All 33 stages of the Camino Frances

All 33 stages from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago, grouped into the three sections that genuinely differ. With what you need to know about each one and the days worth splitting.

Starts at: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
Distance: 775 km
Classic stages: 33
Pilgrims in 2026: 133.450

Figure checked Pilgrim Office, January–July 2026.

Navarre and La Rioja

Stage	Section	Distance (km)	What to know
1	Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port → Roncesvalles	24,7	The hardest stage on the Francés, and it is the first. It crosses the Pyrenees with 1,200 m of climbing. In snow or fog you must take the Valcarlos route. A great many people quit from doing it with no warm-up.
2	Roncesvalles → Zubiri	21,5	Long descent through beech woods, with stony sections that punish knees.
3	Zubiri → Pamplona	20,5	Follows the river Arga into the city. A fine entrance through the old quarter.
4	Pamplona → Puente la Reina	23,9	The Alto del Perdón, with its pilgrim sculptures. The descent is stony and steep.
5	Puente la Reina → Estella	21,9	Vineyards and Roman road. Puente la Reina has the most photographed medieval bridge on the Camino.
6	Estella → Los Arcos	21,3	The Irache wine fountain is just after leaving. Long stretch with no services in the second half.
7	Los Arcos → Logroño	27,6	Long and exposed to the sun. You enter La Rioja.
8	Logroño → Nájera	29,0	Rioja vineyards. A long stage most people split at Navarrete.
9	Nájera → Santo Domingo de la Calzada	20,7	Comfortable. Santo Domingo cathedral keeps live hens inside, in a henhouse.
	Total	211,1

The meseta

Stage	Section	Distance (km)	What to know
10	Santo Domingo → Belorado	22,0	You enter Castile. The landscape starts to change.
11	Belorado → San Juan de Ortega	24,2	Crosses the Montes de Oca, with a climb and a long pine section without services.
12	San Juan de Ortega → Burgos	25,9	A long approach to Burgos. There is a riverside variant far nicer than the industrial one.
13	Burgos → Hornillos del Camino	21,0	The meseta proper begins. Open horizon, no shade. In summer you set off in the dark.
14	Hornillos del Camino → Castrojeriz	20,1	Long stretches with nothing. Castrojeriz is visible from far off, which is demoralising.
15	Castrojeriz → Frómista	24,7	Climbs the Alto de Mostelares straight out of town. Frómista has San Martín, a Romanesque gem.
16	Frómista → Carrión de los Condes	19,0	Alongside the Canal de Castilla. Flat and straightforward.
17	Carrión de los Condes → Terradillos	26,8	17 km in a row with no services at all on Roman road. Leave with water and food.
18	Terradillos → Sahagún	13,0	Short. Sahagún is the midpoint of the Camino Francés and issues the Carta Peregrina certifying it.
19	Sahagún → El Burgo Ranero	17,6	Flat and monotonous, alongside the road. There is a quieter variant via Calzada del Coto.
20	El Burgo Ranero → León	37,1	Very long. Split at Mansilla de las Mulas. León is worth a rest day.
	Total	251,4

León to Santiago

Stage	Section	Distance (km)	What to know
21	León → Villar de Mazarife	22,0	Two variants: Mazarife, quieter, and Villadangos, alongside the road.
22	Villar de Mazarife → Astorga	31,0	Long. Split at Hospital de Órbigo, which has the longest medieval bridge on the Camino.
23	Astorga → Rabanal del Camino	20,5	Steady climb towards the León mountains. Astorga has the Gaudí palace.
24	Rabanal del Camino → Ponferrada	32,5	The Cruz de Ferro, highest point on the Francés. The descent from El Acebo to Molinaseca punishes knees more than anything else on the route. Split at Molinaseca.
25	Ponferrada → Villafranca del Bierzo	24,0	Bierzo vineyards, comfortable. Villafranca has the Puerta del Perdón.
26	Villafranca del Bierzo → O Cebreiro	28,5	The most remembered climb on the Camino: 700 m of ascent in the last 8 km. Split at Las Herrerías or La Faba.
27	O Cebreiro → Triacastela	21,0	Galician mountains, over the Alto do Poio. Long descent via San Xil.
28	Triacastela → Sarria	18,5	Two variants: San Xil, shorter, or Samos, past the monastery.
29	Sarria → Portomarín	22,2	The final 100 km start here and the crowds multiply. The climb into Portomarín, with its staircase, bites.
30	Portomarín → Palas de Rei	24,8	Continuous short climbs. Long stretches beside the road.
31	Palas de Rei → Arzúa	28,5	Passes Melide, where the Primitivo joins and where you eat the octopus. Long: split at Melide.
32	Arzúa → O Pedrouzo	19,3	Eucalyptus woods and hamlets. Comfortable.
33	O Pedrouzo → Santiago	19,4	Monte do Gozo and the entrance to the city. Set off early for the pilgrim mass at noon.
	Total	312,2

Route total: 774,7 km. Stage distances are general references. We have not recalculated them against the official track yet, which is why they are underlined.

The stages almost nobody walks whole

The classic 33-stage split is a convention, not an obligation, and several days go over 30 km. These are the ones most often split:

El Burgo Ranero → León, 37.1 km. Split at Mansilla de las Mulas.
Rabanal → Ponferrada, 32.5 km. Split at Molinaseca.
Villar de Mazarife → Astorga, 31 km. Split at Hospital de Órbigo.
Villafranca → O Cebreiro, 28.5 km. Split at Las Herrerías or La Faba.

Counting those splits, the real Camino Francés is around 38 to 40 walking days, not 33. That is the difference between asking for five weeks off and six.

The stretches with nothing at all

The Francés has a reputation for a bar every few kilometres, and mostly that is true. But there are three stretches where it is not:

Carrión de los Condes → Calzadilla de la Cueza: 17 km in a row on Roman road, with no services and no shade. The longest dry stretch on the route.
The Montes de Oca, between Belorado and San Juan de Ortega.
Los Arcos → Logroño, in the second half.

In summer, on the meseta, this stops being an inconvenience and becomes a safety matter. Set off in the dark, carry two litres and do not count on refilling.

Common questions

How many stages does the Camino Francés have?

33 in the classic split from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Counting the splits almost everyone makes, it works out at 38 to 40 walking days.

Which is the hardest stage of the Camino Francés?

The first one, Saint-Jean to Roncesvalles, with 1,200 m of climbing across the Pyrenees and no warm-up at all.

Can you skip the meseta?

You can, and many people bus between Burgos and León. It is the most monotonous section in landscape and the one most people remember fondly afterwards.

Where do the final 100 km start?

In Sarria. It is the last point on the Francés from which you complete the Compostela minimum.