Camino Francés
31.4 km, 434 m up and 869 m down, through 14 places, 8 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Espinal. Most are too small to sleep in — a fountain, a chapel, a bar that may or may not be open — but they are what the day is actually made of.
Espinal (Aurizberri in Basque) is a compact village in the valley of the Erro river, with a couple of bars, a small albergue, and a welcoming atmosphere. Between here and Pamplona you'll notice villages perched above the…
A gentle pass between Espinal and Bizkarreta. The climb is modest and the terrain wooded. No services, but a pleasant stretch of walking through mixed forest.
Bizkarreta-Gerendiáin is the next valley village, with a few bars including El Dragón Peregrino which has vegetarian and vegan options — a rarity this early on the Francés. A small supermarket sits at the far end of town…
Follow the arrows through town — they direct you right and uphill. Don't continue straight to the main road (N-135); that's the wrong way. The climb out of Lintzoain is fairly steep but flattens out through forest, bringing you to the Alto de Erro.
The bar has irregular hours and is not reliably open. Carry supplies from Bizkarreta or Espinal.
The descent drops steadily through forest to the valley floor. Zubiri sits adjacent to the camino but not strictly on it — you'll reach a bridge over the Río Arga. You don't need to cross if you're pressing on, but if you're stopping, cross and head into town. When leaving, retrace your steps over the bridge and turn right.
The descent from here to Zubiri has been paved over and is not longer as slippery as it once was. The steepness remains the same!
Zubiri is the first town of any real size after the Pyrenees crossing, sitting in the valley of the Arga river. It's a working town rather than a tourist one — a Magnesitas factory dominates the approach — but it has the…
You can take the road or the trail out of Zubiri. The trail passes a magnesium processing plant — you'll smell it before you see it — and can get muddy in wet weather. Both options follow the Arga valley downstream, and …
Ilarratz is a small hamlet along the Arga. About 400 m past the village on the right-hand side of the road stands the Abadía de Ilarratz, a medieval building rumored to have been a fort before its conversion to a church.…
A tiny hamlet on the road between Ilarratz and Larrasoaña. A handful of stone houses and not much else. The walking continues along the Arga valley.
Larrasoaña is a historic pilgrim village strung along a single main street above the Arga. It was once an important stop on the medieval Camino, with multiple pilgrim hospitals. Today it's a small, quiet place with an al…
A small Basque hamlet on the hillside above the Arga. Notable mainly for a large rural hotel. The camino leaves the paved road here for a dirt track, which makes for more pleasant walking through the riverside landscape.
The camino follows the Arga valley downstream, alternating between riverside path and minor road. The terrain is gentle and the walking pleasant. Small Navarrese villages appear at regular intervals, each with stone houses and a parish church. You'll cross the river several times before reaching the outskirts of Pamplona.
From Irotz the camino continues along the Arga valley, passing through increasingly built-up terrain as Pamplona approaches. The river remains your companion, and the path alternates between gravel track and minor road.
Zabaldika sits on a hill above the river, with the Romanesque Iglesia de San Esteban as its centerpiece. The church has a beautiful semicircular apse and a carved doorway — worth a stop if it's open. The village has had…
A short walk from here brings you to the bridge over the Ulzama at Trinidad de Arre. The urban approach to Pamplona begins.
From Trinidad de Arre the camino follows the road through Villava and Burlada into Pamplona. The terrain is flat. Industrial and commercial zones give way to residential neighborhoods, then the old city appears across the Arga.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 477 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 31.4 km.
Esta entidad ha sido beneficiaria de una ayuda del Programa de incentivos a la movilidad eficiente y sostenible (MOVES III), gestionado por la Xunta de Galicia a través del Instituto Enerxético de Galicia (INEGA) en el marco del Real Decreto 266/2021, y cofinanciada por la Unión Europea — NextGenerationEU, dentro del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.