So You Want to Walk the Camino de Santiago

by Robert McGarvey

Maybe it’s this year’s Zeitgeist but in 2021 when I returned from walking 150 miles of the ancient Camino de Santiago (from Leon to Santiago de Compostela in northern Spain) pretty much no one asked me how to do it themselves.

This year, when I returned from walking a similar distance on the Portuguese Camino from Porto to Santiago, suddenly a lot of people have asked me how to do it. Probably it’s because Covid fears have receded, but now it seems everyone wants to hit the Camino trails and they all want to know how.

This is my answer.

For starters: if you can walk a mile in your hometown you can walk the Camino aka The Way. That is fact. There is no timekeeper, take as many days as you want and, especially on the Camino Frances – the most popular route – there are plenty of places to sleep between, say, Leon and Santiago. No one is forced to walk a 20 mile stage daily. In fact, in our most recent Camino, one day’s stage was 5.9 miles (mainly because I discovered all accommodations were booked in the next logical stopping point which was another six miles distant). You don’t lose points for walking five miles in a day, you don’t score points for logging 20+. Your Camino is your Camino.

You also are not obliged to carry a heavy backpack as you walk. On the most popular routes – the Frances and the Portuguese from Porto – multiple companies (known as pack services) want to transport your bag for around 6 Euros per stage. You also can use a service some days, carry it yourself others which is what we did on this year’s Portuguese.

How big a pack should you bring? Go in the popular April through October timeframe and a 40 liter sack will be big enough. That’s what I used last year and this year. Next year I plan to do a third Camino – the Ingles from Ferrol to Santiago, about 100 km – and will use a 35 liter Cotopaxi bag because, honestly, the 40 liter bag felt heavy on my back this year and I decided to trim down for the next walk. I picked the Cotopaxi because it is built to be rugged and it features lots of built-in organization. As a bonus it is unquestionably carryon luggage on any airline I would fly.

How can you get away with such a small pack? Because you only bring clothes and toiletries and of course a phone charger. You don’t need a sleeping bag, a cook stove, or a larder of dried and canned food for hikers. There are plenty of cafes along the main Camino routes. I don’t even bring a water bottle (although I do buy the occasional plastic bottle of water at a mercado along the way).

But you do need fast drying underwear, socks and shirts. You will be washing them out in sinks and you want them dry before heading off early the next morning. I have acquired a whole if small Camino wardrobe to accommodate this need. Word of advice: your socks are the most critical part of your wardrobe. Do not scrimp. I wear modestly priced walking shoes but $25 Darn Tough socks.

And you are not obligated to sleep at so-called albergues, which are usually akin to barracks where 20 to maybe 100 peregrinos are sleeping. We never slept in an albergue on our 2021 walk (lingering Covid concerns made that unwise). Nor did we this year – again because of Covid but also because there were so many pilgrims this year and so many albergues remained closed availability of beds was uncertain. I used Booking.com to find rooms at small, usually family owned hotels, at rates that never exceeded $121 per night and perhaps half the time included breakfast.

Here are the rates for other nights: $82, $72, $75, $68, $56, $48, $62, $60, $90, $66, $60. That’s for two people, private room, private bath. And, as I said, about half the time a breakfast was in the deal.

About now you are probably asking, but what about the walking? As I already indicated, walk at your own pace. The two most popular Camino routes do not involve technical skills. These literally are walks in the park with some city and town sidewalks thrown in. Many peregrinos use hiking poles – some use two, personally I prefer just one but it is especially useful going down steep hills and also when crossing shallow streams.

Definitely do walks at home before heading off to Spain. Maybe six months before the start date, certainly three months before, start walking ever longer distances six days a week, seven if you can. Why so many days? No day’s walk on the Camino is likely to undo a peregrino but the day in, day out grind for two weeks, maybe a month if one is walking the full 800km Frances route does thwart many. Get used to daily walking. If you can manage five miles a day probably you are good to go for the Camino especially if you will settle for a 10 mile per day quota.

Your goal is near 20 miles per day? I suggest getting up to at least 10 miles per day at home.

And do some of that walking, especially the last week or two, wearing the pack you plan to bring. Is it comfortable? If not, adjust the straps. If it’s still uncomfortable, buy a new pack. Pack comfort is critical especially if you don’t plan to use a pack service.

A rule of thumb is that walking shoes will last for around 500 miles so put in maybe 250 miles in them at home – and bring those shoes on the Camino. Do not bring new ones. That leads to blisters. Bring shoes that already suit your feet and walking style.

But do bring blister treatment – it’s probably the most common Camino ailment. I’ve used several, most seem to work okay, but do not have a favorite to recommend. Try several at home before going to Spain.

All that’s left for you to do now is book your flight and book accommodations at least for the first couple nights. Buen Camino.