Advice for walking the Camino de Santiago

We are sometimes asked for advice from friends and acquaintances who want to do the camino. We thought we’d write down the things that we end up talking about, the things that have worked for us.

We have walked caminos every year since 2013 except during the covid years 2020 and 2021. We’ve walked about 2800 miles over 12 trips. We were in our early 60s when we started walking caminos and now we are in our late 70s. We hope we can continue several more years.

We usually walk for about 4 weeks and then find a nice place to spend a week in one spot at the end.

While we were walking our first camino in 2013, even though we were having a great time, it never occurred to us that we’d want to return and walk again and we were puzzled by the people we met who were doing the camino not for the first time. However, after we got home, we were soon longing to return. We’d never experienced anything like it and we were no longer interested in the kind of travel we’d done in the past. And … one motivation to return was to benefit from what we’d learned from all the mistakes we had made the first time. What we’ve found, camino after camino, is that we continue to make mistakes and continue to learn.

Planning it yourself

We have found it is easy and enjoyable to make our own walking plans, arrangements for accommodations, etc. Perhaps this is because we are retired and have a lot of free time! But it really doesn’t take all that much time, especially if you don’t make reservations before you leave, which is not necessary.

There are some great online or app resources available. These are the ones we use the most:

Gronze: This great website is in Spanish. If you bring it up in the Chrome browser, you can right-click on a page and select Translate and the page will be translated into English.

Wise Pilgrim: Wise Pilgrim has a website and also apps for iPhone and Android. The app that covers all caminos is free. You can also buy apps for individual caminos for less than $5 each. Well worth the small cost to get more detail about that camino.

Camino de Santiago Forum: Here pilgrims discuss everything! You can post questions yourself or search for previous discussions about a topic. (What to do about blisters? Should I use hiking poles? Can I carry them onto a plane? What kind of shoes to wear? ) It’s a well-moderated forum and people are generally kind and helpful. To see most content, you need to have an account but it is free and we’ve never gotten spam or unsolicited email because of our forum account.

John Brierley Camino Guides: For many English speakers, this is their camino Bible. John Brierley is a hero and an inspiration to many. When we started walking in 2013, the Brierley guide was the only resource we used. We don’t use Brierley a lot now that we have Gronze and Wise Pilgrim, but for a first camino, a Brierley guide is great to read. The guides are available as ebooks, so you can load onto your phone with the Kindle app if you wish. Available on Amazon.

WhatsApp: WhatsApp is widely used in Spain. It’s often the best way to communicate with hotels, taxis, etc. You can talk or text for free if you have internet access. Texting is automatically translated from English to Spanish and vice versa. You and the other party must be WhatsApp users but we’ve found many hotels, taxis, etc. are on WhatsApp. WhatsApp phone numbers are always cell numbers and those start with a “6”. Landlines start with “9”.

When to walk the camino

All our trips but one have been in the spring, usually in early April to mid-May. One year, we started on March 1 and found that (1) indoor lodging and restaurants were not well-heated and we were often very cold and (2) many hotels, etc. were still shut down for winter. We have stuck to an April start since then. Our one non-spring trip was in the fall. We like the spring best. Everything is green and we enjoy seeing the flowers gradually emerge. We avoid summer entirely. We hear it can be very very hot on the camino in the summer, including early to mid September. But many do walk in summer and even in the dead of winter.

Which camino to walk

Our first camino was the Camino Frances, often called the “main camino.” We are glad we walked it first. Towns are closer together, wonderful small villages, and the Frances gives that indescribable “pilgrimage feeling”. Our overall favorite camino is the Camino del Norte for its beautiful walks along the Atlantic Ocean and great food. However, it doesn’t have quite as much of a camino feeling as the Frances so we don’t recommend the Norte as a first camino. We enjoyed the Portuguese caminos (both central and coastal routes). They are becoming very popular but they are not among our top favorites. The Frances and Portuguese caminos are becoming more and more crowded, but that is not yet a big issue for us. If it is an issue for you, there are other less-crowded options to choose from. You can read about them via Gronze or Wise Pilgrim.

How far to walk each day

This depends on your energy, fitness level, time constraints, how much you like to walk. Many, perhaps most, pilgrims walk 15 or more miles a day.

We have encountered young, fit people with stress injuries or horrible blisters because of trying to walk this far every day. Of course, many do this unscathed.

We have found that a good average daily distance for us is 8 or 9 miles. It can be a challenge finding nighttime accommodations at that exact distance so our daily distances vary from 5 and 11 miles, more or less. If places are too far apart for us (say more than 11 or 12 miles), we’ve been known to start the day’s walk with a short taxi ride. Taxis are usually easy to find on most caminos and are not terribly expensive. To find a taxi, ask Google or ask employees in a local bar or hotel for help. They’re usually happy to make the call for you.

