Anyone who wants to walk the Way of St. James is faced with the question:
Which Camino de Santiago Route do I want to take?
There are several variants of the famous Camino Santiago. They all have different starting points, but all end together at the destination, in front of the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, in north-western Spain.
There are good reasons to walk each of the well-known and lesser-known routes – but also good reasons not to. I would therefore like to briefly introduce and compare the best-known routes below.
Contents
Camino de Santiago Routes in Comparison
A Camino Santiago Route for beginners…
- …can be the Camino Francés, due to its popularity and good infrastructure.
- …can be the Camino Portugues, the Portuguese Way, because it is “only” 240 kilometers long and rather flat.
- …can be the Camino Inglés, which can even be completed in a week
A Camino Santiago Route for advanced walkers…
- …can be the Camino del Norte, which is very hilly to mountainous – and leads along the sea
- …can be the Camino Primitivo, which is even more physically challenging and is rarely walked
- …can be the Via de la Plata, as there are stage lengths of 30 kilometers here that not everyone wants to do
What are the Criteria for choosing your Camino de Santiago?
As you can see, there is not just one Way of St. James, but a whole bunch of routes. But how do you make a good decision? Experience has shown that this is not always so easy.
To help you, we would like to give you the criteria that prospective pilgrims often consult when deciding for or against a particular route:
- Number of pilgrims on the respective routes (How many people walk a particular Way of St. James?)
- Difficulty level / altitude profile of the route (How challenging or easy is this route?)
- Length / distance of the Way of St. James (How much time do I have available? How much time do I need for the route?)
- Ideal time of year (What time of year do I want to choose? Is the route suitable at this time of year?)
Details of all known Camino de Santiago routes in Spain & Portugal
Camino Francés (easy to moderately difficult route):
- 800 kilometers long,
- chosen by most pilgrims
- 5 weeks duration
- Medium and mixed route profile
- Travel time: All year round
Caminho Portugues (easy route):
- 250 kilometers long
- around 25% of pilgrims choose this route
- Can be completed in two weeks
- Easy route profile for most stages
- Travel time: spring to fall
Camino del Norte (medium to difficult route):
- over 800 kilometers long
- less than 10% choose this route
- Allow at least five weeks
- The trail profile of the Camino del Norte is tough
- Travel time: spring to fall
Camino Primitivo (difficult route):
- approx. 250 kilometers long
- only a few pilgrims choose this Way of St. James
- easy to complete in just under three weeks
- Very challenging route layout
- Travel time: also spring to fall
Via de la Plata (medium to difficult route):
- 1,000 kilometers long – longest route
- Only a few pilgrims are on this route
- (more than) six weeks is advisable
- not so much ascent, but long stages in parts
- Travel time: fall, (possibly winter), spring
Camino Inglés (easy route):
- a little more than 100 kilometers “only” long
- also a rather unknown Way of St. James route
- you can complete the Camino Inglés in just over a week
- the route profile is beginner-friendly
- Travel time: From spring to fall