Camino from Vigo

From 1,400 pilgrims in 2019 to more than 14,000 in 2026: the fastest-growing start on the whole Camino. But before booking there is one figure worth looking at carefully, and it is the distance.

Distance

98 km

Duration

5 days

Route

Coastal Portuguese Way

Starts in 2025

14.300

Figure checked Pilgrim Office, January–July 2026.

How the stages are usually split

There is no official split. These are the ones actually used, depending on the days you have.

In 5 stages, the usual split

Stage distances are general references. We have not recalculated them against the official track yet, which is why they are underlined.

The 100 km problem

This has to come first: from Vigo the distance hovers around the 100 km minimum, and depending on where exactly you start it can fall short.

The distance depends heavily on your precise starting point within the city — leaving from the old town is not the same as from the northern outskirts — and on which variant you take in the first few kilometres.

The safe way to handle it is simple: start from the historic centre, get your first stamp there, and take no transport on any section. If you have any doubt, the option that removes the risk entirely is starting in Baiona, about 30 km earlier, or in Tui, which has plenty of margin.

We have not yet recalculated this distance against the official track, so we are not going to give you an exact figure you cannot then defend at the Pilgrim Office. If the Compostela matters to you, this is the riskiest of the common starting points.

What it has going for it

With that said, it is easy to see why it has grown so fast.

It is easy to reach. Vigo has an airport, a high-speed rail link to Madrid, a coach station and a port. You can arrive in the morning and start walking at midday.

It fits a long weekend. Four or five days is enough — even less than from Sarria.

The second half is excellent. From Pontevedra onwards the route enters the Galicia of vineyards and stone crosses, through Caldas de Reis and Padrón, and from there it is indistinguishable from the Portuguese coming up from Tui.

Leaving Vigo, frankly

The first few kilometres are not pretty. Vigo is a large industrial port city, and getting out of it means crossing industrial estates, roads and suburbs for a good while.

It improves a lot approaching Redondela, with views over the estuary, but the start is among the least appealing of any Jacobean route.

That is information almost nobody gives, and worth having before deciding. If you want scenery from minute one, this is not your starting point.