camino. First benchmark, an official one: in the Xunta de Galicia’s public network, a night in an albergue costs €10 per person [1]. Beyond that, American Pilgrims on the Camino, the only organization in the United States authorized by the Pilgrim’s Office to issue credentials [29], publishes price ranges by type of lodging [31]. Prices in Spain are in euros.

The same organization offers three daily budgets, not counting travel to your starting point and home from the finish [20]: €45 to €55 if you mostly sleep in municipal albergues, carry your own lunch, and have a pilgrim menu or cook your own dinner; €55 to €75 if you mix public and private albergues, with a few nights in a private room and most meals out; €75 to €80 if you mostly stay in private rooms. A bag-transfer service adds €7 to €10 a day [20], and the three-course pilgrim menu runs €12 to €18 [32].

So a month of walking on the lowest budget comes to €1,350 to €1,650, without airfare: 30 days at €45 to €55. Add the credential, since the Compostela itself is free [13], plus a cushion for the pharmacy, buses, or gear you need to replace, as the organization recommends [20]. In France, the price of gîtes varies by route, the French Camino agency warns [16], and none of the sources we consulted publishes a common rate sheet: compare the lodging on your route before you set your budget.

Albergues, gîtes, or hotels: where to sleep along the way

The pilgrim dorm, the albergue, is still the heart of the Camino. In the Xunta de Galicia’s public network, 76 albergues with more than 3,000 beds, the rules are clear [1]:

• no reservations: beds go to whoever arrives;
• one night per albergue, except for illness or other emergencies;
• open 1 p.m. to 10 p.m., lights out at 10:30 p.m., checkout before 8 a.m.;
• priority to pilgrims with limited mobility, then to walkers, riders, cyclists, and last of all to people traveling with a support vehicle;
• disposable bedding provided, kitchen with no cookware.

Outside that network, private albergues usually take reservations, municipal and parish ones rarely do. From May to September, on the popular routes, beds get scarce: many people book their first few nights and take it from there, while others stop between the guidebook stages to avoid the crowded towns. And Spain requires all lodgings to record their guests’ ID details, so keep your passport handy [31].

Pack a sleeping bag, which the Xunta’s safety guide lists for albergue stays [21]; our guide to sleeping bag temperature ratings helps you pick one for the season. Then there’s the “donativo” tradition, in some albergues and in private homes: you give what you can, which isn’t the same as free [31]; “honesty requires you to contribute to the costs,” the French Camino agency reminds pilgrims [16].

When to go? What the numbers and the climate say

Arrivals in Santiago tell you more about the season than any long explanation. In 2025, September was the busiest month, with 81,500 pilgrims, ahead of May and August. From May through September, the office recorded 71% of the year’s arrivals; from November through March, barely 7% [3].

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The climate explains the curve. Between Burgos and León, the Meseta is a plateau “scorched by the sun in summer,” exposed to thunderstorms and swept by an icy wind in winter [9]. Galicia gets rain much of the year; its hottest July and August days reach 77 to 86 °F (25 to 30 °C), and lows drop to 32 to 41 °F (0 to 5 °C) in places inland and in the mountains [22]. American Pilgrims picks April through October for the weather and the number of albergues open, and calls early May through mid-September the busiest period [20].

• April and October: the season without the peak. In 2025, there were 54,600 arrivals in April and 62,900 in October, compared with more than 77,000 in May, August, and September [3].
• May and September: among the most popular months, at the start too: the welcome office in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, which saw nearly 55,000 walkers in 2025, peaks in May and September [17].
• July and August: heat on the Meseta, and crowds on the final stages [9].
• November through March: peace and quiet, but fewer places to stay [20]; leaving Saint-Jean, the Napoleon Route over the Pyrenees is closed from November 1 to March 31, which leaves the route through Valcarlos [33].

A word about 2027: it’ll be a Compostela Holy Year, and the Xunta de Galicia is already preparing its Xacobeo 2027 celebrations [34]. Even before then, arrivals from January through September 2026 were running 7% ahead of the same period in 2025 [3].

Getting home from Santiago: plane, train, bus

The Camino ends at the cathedral, but your trip doesn’t. The French Camino agency sums up the options for heading home, or for getting to the start of another route [35]:

Plenty of pilgrims keep going to the ocean: the Camino de Fisterra y Muxía leaves Santiago for Cape Fisterra and the Virxe da Barca shrine in Muxía [11]. And if you’re traveling with more gear than your backpack holds, the Spanish post office can store a package you send ahead near the cathedral, from about €25 depending on weight, distance, and storage time [32].

Gallery: from Le Puy to Santiago in six landscapes

Six real photos of the Le Puy route and the Camino Francés, in walking order, published under free licenses on Wikimedia Commons by their photographers, who are credited under each image. Tap or click a photo to enlarge it.

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Worth watching

Having walked both, David Wen compares the Camino Francés and the Camino Portugués chapter by chapter: crowds, beds, infrastructure, scenery, languages, food, and costs.

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Guillaume Hoarau

Camping, backpacking, bushcraft and hiking

Guillaume Hoarau writes for Outfarer about camping, backpacking, bushcraft, and hiking. A survival-skills buff and a collector of vintage field manuals, he loves clear explanations, lists that actually help and other people’s stories, which he tells well.

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