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Camino Francés: The Complete Route Guide

Quick facts

The route: map, elevation, and stages

761.3 km on the track 33 stages +9559 m total climb −9509 m total descent
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Route track: Nederlands Genootschap van Sint Jacob (santiago.nl), republished with credit. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Dashed line: shared finish on another route.

Open the full-screen map app Plan this route Download the GPX track The same map, app-style: full screen, offline packs, and find-me while you walk. Plan this route opens the planner: regroup these stages into your own days, with a start date and a daily budget.

Places on this way

Places load with the map view.

Elevation sampled from terrain data (Terrarium DEM, built on SRTM) along the track. Hover the profile to trace the route on the map, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Click a stage band, a stage number, or a table row to zoom to that stage.

Stages

StageWalkKmClimbDescentDifficulty
The Pyrenees · The climb out of Saint-Jean, then down to Pamplona.
1Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port → Roncesvalles25.0+1318 m−551 m5 of 5
Variant: Valcarlos route, the low Pyrenees crossing. V1 Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles, 22.9 km, joins the main line at Roncesvalles. Switch to the Valcarlos route chip above to walk it stage by stage.
2Roncesvalles → Zubiri22.0+276 m−697 m3 of 5
3Zubiri → Pamplona21.0+163 m−235 m2 of 5
Navarra and Rioja · Wine country, Roman roads, and the long run to Burgos.
4Pamplona → Puente la Reina24.0+376 m−453 m3 of 5
5Puente la Reina → Estella22.0+308 m−232 m3 of 5
6Estella → Los Arcos21.0+321 m−310 m2 of 5
7Los Arcos → Logroño28.0+289 m−367 m4 of 5
8Logroño → Nájera29.0+323 m−219 m4 of 5
9Nájera → Santo Domingo de la Calzada21.0+301 m−156 m2 of 5
10Santo Domingo → Belorado22.0+218 m−91 m2 of 5
11Belorado → San Juan de Ortega24.0+399 m−162 m3 of 5
12San Juan de Ortega → Burgos26.0+130 m−227 m3 of 5
The Meseta · The high, flat middle of Spain, Burgos to León.
13Burgos → Hornillos del Camino21.0+108 m−134 m2 of 5
14Hornillos → Castrojeriz20.0+159 m−155 m2 of 5
15Castrojeriz → Frómista25.0+186 m−218 m3 of 5
16Frómista → Carrión de los Condes19.0+55 m−3 m1 of 5
17Carrión → Terradillos de los Templarios27.0+77 m−60 m3 of 5
18Terradillos → Bercianos del Real Camino23.0+103 m−132 m2 of 5
19Bercianos → Mansilla de las Mulas27.0+31 m−82 m3 of 5
20Mansilla → León19.0+95 m−86 m2 of 5
Montes de León and El Bierzo · Up to the Cruz de Ferro, then down into El Bierzo.
21León → San Martín del Camino25.0+109 m−75 m3 of 5
22San Martín → Astorga24.0+157 m−159 m3 of 5
23Astorga → Foncebadón26.0+550 m−15 m3 of 5
24Foncebadón → Ponferrada27.0+181 m−1080 m4 of 5
25Ponferrada → Villafranca del Bierzo24.0+180 m−177 m3 of 5
Galicia · Over O Cebreiro into green Galicia, and the last 100 km from Sarria.
26Villafranca → O Cebreiro28.0+852 m−88 m4 of 5
Variant: Dragonte route, the remote Bierzo alternative. D1 Villafranca to Las Herrerías, 25.8 km, then D2 Las Herrerías to O Cebreiro, 8.3 km, 34.1 km in all against 28.0 km on the main line. Switch to the Dragonte route chip above to walk it stage by stage.
27O Cebreiro → Triacastela21.0+245 m−854 m3 of 5
28Triacastela → Sarria18.0+269 m−506 m2 of 5
29Sarria → Portomarín22.0+324 m−430 m3 of 5
30Portomarín → Palas de Rei25.0+476 m−282 m3 of 5
31Palas de Rei → Arzúa29.0+434 m−600 m4 of 5
32Arzúa → O Pedrouzo19.0+286 m−387 m2 of 5
33O Pedrouzo → Santiago de Compostela20.0+260 m−288 m2 of 5