Planning and navigating your route

The highly-traveled caminos are well-marked with the famous yellow arrows to indicate turns along the way or just to reassure you that you are on the path. We navigated our first few caminos using only the yellow arrows. It’s a great feeling. The least well-marked paths are through the larger cities but there are plenty of people around to keep you heading in the right direction.

If you don’t want to rely totally on the yellow arrows, the Wise Pilgrim phone app provides a map which indicates exactly where you are on the trail … or off the trail. We love using this now for navigating the camino.

As for planning your days, Brierley breaks the camino into stages that average about 15 miles each. The end stage towns usually have lots of accommodations, but, they are typically more crowded. There are usually towns between stages that provide food and lodging as well.

Gronze also breaks the camino into stages. Again, no need to follow the stages precisely. Gronze shows an elevation map for each stage which gives you an idea how easy or difficult the day’s walk will be.

These days we plan our camino day by day before we leave home. However, if you want to just start out each day and see how far you feel like going, there’s great freedom in that. You will find a place to sleep if you are not too picky and open to adventure.

Training for the camino

On the camino you’ll probably be walking more than you are used to and climbing a lot more hills and mountains. There are lots of hills and mountains! So, it wouldn’t hurt to do some long hikes before you leave to assess your fitness and do as much hill and mountain climbing as you can manage. And do this training while wearing the shoes you plan to wear on the camino. And carry the weight in your backpack you think you’ll be carrying.

But, one thing it’s hard to train for is walking 8 to 15 miles day after day after day after day. That’s when the blisters and foot and ankle and knee problems can start to show up. (Speaking from experience!) You don’t have to be perfectly fit before you set out but we recommend you start out with shorter days on the camino and gradually make them longer.

Reserving accommodations

From 2013 through 2024 we only made reservations a day or two in advance. However, starting in 2025, we started making all reservations before we left for the trip.

We lose a lot of flexibility because of this, but we have decided it is worth the trade-off because it’s a little easier to make reservations from home and also because some caminos are getting more and more crowded and we are picky about where we stay. Also, after walking so many caminos, we are getting good at predicting how far we will want to walk per day given elevation changes, etc. We would not want to do this on a first or second camino without having some experience first and we don’t recommend this for most pilgrims.

No matter what, it is a good idea to at least reserve your first night or two. Those walking the Camino Frances and starting in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port find it helps to make the first few night’s reservations until they get past the bottleneck up through Pamplona.

If you make a bunch of reservations in advance, you’ll want to keep track of them some way. We do this with a spreadsheet. Here’s the one we kept in 2026 as an example.

Accommodation options

On the camino you’ll find numerous albergues (pronounced all-BEAR-gay) where you will typically share a small, medium, or large room filled with pilgrims on bunk beds.

Besides albergues, there are hotels, pensions, bed and breakfasts, casa rurals, Airbnbs, and tourist apartments.

Most pilgrims stay in albergues most evenings. Albergues are inexpensive: 5 to 20 euros per bed. They are a great opportunity to bond with fellow pilgrims, share wonderful communal meals, and save money. Albergues often have kitchens where you can cook your own meals. And by staying in albergues you have many more choices of places to stay.

We are not as social as some pilgrims nor as agile getting up and down from a top bunk in the middle of the night! In a pinch, we have stayed in albergues, but we always choose private accommodations when they are available.

Note also that many albergues have one or more private rooms. With that, you get the group experience and often a communal dinner but get to sleep in your own room. We’ve done this a number of times and some of our best memories were made this way.

Most albergues do not supply sheets and towels in the non-private rooms. A few do not provide pillows or blankets. So you will need to plan accordingly. If we think we’ll need to stay in an albergue non-private room, we take lightweight silk sleeping bag liners and lightweight backpacking towels. Some people bring lightweight sleeping bags, depending on the season.

If you stay in albergues you’ll want some good earplugs because there is always someone who snores. Wynette has found that wax earplugs work best for her.

Some albergues are “donativo”. This doesn’t mean they are free. Always leave a generous donation if you can.

How to find accommodations

We use the following resources to find places to stay:

Gronze: As mentioned previously, the website is in Spanish. If you translate into English, keep in mind this will also translate place names so you might want to find your place first and then translate. Find the camino and stage that you will be walking and a list of accommodations will appear.

Wise Pilgrim: This website and the phone apps list accommodations as well.

