Camino Francés
20.6 km, 226 m up and 296 m down, through 13 places, 7 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Zubiri. 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.
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.
Villava is the first of the Pamplona suburbs you'll walk through after Trinidad de Arre. It's a residential town that has grown into the Pamplona sprawl. All services are available — supermarkets, pharmacies, bars — but …
The border between Burlada and Pamplona is the Río Arga, crossed by the Puente de la Magdalena. Since Trinidad de Arre the terrain has been flat suburban road. From the bridge you get your first sight of Pamplona's old w…
The Puente de la Magdalena is a beautiful 14th-century bridge over the Arga, restored in the 1960s. It marks the formal entrance to Pamplona's old city, and the point where the camino passes through the medieval walls vi…
The camino exits through the old city, passing the university campus and climbing gently through the suburbs of Iturrama and Cizur Mayor before reaching Cizur Menor. The way out of Pamplona is well-marked but the urban sprawl can feel long after the intimacy of the Navarrese villages.
Pamplona is the first city along the way with a post office (Correos ⨠), perfect for lightening your pack. The post office here can help you send your stuff to the Santiago post office, or to Casa Ivar (the same Ivar as the popular ‘Camino Forums’’). He offers package and luggage receiving & storage in Santiago. Prices range from 15-25€, depending on the size of the package. When you arrive in Santiago, stop by Ivar´s office and pick it up. Opening hours are listed on casaivar.com, or you can email Ivar at ivar@casaivar.com.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 368 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 20.6 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.