Chemin de Compostelle: itineraries and stages of the pilgrimage

Are you planning to make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela? Here’s our mini-guide to everything you need to know about this spiritual journey!

Established in the early 9th century, the Compostela pilgrimage is one of Europe’s largest and most famous walks. The pilgrimage routes, some 1,500 kilometers long to Santiago de Compostela, meet on a well-known route: the « camino francés« . Declared a « first cultural route » by the Council of Europe in 1987, the pilgrimage routes have enjoyed renewed interest and growing popularity since the 1990s.

In fact, more than 300,000 walkers crisscrossed the Camino de Compostela in 2018. A religious procession , pilgrimage is also a moment of exchange and sharing, an ecological and inexpensive way to travel, a spiritual journey inviting meditation and poetry, to recharge one’s batteries and find oneself, a hike to reconnect with nature and/or with oneself.

Would you like to make the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela? We’ll tell you all about it.

Compostela pilgrimage: presentation and history

The Compostela pilgrimage was once considered one of the most important in Christendom, after Rome and Jerusalem. For devout Catholics, the pilgrimage was dedicated to visiting the relics of Santiago de Compostela in Santiago de Compostela Cathedral.

By the 12th century, tens if not hundreds of thousands of faithful people were flocking to the Chemins de Compostelle every year. At the time, the walk also attracted non-believers, who lived off charity by visiting the hospices along the route. During the 14th century, famine and plague ravaged Europe, and pilgrimages were gradually forgotten.

Then came the Christian Reconquest to Andalusia, the emergence of Protestantism, and the Bishop of Santiago hid Santiago’s relics in an unknown location (never revealed due to the Bishop’s death). These factors virtually brought an end to pilgrimages along the Camino de Compostela, and it wasn’t until 1879, when the cathedral was being rebuilt, that the relics of Santiago were rediscovered, giving a new lease of life to the Compostela pilgrimage.

Preparing for the Compostela pilgrimage

Like any journey, the Compostelle pilgrimage requires a minimum of preparation. Which map(s) to choose so as not to get lost and cover unnecessary kilometers, where to stay along the way – in a hotel, with a local or camping in a tent – and how to listen to the body’s signals of fatigue (blisters on the feet, hunger and thirst, physical fatigue). -How do you listen to your body’s signs of fatigue (blisters on feet, hunger and thirst, physical fatigue)?

When should you travel to Santiago de Compostela?

These are all questions you need to ask yourself before setting off on the Camino Francés. Of course, you’re free to set off whenever you like, at any time of year. Your vacation dates will determine the length of your itinerary, and you’ll also need to question your physical stamina to estimate how many kilometers per day you’ll cover.

In any case, we recommend that you set off in spring or late summer, so that you can cross the Pyrenean passes without being caught unawares by the cold or snow. If you have more time, try to arrive in Santiago de Compostela in early autumn, but again, it all depends on your point of departure.

Leaving Le Puy-en-Velay, the paths cross high-altitude areas such as the Auvergne and the Cévennes, where it’s best to travel in spring. Make sure you’re well supplied with water, too, as summer can be torrid in south-west France and Spain.

How to make the pilgrimage

Not everyone takes the Camino de Santiago on foot. Many do it by mountain bike, which allows them to cover 50 to 90 km a day. Others do it on horseback, which is yet another way to enjoy the route.

What to pack in your backpack

Think first about your back and your ability to walk with weight on you. Don’t overload yourself and take only the bare essentials: you’re on a pilgrimage, so everyone will be dressed like you. In your backpack, give priority to :

• Good walking shoes
• Warm clothing for chilly nights
• A gourd
• A small first-aid kit
• A hat

The routes of the Compostela pilgrimage

The most famous route is the Camino Francés, linking the French commune of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (64) to Santiago de Compostela, a communication route in northern Spain dating back to the Reconquista.

Upstream, four major itineraries are available for the pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela:

• Via Turonensis: departing from the Tour Saint-Jacques in Paris, it crosses Orléans or Chartres, Tours, Poitiers, Saintes or Angoulême, Bordeaux
• Via Lemovicensis: from Limoges to the starting point at Vézelay’s Abbey de la Madeleine
• Via Podiensis: from Puy-en-Velay to Ostabat
• Via Tolosane : from Arles, via Toulouse.

