Camino Francés
26.4 km, 964 m up and 556 m down, through 8 places, 4 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Valcarlos. 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.
Leave town along the main road, eventually branching left onto a smaller road. Gañecoleta is less than 1 km from this junction. From there the serious climbing begins.
Gañecoleta is a tiny settlement on the Valcarlos Route where the serious climbing begins. A few scattered farmhouses, no services. From here the route climbs steeply — and relentlessly — toward the Puerto de Ibañeta, gai…
The Puerto de Ibañeta (1,057 m) is where the two routes from Saint Jean Pied de Port converge — the Napoleon Route descending from the Collado de Lepoeder through beech forest, and the Valcarlos Route climbing steeply fr…
The camino starts on a path to the west of the main road, heading into beech forest before returning to the road as you approach Burguete. It's a gentle, flat walk of about 3 km — a merciful start after the mountain.
A stone pilgrim cross on the roadside between Roncesvalles and Burguete, set among the beech trees. A traditional spot to pause, though there's nothing here beyond the cross itself and the quiet forest.
Watch carefully through town — the camino takes a sharp right turn about halfway through. There are plenty of arrows marking it, but distracted walkers still miss it. The route continues on flat terrain toward Espinal.
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.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 375 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 23.9 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.