Plan your own days

The stages above are one way to walk this route, not the only way. Every stage town starts highlighted below, because the stages as written sleep in each one. Tap a highlighted town to walk through it and sleep at the next stop instead, and tap it again to split the days back. Your days update as you tap. Set a start date and a daily budget here and every day carries its date and its cost on this page. Open these days in the planner to carry this exact grouping into your plan, where GPX, copy, and print exports apply to it. Dates and budget set here are saved into the same plan, so they are already set when you open it there.

Open these days in the planner

Why the Francés

The Francés is the classic Camino, the route most people picture: over the Pyrenees on day one, through Pamplona, the Rioja wine country, the long flat meseta between Burgos and León, up over the Cruz de Ferro, and down into green Galicia. It has the densest albergue network of any route, which means flexible stage lengths and a bed almost every 5-10 km in season. That infrastructure is also why it gets crowded from Sarria onward, especially in Holy Years (next: 2027, when July 25 falls on a Sunday).

Stages and variants

The stage list in the route explorer above is this guide's one stage list. It runs as a flow in five sections (the Pyrenees, Navarra and Rioja, the Meseta, the Montes de León and El Bierzo, and Galicia), and the two variants appear inside it at the stages where they branch, not in separate tables down here. Switch ways with the chips above the map to see a variant's own stages, profile, and totals.

Stage 1 has two ways over the Pyrenees. The list follows the high Napoleon route. The Valcarlos route is the low crossing, through Valcarlos village to Roncesvalles, where it joins the main line for the rest of the walk. It is the winter and bad weather option, and the only legal option when the Napoleon route is closed (1 November to 31 March, and whenever weather shuts it outside those dates). It is a little shorter than the Napoleon crossing and climbs far less, but it is still a full mountain day: the road and path climb steadily to the Ibañeta pass just above Roncesvalles.

At stage 26 the Dragonte route is the harder, quieter alternative between Villafranca del Bierzo and O Cebreiro: it leaves the river valley and crosses the hills through Dragonte village and San Fiz do Seo, splitting at Las Herrerías, which has beds and is the natural overnight. Its two legs together are 34.1 km against the main line's 28 km for the same stretch, with more climbing and far fewer services, so carry water and food out of Villafranca. From O Cebreiro the walk continues on the main line to Santiago.

Sections at a glance

When to walk

Practical notes

Holy Year 2027 note

2027 is a Holy Year (Xacobeo): the Holy Door of the Cathedral opens and pilgrim numbers spike, above all in July and around July 25. If you are walking the Francés in 2027, book the first night (Saint-Jean or Roncesvalles) and the Sarria-to-Santiago stretch earlier than you think you need to.

Stage by stage

Every stage on its own page, with its elevation profile, walking time, and the services along it.

Town by town

Every stage town on its own page, with the stages in and out, the services in town, and every named place to stay.

Walking just the last 100 km?

Start in Sarria: 115 km and 5 walking days from here to Santiago, over the 100 km Compostela minimum, with a day by day plan on the landing page.

Wildfire check

Fire season in Spain and Portugal runs roughly May to October, and a dry stretch can close or fill with smoke with little warning. Before you set off, and each morning while you walk in dry country, check the EFFIS current fire map for active fires near your route.

If officials close a stretch, follow their instructions and reroute or wait it out. Never light a fire anywhere on the route.

Get the free one-page Francés stage planner

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Keep planning

More routes: Camino Portugués · Camino Primitivo · Camino del Norte. Or get the free one-page stage planner.