Resources for pilgrims on our website
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Our FAQ is basically: Everything you ever wanted to know about the Camino de Santiago but were afraid to ask!
It was updated in March 2025.
Altitude profile
The highs, the lows, it's all there on the Altitude Profile!
Packing page
Packing, believe ot or not it's often the hardest part! If you get this wrong your whole Camino can turn into a rearguard action to compensate for your poor packing decisions. Of course the most common mistake is bringing things you don't need. The other most common mistake is not bringing things you really need. I've probably confused you already! Anyway, here's my attempt to make sense of it all.
Camino Spanish
How do you say Where is the pilgrim hostel? in Spanish? This and many more questions are answered in our Camino Spanish guide.
Other (hopefully) useful things
If you need some more inspiration check out our Ten useful things which weigh almost nothing to bring on your Camino page.
Walking Guide to the Camino de Santiago 2025 Edition
I managed to walk most of the Camino in 2024. Starting in the spring I walked to Pamplona from Saint-Jean (I had actually started back in Moissac on the river Garonne - but that's another story) then in the summer I was back to restart from Pamplona as far as Ponferrada where I stopped, it was getting a bit too busy for my liking and I'd walked most of the last bit to Santiago the year before.
There were lots of updates to make although the situation with pilgrim albergues hadn't changed much. There was a few new ones, notably the unmissable Albergue Diocesano Betania in Pamplona, and a few old one where things had changed a bit. I ran into lots of old friends along the way and made some new ones too. The weather was perfect, sunny, dry, but not too hot. There was a good mix of pilgrims, many walking alone. None of the albergues were full and it was after León that I first got an upper bunk! People still haven't figured out that summer is a great time to walk, a real pity for albergue owners who badly need the business.
A free / donativo guide
The guide is given to you for free. If you find it useful you can make a donation.
It has all the information you need to walk the Camino in the traditional way, staying in traditional pilgrim hostels.
You can download the 2025 edition here.
In spite of (or possibly because of) the increasing commercialisation of the Camino I remain committed to the donativo model of distributing this guide. You get to download the guide for free, with all the information you need to walk the Camino, and if you find it useful you make a donation.
I believe strongly that Donativo is a great Camino tradition and one of the things that make the Caminos special. It sets the experience of walking a Camino apart from most other experiences in our everyday lives. It is part of the spirit of the Camino and it's worth preserving.
Ways you can support us financially
We've been providing free guides to Camino pilgrims since 2012 and updating them every year. This is part of our commitment to supporting the Camino community.
This all costs time and money.
If you've used our free resources and you'd like to help us financially and ensure that we'll still be able to provide this service in the future you can do so in several ways.
1 - Donate
If you found these resources useful and you'd like to support our work so that we can continue supporting pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago in years to come then please consider making a small donativo: CLICK HERE TO DONATE
When you donate you'll be able to download the full guide in PDF format as well as GPS tracks for the whole route which I created while walking and which are updated every year to reflect latest route changes.
2 - Use our Booking.com links
When you use our Booking.com links, either from one of the apps or from the online guide, we earn a commission for every night you stay. It's a win-win, it costs you nothing, the Camino Guide benefits, and a major muntinational company loses some money (that should probably be "win-win-win")
We've organised our booking tool so it's easy to see what accommodation is available along the Camino. Have a look by clicking here Vía de la Plata and the Camino Francés.
3 - Use our Amazon links
By using our Amazon affiliate link. Every time you go to an Amazon website using this link we get a small percentage from every purchase you make. Click here to go to Amazon USA and here to go to Amazon UK. (Sorry, we don't have them for other countries)
The Amazon links on our Packing Page also earn us a commission on any purchases you make. This is the PACKING PAGE.
Just to be clear, we get money and it costs you NOTHING!
4 - Spread the word
All you have to do is share a link to our website wherever you're active on social media.
You can help us greatly by telling other pilgrims about the services we offer!
A short rant...
The Caminos have become increasingly commercialised in recent years with many companies offering package deals for exorbitant prices.
On this website we try to offer an alternative to all the money-grubbing by giving people impartial information for free and telling them that it's perfectly possible to walk the Camino independently, staying in modest pilgrim accommodation, without the help of tour companies, luggage transfers and taxis.
In fact, if you want the experience of walking a Camino then the best way to do it is still to put your bag on your back and start walking and trust to the Camino that it'll take care of you (as people have been doing for almost a thousand years).
Thanks! Gracias! Merci! Danke! Hvala! Buíochas! Merci!
And Buen Camino!
Gerald Kelly
What you get when you donate...
You can download a PDF copy of the full Walking Guide to the Camino de Santiago. It contains the following information:
- Urban maps of towns and cities and detailed maps of the Camino in rural areas
- Lots of information about historic sites along the Camino's route
- Camino legends and a description of the fascinating history of the Camino and the places it passes through
- Recommendations of great places to eat and unmissable local specialities
- Translations of place names of villages and towns
- The dates of local festivals, the famous Spanish fiestas
If you'd like to download a sample click / tap here for the first 20 pages.
For your donation you'll also get a .gpx file with tracks for the entire Camino compatible with the open source offline mapping app Organic Maps on Android and iPhone smartphones. They also work on Google Earth on a smartphone or a desktop computer. It shows you where you are in relation to the Camino at all times. See the images below.
It can zoom in to show street-level detail.
Practical Preparation and Background
As well as that you can download a PDF copy of our definitive guide to preparing for the Camino. It hasn't been updated since 2021 but the information is still relevant (just ignore any mentions of COVID).
You'll get the following.
- Packing: what to bring and (all importantly) what not to bring
- Health and safety: how to avoid, or if necessary, deal with blisters, bedbugs, heatstroke and other hazards
- What to expect on “the Way”: What's a typical Camino day?
- Communicating: with useful words and phrases in Spanish?
- History of the Camino and of Spain: what was the Camino like in the middle ages?
To download a sample of our comprehensive guide to preparing for the Camino, just click here!
Donate
Paid resources
We make all of this information available for free from our website thanks to the support and generosity of pilgrims like you who donate or buy the guide as a book or an app.
The guide as an old-fashioned printed book or as an ebook
As a book, printed on paper, or on your Kindle. It's got all the information and maps and altitude profiles.
Walking Guide to the Camino de Santiago
Amazon links for the following countries:
Australia
Canada
Germany
Spain
United Kingdom
United States of American
Or, you can buy it directly from me for €10 plus postage, send me an email to caminoguidecontact@gmail.com telling me which country you're in and I'll tell you the exact price.
The guide as a smartphone app
iPhone app
Android app
GET IT ON THE ANDROID APP STORE
The info in both apps has been updated for 2025.
Background and Preparation Guide
The perfect companion for anyone planning their first Camino or just interested in learning more about it.
If you're new to this whole Camino thing (or you know someone who is) this may be the book for you (or them). It was written with the absolute beginner in mind and tells you everything you need to know to help you along the sometimes rocky road from novice to natural.
It's available from here:
Camino de Santiago Practical Preparation and Background
Amazon links for the following countries:
Australia
Canada
Germany
Spain
United Kingdom
United States of American
To download a sample of our comprehensive guide to preparing for the Camino, just click here!
Thanks everybody!
Thanks for all your support down the years. It's thanks to pilgrims like you that I'ven been able to continue to produce this guide.
All the links...
Copyright © Gerald Kelly 2025. All text and photos.