Google Maps: Find the town where you wish to stay and click on Hotels near the top of the map itself. Hotels, albergues, and other accommodations will pop up on the map. You can zoom in and out to see the options change. Click on one to get reviews, prices, links to the accommodation website or to make reservations.

Booking.com: We like to make a reservation directly with the accommodation if possible but sometimes booking.com works best. Booking.com is an easy site for making reservations or just to read reviews and see what’s available before contacting a place directly. Important: Booking.com does not always list all rooms that are available at a given place. If booking.com doesn’t have a room listed, then contact the accommodation directly.

Airbnb: We’ve rarely used Airbnb for a night in the midst of a walk but, a few times, Airbnb provided us with a place to stay when we couldn’t find anything else.

How to carry or transport your stuff

Through 2024, we carried everything ourselves in backpacks. We usually end up with about 30 pounds total between the two of us. That includes the weight of the backpacks themselves and any water or food we might carry. It does not include clothes and shoes we are actually wearing.

Charlie, being stronger than Wynette and very kind, carried more than 2/3 of the total weight.

We recommend choosing the lightest backpack possible that feels comfortable. We have had good luck with both Gossamer Gear and Granite Gear backpacks. Be sure to get a well-fitting pack that carries most of the weight on your hips. Places like REI can help you determine if a pack fits you right (even if you don’t buy it there).

Starting in 2025, for a couple of reasons that we won’t go into, we started using backpack transport services. Carrying your own stuff saves money and time and allows more flexibility. If you can do it, we recommend it. But, there is no reason you must do it. There are reliable and easy to use backpack transport services available which cost from 5 to 10 euros per bag per day. Price varies by service and location.

We’ve used the following services and were quite happy with them:

Correos Pac Mochilla: Correos is the Spanish post office! Excellent service.

Jacotrans: They’ve been doing this for years. Excellent service as well.

There are numerous other services.

How pack transfer works: You arrange for the pick up and drop off through the web site. You find out from the albergue or hotel where to leave the pack, usually a certain spot in the hotel lobby or some such place. You leave it there by 8:00 am. You attach an envelope to the pack with transfer information. You head out for the day. You’ll probably find your pack has already arrived and is waiting for you when you get to your next place.

In one backpack, we carry the things we need for the day’s walk: rain gear, water, food, etc. We transfer everything else in the other backpack. We are careful not to transfer things that aren’t easily replaced like medical equipment or medicine or passports and such.

Of course there is some risk of the pack being lost or stolen and it makes Wynette (the worrier in our family) nervous leaving it unattended in, say, a hotel lobby, but we’ve never had any issues nor heard of a pack or suitcase being lost or stolen. Spain, apparently, is a very law-abiding country.

There are some accommodations that do not or cannot accommodate baggage transfer. For example, Airbnbs or certain albergues. In that case, you might ask the transfer company if there is an alternate place you can drop off or pick up the bag. If baggage transfer is absolutely essential, then be sure to clarify all this ahead of time.

What to bring

Bring as little as possible! Even if you are using baggage transfer, you have to lug it yourself occasionally. If you are not transporting, lugging a heavy backpack up and down hills is not fun.

You’ll hear the advice “Don’t pack your fears.” Spain is a modern country and if you need something you’ll be able to buy it there.

We take only two sets of clothing: the set we are wearing and one additional set. Charlie brings a few extra tee-shirts. We also bring a few extra underwear and lightweight sock liners.

It’s easy to find laundromats along the way (soap provided!) and we visit one every five days or so. (Search for “self-service laundry” on Google.) Albergues usually provide sinks and clothes lines and many people wash their clothes by hand daily, but we have found we don’t need to do this if we bring a few extra tee-shirts and underwear.

Here is a spreadsheet that lists the items we typically bring.

You’ll note on the spreadsheet that we weigh everything and try to bring the smallest amount and the lightest item possible.

There are some items on the list we could certainly do without (marked with an “x” on the spreadsheet). We’ve learned over the years what items are worth the extra weight. So, we admit we wiggle a little on the advice to bring as little as possible.

Stashing and caching

We’ve started checking a suitcase when we fly that holds the hiking poles we don’t want to risk checking plus items we’d rather not lug in our backpacks as carry on. When we get to Spain, we mail the suitcase to our final walking destination filled with the things we used on the flight or will need at the end but don’t need on the camino.

The Spanish post office offers a great service for this called Pac Peregrino. Also, if Santiago is your final destination, Casa Ivar offers a similar service.

