How long does the Camino de Santiago take?

The short answer

The Camino Frances, the classic route from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela, is about 784 km (487 miles). Most pilgrims walk it in 30 to 35 days, covering 22 to 26 km (14 to 16 miles) a day with a rest day or two. Fast walkers do it in under four weeks. People who take it gently, or who stop to see the cities, take five or six.

780 km (487 miles) is out of reach for most of us this year. It is not out of reach for your feet. Put the Camino under them, and the evening walk you would have skipped becomes the one that gets you to the next milestone, where a chapter of the road opens up. That is what reTrek is for.

There is no single right length because there is no single Camino. The Frances is the one most people mean. The Portuguese route from Lisbon is about 620 km (385 miles), from Porto about 240 km (150 miles). The Camino del Norte along the coast is around 825 km (513 miles). And to earn the Compostela certificate you only need the last 100 km (62 miles) on foot, which is why Sarria, 115 km (71 miles) out, is the most common starting point of all.

The maths, by daily distance

Whatever your daily distance, the days are just the total divided by it. For the Frances:

Daily distance	Days for 784 km (487 miles)	Who walks like this
30 km (19 miles)	26	Fast, fit, travelling light
25 km (16 miles)	31	The typical pilgrim pace
20 km (12 miles)	39	Comfortable, time in the towns
15 km (9 miles)	52	A gentle pace, time for everything on the way

Add the rest days you want. Most people take one in Pamplona, Burgos or León, and many take a full day in Santiago at the end.

In steps

A walking step is about 41% of your height, so an adult of average height takes about 0.70 m (2.3 ft) a step, and 784 km (487 miles) is roughly 1,120,000 steps. A shorter person needs closer to 1.2 million, a tall one under a million. Pilgrims who have counted report a million and a bit, which is where the “a million steps to Santiago” line comes from.

How long does it take at each stage?

Pilgrims tend to think of the Frances in three parts. The Pyrenees and Navarre from Saint-Jean to Logroño, about 160 km (100 miles) and the hardest week, with the crossing of the Pyrenees on day one. The Meseta from Burgos to León, about 180 km (112 miles) of flat, open plateau that people either love or endure. And Galicia, the last 150 km (93 miles) from O Cebreiro down to Santiago, green, hilly and busy with pilgrims who started at Sarria. A 33 day plan spends roughly a week in each part with the stretches between them.

Not this year? Walk it anyway, on your terms

Most people who do this maths never take the five weeks off. reTrek lets you walk the same 784 km anyway.

Your everyday walks move you along the French Way, and at points along the road a short film shows you where you have got to. For most people it takes a few months.

Walk it alone, pool your steps with friends, or race them to Santiago.

The Camino is a paid route. A year of reTrek costs about the same as one takeaway coffee a month, and Everest Base Camp is free if you want to try it first.