CaminantesGuides
Practical answers to the questions I had before my first Camino, and the ones I only thought to ask on my second.
Latest guides
The Camino in October: 62,854 pilgrims and the daylight to walk them in
How busy October really is, from the office that counts, and how many hours of light it gives you: two measured things, and what they leave on the longest stage of any route.
The Camino in September: 81,534 pilgrims and the daylight to walk them in
How busy September really is, from the office that counts, and how many hours of light it gives you: two measured things, and what they leave on the longest stage of any route.
The Camino in May: 78,650 pilgrims and the daylight to walk them in
How busy May really is, from the office that counts, and how many hours of light it gives you: two measured things, and what they leave on the longest stage of any route.
The Camino in April: 54,642 pilgrims and the daylight to walk them in
How busy April really is, from the office that counts, and how many hours of light it gives you: two measured things, and what they leave on the longest stage of any route.
How many people walk the Camino? 530,722 last year, and the count only goes up
The Pilgrim’s Office numbers in one place, with the arithmetic done: a doubling in ten years, 30.5% of everyone starting at Sarria, September overtaking August as the busiest month, and how many came from your country.
The Vía de la Plata is two routes, and only one of them climbs
Seville to the fork is 636.4 km at 9.5 m per kilometre, flatter than any whole Camino we measure. Then the Sanabrés takes over at 15.8: half the climbing in a third of the distance, with the steepest hundred kilometres, the 109.9 from Ourense, saved for last.
Starting the Camino Francés at León? Every kilometre climbs more than the whole route does
Pamplona, Burgos, León and Ponferrada, measured from where you would actually start. León is 304.6 km and exactly a fortnight, 14 stages, and it skips the flat meseta but keeps both big climbs: 14.8 m per kilometre against 13.6 for the full route from Saint-Jean.
The one Camino that does not end in Santiago
Granada to Mérida is 419.0 km, and downhill. Then the Vía de la Plata takes you the rest of the way: 1,193.3 km and 56 stages in all, eight weeks to the day, and the longest walk to the cathedral we measure.
The Portugués starts at Porto or Tui, not Lisbon. Here is what each one asks of you
From Porto it is 246.4 km, from Tui 118.4, and the 100 km line falls at O Porriño with 1.2 km to spare. It is the flattest of the ten routes, and the flat half is the half almost nobody walks.
Santiago to Finisterre goes down to the sea. It climbs 1,431 m getting there
Three days or four, every split measured, and the sea does not appear until Cee. At 16.8 m per kilometre it is steeper than the whole Francés, which nobody walking it as a victory lap expects.
The Norte never gets above 708 m. It still climbs more than any other Camino
Coast for 640 km and 14,663 m of climbing, 4,217 m more than the Francés. The reason is simple once you see it: 30 of its 39 stages drop to the sea and climb back out.
What the hardest Camino actually means, in six stages
6 of the Primitivo’s 15 stages are in the steepest tenth of all 214 we measure, and its worst day is the second-steepest on the whole network. Here is where they fall, so you can plan around them rather than into them.
The Camino de Invierno avoids O Cebreiro. Nobody tells you what the detour costs
From Ponferrada it is 60 km and 1,524 m of climbing more than the Francés, and steeper per kilometre. What it buys is a lower ceiling, and that gap is 272 m, not the 428 in circulation. Thirteen stages, measured.
The Camino Inglés is shorter than everyone says, and that changes where you can start
Every page says about 120 km. Our track measures 110.1, so the margin over the Compostela minimum is ten kilometres, not twenty, and ten kilometres is one town: Narón still counts and Neda does not.
What your Camino will cost, on your route, at your budget
Every cost page gives a daily rate and stops, because the multiplication needs the number of nights and nobody has measured them. Pick a route and a budget and get the whole figure, on all ten routes, from our own stage data.
A winter Camino has one real problem, and it is not the cold
It is the daylight. Month by month, how many hours you get, how far they let you walk, and the 8 stages out of 214 that are too long to finish in the light. Which 8 depends more on your pace than on the season.
One week on the Camino: where to start on every route, not just Sarria
Every article about a week on the Camino answers Sarria, because Sarria is what they sell. Where to join all seven Santiago-bound routes in 5, 7 or 10 days, the longest day each asks of you, and the point below which no route earns the Compostela.
Blisters come from going down, not up. These are the ten descents that cause them
The worst drop on each of the ten routes, measured, and the day it arrives. The three our data ranks highest on the Francés are the three pilgrims already complain about.
Train for the day that will actually hurt, not for the average one
The hardest day on each of the ten routes, measured, and when it comes. On the Francés it is day one, and it climbs more than twice what the second-hardest does.
The Camino has ten starting points, and two of them are not in Spain
Three of the routes never reach Santiago, and one starts at the cathedral and walks away from it. Every start measured, with what the first day out of that town will cost you.
How long is the Camino? Ten routes, one honest answer each
Every route measured in kilometres and miles, plus how far is left from Roncesvalles, Burgos, León, Astorga and Sarria. And why the figures elsewhere disagree, which comes down to three things, and none of them is carelessness.
Which Camino should you walk? Three numbers decide it, and one is never published
All ten routes side by side on days, climb per kilometre, and the longest single stage. That last one usually settles the choice, and almost nobody prints it.
The last 100 km: one town misses the line by two hundred metres
Where a Compostela-qualifying walk starts on all seven routes into Santiago, measured from the tracks. One route sits exactly on the line, and three cannot answer the question at all.
You will be fine without Spanish on the Camino. Until you are not
The specific moments where English runs out: the pharmacy counter, the phone call, the doctor, and the last hundred kilometres, where the signs stop being in Spanish at all.
Day one over the Pyrenees is the hardest stage on the Francés. Split it at Orisson
What the stage measures, why the descent and not the climb is the problem, and what stopping at Orisson costs.
The eighty Spanish words a Camino actually runs on
Asking for a bed, the credencial stamp, the pilgrim menu, and saying where it hurts. The words that matter on the trail, and none of the ones that do not.
The steepest Camino is not the one with the most climbing
Elevation gain for all ten routes, measured from the tracks and ranked by climb per kilometre rather than by total, which changes the order more than you would think.
How to get the Compostela, including the exception nobody explains
The last 100 km, two stamps a day, and the A Coruña rule that trips people up. What the certificate is, what it is not, and the second document you have to ask for.
Xacobeo 2027: the Holy Door opens on 31 December 2026. Plan for the crowd now
What a Holy Year did to pilgrim numbers last time, why you cannot book Galicia’s public albergues, and how to plan around both.
How far should you walk in a day? What pilgrims on each route actually do
The real average stage length on all ten routes, from the stage data rather than from advice, and how to set your own number.
Plan your first Camino stage in 50 seconds (video)
A short walkthrough of picking a route and planning a first stage in Caminantes, with a full transcript for anyone who would rather read.
The best Camino apps in 2026, compared by someone who built one
Six apps on planning, offline maps, elevation and beds. I built one of them, and I say so where it matters.
What the Camino really costs in 2026
Real numbers for beds, food and a daily budget, plus the costs first-timers forget until they are standing at the counter.
Pack ten percent of your body weight, and nothing you will not use
A weight-first packing list built around the ten percent rule, and the things to leave at home.
When to walk the Camino: month by month, and which route suits which season
Heat, rain, crowds and daylight for every month of the year, and which routes are at their best in each.
Choosing a route
Every route has its own page with a full stage table, total ascent, the best season for it, and whether it counts towards the Compostela. Compare all ten side by side.
Beyond the guides, the elevation profiles give the measured climbing for every stage of all ten routes.