We also have some medical things and a few other things that are used up gradually and add weight. We carry about a 10 day supply with us and then mail the rest ahead to a post office 10 days ahead of us on the camino, also using Pac Peregrino. This has worked out well. Of course, we have to be sure that the post office will be open the day we need to pick up the package.

Rain gear

Up through 2023, we used hooded rain jackets and rain skirts (aka “kilts”) and a waterproof pack cover. Rain skirts are far better than rain pants: significantly lighter (less than 3 oz. each), easy on and off, and effective.

Starting in 2024, we switched to Altus rain poncho/coats. These have arms so don’t flop about in the wind but, like a poncho, are roomy in the back and can be thrown on over everything including the backpack. Most rain we’ve encountered on the camino has been off and on and we find ourselves constantly taking our rain gear off and on. With rain jackets that are worn under a backpack, this is a real pain, but with the Altus, it’s a breeze. And we are able to replace three pieces of rain gear (coat, kilt, pack cover) with a single item, the Altus, which itself is surprisingly lightweight.

If we walked in hot seasons, we might want something that is more breathable than the Altus, but during the spring season, this has not been an issue for us. You can wear the Altus fully zipped in front, unzipped, or partly closed with velcro strips.

We wear hiking shirts and pants with quick-drying fabrics.

Shoes

You don’t need heavy hiking boots for the camino. As examples, Charlie wears Merrell Moab Hiking Shoes. Wynette has been wearing La Sportiva Ultra Raptor Trail Running Shoes. (Sadly, these have been discontinued.)

We like having waterproof shoes (GoreTex), not only to keep feet dry in rain but also when walking through shallow puddles. Some people find that GoreTex makes their feet sweaty. This has not been a problem for us hiking in the spring.

You might want to bring some lightweight shoes to change into in the evening or to wear in the shower in albergues. Wynette loves her Teva Hurricane Drift sandals. They are light and comfortable and she could hike in them in a pinch.

Hiking poles

Charlie only recently starting bringing poles. He uses them only on uneven terrain, which doesn’t happen too often. He’s not sure they are worth the extra weight. Wynette always uses poles. They help with her bad knees and wonky ankle.

If you take poles, it’s important to have some rubber tips for when you are walking on pavement. Otherwise they make a racket which annoys your fellow pilgrims and the locals along the way. Wynette likes metal tips for dirt and gravel and rocky paths and rubber tips for pavement. Her poles have rubber tips that slide on and off easily.

Wynette has splurged on some extremely lightweight carbon fiber poles. Because she doesn’t want to risk them getting taken away at the airport, she doesn’t put them in her carry-on luggage. If you don’t want to check luggage, you can buy inexpensive poles once you are in Spain.

Pilgrim’s passport/credential

Places you stay along the way will stamp your pilgrim’s passport/credential. Then, when you get to Santiago you present this to the Pilgrim’s Office and receive a compostella. Here is more about that: https://americanpilgrims.org/how-get-a-compostela-in-santiago/

We usually request blank credentials before each camino from American Pilgrims on the Camino, but you can do a web search to find other ways to get one.

Phone service in Europe

Our home T-Mobile plan provides free texts and free data when we are Europe but the data is painfully slow. Calls in Europe through our T-Mobile plan are 25 cents a minute. Basically our T-Mobile plan doesn’t work well for us in Spain.

Up through 2025, we would visit a Vodafone store shortly after our arrival in Spain and for around 15 euros get a SIM card which provides (1) a Spanish phone number, (2) lots of data, and (3) plenty of phone minutes.

Now that our phones take eSIMs, we can set up everything online before we leave. For 10 or 15 euros per month, we can get an eSIM with all the fast data and minutes that we need. Very easy to set up and use. Charlie used _____ for a data-only eSIM.

We use WhatsApp to call or text each other and continue to use our T-Mobile plan to text folks back home.

Money

Traveler’s checks are a thing of the past. And money exchange booths in the airport are a rip off.

The vast majority of Spanish hotels and restaurants and stores take credit cards. Check to be sure your credit card doesn’t charge an extra currency conversion fee. Many do not.

When doing a credit card transaction, you’ll often be asked whether to convert to your home currency or pay in Euros. Euros is always the best choice. It allows your bank or card issuer to handle the conversion rate.

You’ll need cash for small things (a cup of coffee in a bar) and occasionally you’ll find an accommodation or restaurant that only accepts cash. Or you are nice to the small businesses and chose to pay in cash.

There are many ATM machines available for getting cash with your debit card. Always decline the ATM’s dynamic currency conversion (to prevent poor exchange rates) and choose to be charged in Euros.

Some ATMs charge a transaction fee. Do a quick Google search for “ATMs in Spain that don’t charge a fee”. They exist.

