November 6, 2026 · 4 min read
Walking the Camino in sections
Yes, it still counts for the Compostela. How to split Sarria – Santiago into short trips and the full Camino Francés into a week a year, without losing a stamp.
Reviewed by the Xacobea team · November 2026
You don’t need five weeks off to reach Santiago. Plenty of pilgrims walk it in pieces: a long weekend in spring, a week every summer, a section each year until the cathedral. It is just as much a Camino, and the Compostela still counts.
The official rule, in one line
The Pilgrim Office puts it plainly: you can do the Way in stages, as long as they are in chronological and geographical order. Each section starts exactly where the previous one ended, and you never jump back.
Everything else stays the same:
- At least 100 continuous km on foot along the same route, ending in Santiago. By bike, 200 km.
- A dated stamp at the start and another at the end of each stage, including the first day of every trip.
- All sections on the same credential. Keep it safe at home between trips: without it there is no way to prove what you have already walked.
The rest of the requirements are in how the credential and the 100 km work.
Sarria – Santiago in three weekends
It is 115 km in five stages. Split into Saturdays and Sundays, it looks like this:
| Trip | Stages | Km |
|---|---|---|
| 1st weekend | Sarria – Portomarín – Palas de Rei | 47 |
| 2nd weekend | Palas de Rei – Arzúa – O Pedrouzo | 47 |
| 3rd weekend | O Pedrouzo – Santiago | 20 |
The third one is short on purpose: you arrive on Saturday around noon and have the afternoon for the cathedral and the Pilgrim Office. Stage by stage in Sarria to Santiago in 5 days.
Two long weekends also work: three days from Sarria to Arzúa (76 km) and two from Arzúa to Santiago (38 km). The first is the demanding one; the second, an easy walk with a finish line.
On the Portuguese Way, Tui to Santiago is 118 km and fits into three weekends: Tui – Redondela, Redondela – Caldas de Reis and Caldas – Santiago. Each stage in detail in the Portuguese Way from Tui.
The whole Camino Francés, one week a year
From Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port it is 765 km in 33 stages. Few people have five weeks in a row, so splitting it over five or six summers is common. The trick is to end each section in a city with a train station, so getting there and back is simple: Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos, León, Ponferrada and, finally, Sarria.
A good order:
- The Pyrenees and Navarre, to Pamplona or Logroño.
- La Rioja and the Montes de Oca, to Burgos.
- The Meseta, to León.
- El Bierzo, to Ponferrada.
- O Cebreiro and the way into Galicia, to Sarria.
- The last 115 km, to Santiago.
Full route and elevation profile on the Camino Francés.
What changes when you walk in pieces
Every return is a first day. Your legs lose the rhythm between trips, and blisters almost always appear in the first two days. Don’t start with the longest stage of the section, and walk a couple of times the week before in the same shoes.
Travel weighs more. On a short trip, getting there and back eats a good share of the time. Sarria has trains from Madrid and A Coruña, and trains leave Santiago for most of Spain. Check the timetables before deciding where each stage ends.
Sleep where you stopped. The first night of each trip is best spent in the town where you finished last time, so you can set off early the next morning. For the first section, see where to stay in Sarria.
Book further ahead in 2027. The Holy Door opens on 31 December 2026, and spring and autumn weekends on the last 100 km fill up before weekdays do. If you want to walk into Santiago in a Holy Year, start now and save the last section for 2027.
Keep your own log
Write down on the last page of your credential where you stopped, the date and the name of your lodging. A year later nobody remembers whether it was Portomarín or Gonzar, and the starting stamp of the next section has to come from that same town.
We can organise it section by section
If you’d rather not juggle trains and beds every time, we organise each trip: lodging where you left off, luggage moved from stage to stage and support along the way. Ask for a quote for your first section; you only pay if you confirm the trip.
Frequently asked questions
Do I get the Compostela if I walk the Camino in several trips?
Yes. Any number of trips is fine if each section picks up from the previous one, on the map and on the calendar, and together they cover 100 km of a single route into Santiago.
How many short trips does Sarria to Santiago take?
Three weekends of two days, or two long weekends: three days to Arzúa and two more to Santiago.
Is there a time limit between one section and the next?
The official rule sets none. What it requires is the order: each section starts where the last one ended, with dated stamps.