For a long time, the Tours route was the least frequented. It measures 667 kilometers and takes between 35 and 40 days to walk to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port.

The route from Le Puy-en-Velay to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port takes 732 kilometers and 30 to 35 days to complete. This is the most popular route. About 900 kilometers separate the town of Vézélay from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, with 32 to 40 days’ walking. The Arles route covers 769 kilometers and takes 28 to 35 days to cross the Pyrenees at the Col de Somport. Finally, the distance between Narbonne and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is 591 kilometers, counting 21 to 26 days’ walking.

If you are not departing from France, you can use one of the routes shown on this map of Europe :

The stages of the Compostela pilgrimage

The question of where to sleep along the Compostelle pilgrimage route can be crucial. If you have a credit card, check out all the hotels, refuges and inns along the Camino Francés and Chemins de Compostelle.

The pilgrimage from Roncesvalles to Santiago de Compostela is made up of some 30stages, along a long 811.9 kilometer route. Each stage covers an average of 24 kilometers per day. For overnight accommodation along the pilgrimage route, there are numerous places to stay along the Camino de Compostela. We can’t give precise details of each stage. However, here is a detailed map of the stages along the Camino Francés :

Photo credit: ACIR

• Stage 1: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles: 26.9 kilometers,
• Stage 4: Pamplona to Puente-la-Reina: 24.3 kilometers, 93 km covered,
• Stage 6: Estrella to Los Arcos: 21 kilometers, 137.3 km covered,
• Stage 8: Logroño to Najera: 30.1 km, 195.4 km in total,
• Stage 21: Mansilla de las Mulas to Leon: 23.2 kilometers, 489.6 km in total,
• Stage 24: Astorga to Rabanal del Camino: 22 kilometers, 560.5 km in total,
• Stage 33: Santa Irene to Santiago de Compostela: 25.3 kilometers, 811.9 km in total.

By always having a map of nearby stages, you’ll know which city to stay in, which is ideal for booking accommodation in advance.

See the complete route of the Chemin de Compostelle

Where to sleep on the Camino de Compostela?

Here again, it all depends on how you approach the journey. Are you a true pilgrim at heart? If so, you’ll need a Credencial, available from associations. Compulsory to stay in accommodations open to pilgrims, necessary to differentiate yourself from the rest of the tourists and useful for your souvenirs, the Credancial – or creanciale – is a document synonymous with a « pilgrim’s passport ».

Once issued by the religious authorities to allow safe passage through the checkpoints along the roads to Galicia, it is now a document allowing access to the gites and accommodation you’ll find along Spain’s roads. The creanciale costs around €10.

If, however, you’re looking for a bit of comfort after a long day’s walking, you’re better off staying in youth hostels, gîtes and small hotels at the various stages. To help you out, don’t hesitate to read our article  » Where to stay on the Compostelle pilgrimage?  » .

A little reading and culture about pilgrimage

To immerse your mind in the pilgrimage and learn more about this mythical Compostelle trek, we’ve selected the best books and guides to read before setting out on the trails. We’ve also listed a few films and documents to watch for even more immersion.

Here is our selection of books on the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago de Compostela:

• Immortelle randonnée: Compostelle malgré moi, Jean-Christophe Rufin
• The Compostela Pilgrim, Paolo Coelho
• Compostelle mode d’emploi, Jacques Clouteau
• Les chemins de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, Alexandra de Lassus
• Comment draguer la catholique sur les chemins de Compostelle, Etienne Liebig

Our selection of films and documentaries on the Pilgrim’s Way to Santiago de Compostela :

• The way – la route ensemble, DVD in French, or in English: The Way, by and starring Martin Sheen
• The alchemical journey from Brussels to Santiago de Compostela: 7 stages in 7 DVDs from Brussels to Santiago de Compostela
• Saint Jacques … La Mecque, by Coline Serreau, with Muriel Robin
• Crooked Fingers, by Ken Scott (2009)