4 Steps to Planning Your Camino de Santiago

The care before the Camino. The planning, the training, the praying.

The care from the Camino. The letters and lessons I'll send home while I'm on the trail.

And the care after the Camino. The coming home, the changes, the heart of it all.

Step 1

Decide how many days you can be away.

Before the route, before the training, before any of the romantic parts, start here. How many days can you actually be away from home? Not the dream number. The real one. Your work, your family, and your life all get a say. For me, that honest number shaped everything else. Everything you plan next hangs on it, so give yourself permission to be realistic instead of ambitious.

Step 2

Choose your route and how you'll travel it.

Next, decide which Camino route you'll take, and how you'll travel it. You can walk it, bike it, ride it on horseback, or do what I'm doing and combine them.

The rule to know: To earn the Compostela, your pilgrim certificate, you need at least 100 km on foot or horseback, or 200 km by bike, with your final stage ending in Santiago. As of 2025, that qualifying distance can be on any official route, and you'll need at least two stamps a day in your pilgrim passport along the way.

I'm doing all three. I'm biking the first half of my journey, riding horseback across the beach, and then walking the final 100 kilometers into Santiago on foot. I wanted the whole pilgrimage in my body — the speed of the bike, the rhythm of the horse, and the slow, sacred final miles on my own two feet.

Step 3

Decide what training will help.

Once you know your route, you know what your body needs to be ready for. So decide what training will actually help you. For me, that meant getting back in the gym months ahead. Weightlifting to get stronger. Extra leg days, because your legs carry you and everything you're wearing. And cycling to build the endurance my route asks for. You don't have to train like an athlete. You have to train like someone who wants to enjoy the walk instead of just endure it.

Step 4

Prepare your nervous system and your mind.

This is step four, and the one most people skip. It might be the most important of all. Your body isn't the only thing that walks the Camino. Your nervous system does too. So prepare your mind the way you prepare your legs. For me, sleep training helped more than anything — getting my rest steady and my body used to the coming change, so the shock of a new rhythm didn't undo me. This is the pilgrimage before the pilgrimage. The quiet work of getting your inner world ready to receive whatever the road has for you.

I'm waiting on your note~

Are you dreaming about walking the Camino someday? Tell me where you are in the planning. I'd love to hear.

You:

Should I walk it alone or with someone?

Me:

Do what fits your heart. I'm walking with a friend I met in the Cayman Islands, because I love sharing the memory with someone. But they say the Camino gives you a family whether you start with one or not. You grow your own little Camino family along the way, so you're never really walking alone out there.

You:

Should I book my hotels before I start?

Me:

For me, yes. I booked mine ahead under my own name so I wouldn't be hunting for a bed at the end of a long walking day. Knowing where I'll lay my head takes the pressure off my nervous system. Some pilgrims love the freedom of winging it and staying in albergues as they go, and that's beautiful too. I just know myself, and I walk lighter when that part is settled.

You:

How many rest days should I plan?

Me:

Build in more grace than you think you'll need, and let your body have the final say. With lupus and fibromyalgia, a rest day isn't a luxury for me — it's how I finish. I'd rather plan rest into the rhythm than power through until I break. Listen to your body over any itinerary.

You:

What should I pack?

Me:

Less than you think, and only what your body will thank you for. Broken-in shoes. Blister bandaids before the blisters. A light rain layer, a refillable water bottle, and my nervous-system comforts — my journal and whatever helps me sleep. Every ounce matters when you carry it for miles. Pack for the pilgrim you are, not the one you think you should be.

You:

How many days does it take to walk the last 100 km?

Me:

For most people, about five to seven days, depending on your pace. I'm walking the classic stretch from Sarria into Santiago, and I'm giving myself room to go slow. This isn't a race. The whole point is to notice the walk, not rush the finish.

You:

Can I just go, or should I train? If so, when and how?

Me:

You could just go. But if you want to enjoy it instead of survive it, train. I started months out — back in the gym with weightlifting, extra leg days, and cycling to build endurance. And the thing that helped me most wasn't a workout at all — it was sleep training, getting my rest and my nervous system ready for the shift. Start at least six to eight weeks ahead, walk more than you think you need to, and train the way your body needs, not the way a twenty-five-year-old would.