We like to bring about 100 euros home after a trip so we have cash for the beginning of our next trip.

Speaking the language

Most people in Spain do not speak English, especially in the smaller towns. Luckily, there are some good tools for communicating. Apps like WhatsApp and Booking and Airbnb automatically translate messages back and forth. And Google Translate and other translation apps will allows you to speak into a phone and the phone will speak back in the relevant language.

It is polite and will enhance your experience if you learn basic Spanish expressions like please and thank you and more. Here is a list of Some Words and Expressions to Help Make Your Camino Easier, Safer, and More Enjoyable.

Wynette has studied Spanish since before we started walking Caminos and it has been a great experience being able to communicate in Spanish with the wonderful and kind Spanish people. If you are interested in learning Spanish, here is a list of Good Resources for Learning Spanish that she has put together.

Food and drink and bars!

It is said that Spain has more bars per capita than any country in the world. And we believe it. Bars in Spain are coffee bars and informal restaurants as much or more than they are places to drink alcoholic beverages. They are community gathering places for people of all ages including children. The chains haven’t taken over the bars and every bar is different.

You can get fantastic coffee. It’s rare to see a bar without a big espresso machine. For cooling off on the trail, you can ask for your coffee iced. And, we recently discovered Kas Lemon and Kas Orange which are popular sodas produced in Spain and widely served in Spanish bars. They have significantly less sugar than Coke.

For breakfast, we often ask if they can make us fried eggs with toast and they usually say “yes”. Don’t be shy to ask for things that aren’t posted on a menu. (It took us a long time to get up the nerve to ask for mayonnaise on our bocadillos.)

For lunch, they’ll often have a “menu del dia” with a simple and inexpensive menu which includes a few choices for first course, second course, desert, bread, and drink (including wine). On the camino, there are also pilgrim’s menus that are even less expensive but perhaps not quite as good as a regular menu del dia.

Of course, you can also get the famous Spanish tapas in the bars. And, tapas make a fine early dinner because … food hours in Spain are crazy (to us): Spaniards don’t typically have dinner till 9:00 pm or later. However, some restaurants along the camino accommodate pilgrims who like to go to bed early. And, as mentioned, some albergues will serve a communal meal.

Even if you’ve studied Spanish for years, there will be food items listed on menus that are mysterious. One trick we have learned is to look for photos of the food on Google. Choose the Google Images option to see lots of photos of the food.

Food in Spanish grocery stores is quite a bit less expensive than in the States. If you have a place to cook or picnic, check out the grocery stores. Many pilgrims carry grocery store food in their pack and eat on the trail instead of stopping in a bar or restaurant for lunch.

Tap water is safe to drink and we’ve found it tastes very good. We fill our water bottles in the hotel room and refill in bars if necessary. There are also fountains along the way on most caminos.

A fairly new Spanish law requires bars and restaurant to serve tap water (agua del grifo) if requested. They probably would have done it before but we were always hesitant to ask. Now it is common to see most people in restaurants drinking tap water instead of bottled water. This is probably healthier and certainly better for the environment.

Safety

We feel very safe on the camino. Violent crime in Spain is significantly lower than in the United States. Nevertheless, people on the Camino de Santiago Forum regularly advise installing the Alert Cops app on your phone. We’ve never needed to use it but good to know it is installed and ready to go.

Of course, be careful about pickpockets in the large cities.

Probably the most dangerous thing you will do is walk alongside highways. Most camino routes avoid busy highways but there are a few exceptions. Be sure to walk on the left side facing oncoming traffic and be sure you are visible. Consider wearing high-viz colors. We put reflective tape on our backpacks and on our hiking poles.

Health

Every town of any size will have a pharmacy where you can get advice about treating blisters, runny noses, sore knees, and other ailments.

When Wynette had a lingering illness on our 2026 camino, we discovered that telehealth is easy and inexpensive in Spain. She was able to get a fast appointment with Virtual Clinica and do a video chat in English with a doctor for 35 euros. He emailed her three prescriptions. We went to a nearby pharmacy, they scanned the codes that came with the prescriptions and supplied them in minutes. Total cost: 12 euros. Virtual Clinica is only one of several telehealth options in Spain.

Covid/flu tests cost only a few euros in Spanish pharmacies. She did a test before talking with the doctor. It was good to be able to tell him the test was negative.

A word about blisters

Charlie has probably had three tiny blisters over all the years but Wynette has struggled with them. One thing she finally learned is to apply tape over blister-prone areas to prevent blisters from happening. Good tape to use is surgical paper tape or leukotape. And, of course, good-fitting shoes are important.