How to plan the Camino de Santiago

Nine decisions, in the right order. Most plans go wrong because people start at number four: choosing a route before knowing how many days they have.

1. How many days you really have

The hard number is not the route: it is your days off. And «really» means after deducting the outbound journey, the return, and at least half a day in Santiago on arrival, when you collect the Compostela and see the city.

If you have a week of holiday, your Camino is five walking days, not seven. Getting this wrong is the most common planning error of all.

2. Which route fits those days

All seven routes compared.

3. Where to start

Within your chosen route, the starting point decides three things: how many people you meet, whether you reach the 100 km for the Compostela, and how awkward the transfer is.

Two warnings that save trouble. One: A Coruña does not qualify for the Compostela, because under 100 km remain. Two: Vigo is borderline and worth verifying before counting on it.

4. Which dates

What almost nobody knows: September is now the busiest month of the year, ahead of August, so the classic «go in September to avoid the crowds» no longer works. July is the quietest summer month.

The month-by-month figures · Where the crowding actually is

5. Where you will sleep

This decision determines everything else, including whether booking a package makes any sense.

• Municipal albergues. Cheap, sociable, bunks. Never bookable — first come, first served. With these you cannot fix an itinerary, and therefore cannot book a self-guided package.
• Private albergues. A little more, bookable, often with double rooms as well as bunks.
• Guesthouses and hotels. Your own room, your own bathroom, quiet. This is what a self-guided package books.

The detail of each type.

6. With or without your pack

Luggage transfer between hotels is a separate service booked stage by stage: you do not need a full package to use it.

How it works and what it costs · What to pack and what each item weighs

7. The credential

The document that proves your route, and without it there is no Compostela. Over the final 100 km you need two stamps a day, starting on day one, not day two.

How the credential and the Compostela work

8. The journey home

Planned last and forgotten every time. Santiago has an airport, a railway station and a coach station.

The usual error is booking the return flight for the same day you reach Santiago. Leave at least one night: if a day goes wrong, if a tendon complains, or if you simply want to see the city, that margin is worth a great deal.

9. What it will cost

With everything above decided, the budget falls out on its own. The variables that matter are accommodation type and whether you pay for luggage transfer.

Detailed budget, independent and self-guided · The comparison between the two