CaminantesCamino de Santiago packing list
By August Frederik Kramer, who has walked the Camino twice · Last updated 25 July 2026
Every packing list is really an argument about weight. Here is the rule the whole thing hangs on: carry 10 percent of your body weight, including water. Anything you add has to earn its place against that number.
The weight rule, and why it matters more than the list
For a 75 kg walker, 10 percent is about 7.5 kg. Twelve percent is a hard ceiling. That sounds restrictive until you have watched people posting things home from Pamplona, which happens on every single Camino, every week of the year. Pack, weigh it, then remove things until the number is right.
Worn and carried
- Footwear you have already broken in. Trail runners suit most people on this terrain. Boots if you know you need the ankle support.
- Sandals or light crocs for the evening and for shower blocks. Doubles as your emergency footwear if blisters make shoes unbearable.
- Two pairs of walking socks plus the pair you are wearing. Merino or synthetic. Never cotton.
- Two changes of clothes. Two shirts, one pair of shorts, one pair of long trousers or leggings.
- One warm layer. Light fleece or a down pullover.
- Rain protection. A poncho that covers the pack beats a jacket plus a cover in Galicia.
- Sun hat and sunglasses. The meseta has no shade for hours at a time.
Sleep and hygiene
- Sleeping bag liner in summer, light sleeping bag from October to April.
- Microfibre towel, hand-towel sized.
- Soap bar that does body, hair and laundry. One item instead of three bottles.
- Earplugs and an eye mask. Not optional in a 40-bed dormitory.
- Two safety pins or small pegs to hang wet washing off your pack while you walk.
Feet, which are the whole trip
- Blister plasters, the hydrocolloid kind, more than you think.
- Zinc oxide tape or leukotape for taping hotspots before they blister.
- Small scissors or nail clippers. Long toenails cause bruised nail beds on descents.
- Whatever painkiller you already know you tolerate.
- Any prescription medication, in its original packaging.
The single best habit: stop at the first sign of a hotspot and tape it. Ten minutes then saves a week of limping.
Documents and money
- Pilgrim credential, stamped daily, twice a day over the final 100 km.
- Passport or ID card, and a photo of it stored separately.
- A debit or credit card, plus €50 to €100 in cash. Small villages and municipal albergues are often cash only.
- Travel or health insurance details. For EU citizens, your EHIC card.
Electronics, kept honest
- Phone and charger. Your map, your camera, your credential backup.
- Power bank, 10,000 mAh. Albergue sockets are contested and GPS tracking eats battery. This is the item most people wish they had brought.
- A short multi-plug or two-port charger so one socket serves you and a friend, which makes you popular.
- Skip the laptop, the tablet, the drone and the second camera body.
Leave at home
Jeans. A full-size towel. Hairdryer. More than one book. Anything "just in case" heavier than 200 g. Spain sells everything you have forgotten, usually within two days' walk, and often in a pharmacy that has seen your exact problem a thousand times.
One last check
Load the pack fully and walk 10 km with it before you fly. Not around the block: ten kilometres, at pace, with the water you will actually carry. Every problem with your packing shows up in that walk, while you can still fix it for free. If your first real day is a climb, and on the Camino Francés it is, that is worth knowing beforehand.
Common questions
How heavy should my Camino backpack be?
Aim for 10 percent of your body weight, and treat 12 percent as the ceiling, including water. For a 75 kg walker that is about 7.5 kg. Weight is the single strongest predictor of whether your feet and knees survive the first week.
Boots or trail runners?
Whichever you have already walked 100 km in. The Camino is mostly track and tarmac rather than mountain terrain, so trail runners suit most people and dry faster. New boots bought for the trip are the most common cause of a ruined first week.
Do I need a sleeping bag?
In summer a light liner is enough, because albergues provide blankets or the rooms are warm. From October to April take a light sleeping bag. Either way, a liner is worth carrying for hygiene.
How many changes of clothes should I take?
Two of everything and wear the third. You wash the day’s set each evening and it dries overnight. More than that is weight you carry for five weeks to use twice.
What should I not bring?
A towel bigger than a hand towel, jeans, a second pair of shoes beyond sandals, a hairdryer, more than one book, and any "just in case" item over 200 g. Everything on the trail can be bought in Spain if you genuinely need it.
Take it with you
Caminantes is free, works offline, and plans your stages around your own legs rather than a guidebook's.
