What is the best season for the Camino de Santiago? The different ways can be done all year round – its all a matter of preparation.

What is the best season for the Camino de Santiago?


The Way of St. James can be walked all year round.
The descriptions below about the best season to do the Camino de Santiago apply to the Camino Frances in Spain, but can generally be applied to France and other Spanish Ways of St. James.

Winter: The Spanish winter sees the most rainfall (but of course you can also catch periods of glorious sunshine!) In the higher elevations, such as the Meseta, snow sometimes falls. Usually only the public hostels are open (and often the heating is only turned on when a pilgrim arrives). In other words, you don’t have much flexibility with the stages. In addition, all bars, restaurants and shops that are only there for the pilgrims are closed. It can get very lonely on the Camino in winter. And the pilgrims you meet have almost always already made several journeys. I love this special atmosphere in winter. But it’s certainly not for beginners.

Spring: The season on the Way of St. James starts Easter week. Then the hostels, shops, bars and restaurants open again – so planning is easy. It can still be a bit damp, but northern Spain is greener and more colorful than ever in the year. The most beautiful month in spring is May. The number of pilgrims increases but is still moderate compared to the high season of summer. If you want to meet fewer pilgrims, be sure of a good infrastructure and want to avoid the heat, then spring is the right time for you.

Summer: Summer is the time of extremes on the Way of St. James: the most pilgrims, the greatest heat, the most crowded hostels.  In July and August, almost all of Europe has summer holidays, so the Camino gets crowded. But that can also lead to great encounters with fellow pilgrims from all over the world. The heat can be a problem, but the days are long, and the climate dry. Life on the Camino de Santiago is simply beautiful!

Autumn: The crowds of pilgrims decrease again. September and part of October are still pleasantly warm and dry. September is perhaps one of the most beautiful months on the Camino. But from the end of September, at the latest from the end of October, many hostels will close because with drastically fewer pilgrims it’s just not worthwhile to stay open. The church hostels have a hard time getting volunteers at this time, too, and close up. Many restaurants that cater to pilgrims close by the end of October. So the later in the year, the worse the infrastructure gets and planning gets more complicated.
I’ve walked during all seasons and love them all. But if you don’t want to go in the high season, you should – as with all holidays – be out and about in the shoulder seasons of spring or autumn. The infrastructure is best from Easter to the end of September.

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