Camino Francés from Sarria: 6 stages and when to book
The stretch of the Camino de Santiago that most people walk: from Sarria through the green hills of Galicia to the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela, far enough to earn the Compostela. Oak woods, stone hamlets, a café every few kilometres and yellow arrows all the way. You carry a day pack and sleep in pilgrim hostels: the public ones cost €10 and cannot be booked. It is one of the easiest walks in this app, and by far the busiest. The Xunta de Galicia divides it into six stages; many walk it in five.
Start: Sarria. Finish: Santiago de Compostela.
The 6 stages
| Day | Stage | Distance | Climb |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sarria → Portomarín | 22 km | 678 m |
| 2 | Portomarín → Palas de Rei | 25.1 km | 701 m |
| 3 | Palas de Rei → Melide | 14.6 km | 331 m |
| 4 | Melide → Arzúa | 14.4 km | 383 m |
| 5 | Arzúa → O Pedrouzo | 18.5 km | 345 m |
| 6 | O Pedrouzo → Santiago de Compostela | 20.2 km | 479 m |
The line is OpenStreetMap’s, laid beside the track the Xunta de Galicia publishes for the Camino Francés: a median 1 to 2 m apart, with two stretches moved onto the Xunta’s main line. Distances, times and grades are the Xunta’s. The ascent comes from a terrain model; the Xunta publishes none. Nobody has walked this line for the app.
Book these first
Two kinds of bed. The public hostels of the Xunta de Galicia cost €10 a night and take no reservations. Private hostels, pensions and hotels can be booked, and the map shows them in every stage town.
- Public hostels cannot be booked at all: beds go in order of arrival, from 13:00
- The Compostela itself: on busy days the pilgrim office does not promise it the same day
Public hostels, by the Xunta’s own page: doors open at 13:00 and close at 22:00, lights out at 22:30, out before 8:00, one night only unless you are ill. Pilgrims with physical limitations come first, then walkers, riders and cyclists, and last those travelling with a support car.
The kitchens have no utensils, by the same page, and the bunks have disposable bed linen. Bring a sleeping bag and something to eat with.
When to go
Walkable all year: the trail stays between 250 and 730 m and links villages. May, June and September are the best months. July and August are dry and warm, about 24 °C by day. From October to April it rains on 13 to 16 days a month, over 200 mm in Santiago in each month from October to January, and at Lugo, the nearest station to the start, it freezes on ten or more nights a month from December to February.
- JanuaryWet, cold at night, and quiet
- FebruaryStill winter, an hour more light
- MarchSpring showers, cold mornings
- AprilGreen and showery
- MayLong days, mild, still some rain
- JuneThe longest days, the rain halved
- JulyDry, warm and full
- AugustThe warmest month
- SeptemberWarm days, the rain returning late
- OctoberThe wet season opens
- NovemberRain on every other day
- DecemberThe wettest and darkest month
Camino Francés from Sarria in Treksup
Camino Francés from Sarria is a paid route in Treksup: its full plan, with every stage, water, where to sleep and dated trail conditions, comes with the paid tier. 7 routes are open in full for free.
See Treksup on the App StoreYour first multi-day trek
More routes
Page updated 13 October 2026.