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The ground behind you: what the walk into Roncesvalles crosses, and where it could have been broken.
Tomorrow from Roncesvalles
Nothing says you have to stop here, or there. These are simply the towns within a comfortable day's walk, so you can decide tonight.
| Town | km from here | Shared | Private | The walk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Burguete | 2.6 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | |
| Espinal | 6.3 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | |
| Bizkarreta | 11.5 | — No | ✓ Yes | The walk from Roncesvalles to Bizkarreta |
| Lintzoain | 13.4 | — No | ✓ Yes | The walk from Roncesvalles to Lintzoain |
| Zubiri | 21.7 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | The walk from Roncesvalles to Zubiri |
| Ilarratz | 24.5 | ✓ Yes | — No | The walk from Roncesvalles to Ilarratz |
| Larrasoaña | 27.1 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | The walk from Roncesvalles to Larrasoaña |
| Aquerreta | 27.7 | — No | ✓ Yes | The walk from Roncesvalles to Aquerreta |
| Zuriain | 30.8 | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes | The walk from Roncesvalles to Zuriain |
| Zabaldika | 34.0 | ✓ Yes | — No |
Roncesvalles (Orreaga in Basque) is where the Camino Francés truly begins for many pilgrims. Those who walked from Saint Jean arrive exhausted and triumphant; those starting here begin fresh-legged and wide-eyed. You can tell them apart by the length of their stride.
The village is tiny — essentially the Collegiate church complex, the albergue, the Posada hotel, and a handful of other buildings along a single road. Everything revolves around the Colegiata de Santa María, a 13th-century Gothic church where the pilgrim mass and blessing take place each evening. Don't miss it.
The albergue is one of the largest on the Francés with nearly 200 beds in a renovated medieval hospital. Dinner tickets are sold at reception; the communal dining room is a chaotic, multilingual affair and a great introduction to Camino social life. The Posada restaurant is the other dining option — more refined, with a solid menu del día.
It doesn't take long to see everything here, and almost every building has historical or artistic value. The Silo de Carlomagno (the oldest structure), the chapter house with its Romanesque capitals, and the 14th-century cloister are all worth a wander.
The Virgen de Roncesvalles is celebrated on September 8. Romerías take place on Sundays in May and June, and on the Wednesday before September 8.
The Battle of Roncesvalles (778) is the founding legend. Charlemagne's rearguard, led by the paladin Roland, was ambushed and destroyed by Basque forces as it retreated through these mountains. The event was transformed into the epic Song of Roland, one of the oldest surviving works of French literature, though the poem replaced the Basques with Saracens for dramatic effect.
The Collegiate of Roncesvalles was founded in 1132 as a monastery and pilgrim hospital, and it has served pilgrims continuously since. The Gothic church of Santa María Real houses the silver-clad Romanesque Virgin of Roncesvalles. The 13th-century chapter house, known as the Silo de Carlomagno, is where tradition places the burial of the battle's fallen.
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.
26. September 2025 - 17:21
Stayed here 3 nights ago. Our first albergue experience. A warm welcome and easy check in. Place was clean and beds fine. Showers were hot. Pilgrim meal was ok
All in all a good place
11. July 2025 - 18:29
Clean and comfortable. Well organised.
Dinner and breakfast at Posada fabulous. I took the picnic option - all prepaid.
Would recommend
28. June 2025 - 16:45
This was a lovely stay, comfortable and don’t forget to bring cash. I would not recommend picknick basket, a bit overpriced.
31. May 2025 - 21:57
The only redeemable feature here is the morning wake up with the monks singing prayers. The bedding was fine but 100 bunks on each level (in two sections) was so very noisy with inconsiderate pilgrims. Dinner across three hotels in the town.
9. May 2025 - 2:56
Stayed there Sept 5 2024. Extremely impressed. Many pilgrims checking in but the order was good. Seemed a bit chaotic first impression but the system worked well I was lucky and got the third floor with just 2 bed cubicles. All newish and everything was in good condition and clean. Showers, toilets all good. Across the quadrangle and up the steps for good pilgrim food. Mass was great. Made me very happy to be part of all this as a pilgrim. Later talked with the Dutch volunteers. Theyi do a great service, rotating every fortnight to a new team, 14 teams in all I believe. I enjoyed the encounter and they have my admiration.
5. May 2025 - 21:30
We have had a lovely visit to Roncesvalles and a nice stay at the Albergue in early May 2025
The check in was slow because Spain instituted a new and more involved procedure in December 2024 that we were told is intended to prevent terrorism. We checked in online ahead of our stay and received a QR code that speeds things up since you only need to enter your validation info once. The QR code can be used at most of the hostels along the Camino.
Dinner at the Posada was great and we made some new friends at the communal table. The Catholic mass was beautiful and moving, worth it even if you aren’t religious!
18. September 2024 - 20:40
We stayed at Roncesvalles for our second night on the Camino and we’re quite impressed. It is a huge operation run by Dutch volunteers, and they do a fantastic job of organizing everyone as we came in, getting us registered and in general sorting us all out. I think it holds over 170 pilgrims and the entire facility has been renovated and is organized into nice quads, which are really well built out of solid wood with good ladders to the top bunk. There is a nice laundry facility in the basement, where they will do your laundry for you for a fee, or you can do your own and hang it outside. They even have a spinner that takes most of the water out of the laundry, part of hanging up which speeds things up a lot. There are cooking and eating facilities for those who want to make their own meals. The pilgrims meals were excellent in local restaurants scattered around the Albergue. We had both dinner, breakfast and also took a bag of lunch for the day. Beds were comfortable. The showers were hot and plentiful as were the toilets. Overall, we were very pleased with our stay and would highly recommend this and Refuge Orisson as first and second nights on the Camino de Frances.
3. September 2024 - 13:06
We stayed at the monastery and had a wonderful time. Dorms are pods of four and beds are very comfortable. Clean bathrooms and showers. You can check in at 1pm and access your bed at 2pm. Must pre order the pilgrims dinner and breakfast. A couple of other options close by if needed for drinks and snacks. Wake up at 6pm with the monks chanting! Excellent choice of stay!
4. August 2024 - 17:40
The beds are arranged in pods of 4, so it is pretty private. Meals are vouchers given for a local restaurant - posidon offers a great vegan option if you ask.
I recommend mass at 8pm, there is a pilgrims blessing at the end which was very special.
There is a large kitchen, dining area, vending machines and helpful volunteers at hand should you have any questions.
Be warned - you can’t get to the dorm until 1400 and before 1300, you can’t check in either. Take your time walking if you come from Orisson or Borda!
Everyone is woken up at 0600 (by a singing volunteer in my case!) and lights are turned off at 2200
23. April 2024 - 14:38
10/10. Lovely public spaces and great room! Spacious, updated bathroom with big shower, bidet, and heated towel rack that works!
If you need a break from Albergues or just need a break this is a great find!
Staff is wonderful!
18. July 2023 - 18:20
Loved the stay at the monastery. Wonderfully led by volunteers from Holland. So nice. So clean. Set up great for the amount of beds they have. The Sabine restaurant next to was so yummy. Try the ham and cheese fritters. Only place I ever saw them on menu.
6. June 2023 - 19:34
We booked on the hotel side because we had read prior to going it fills up fast. We wanted to do laundry which was on the hostel side they told us No. we are pilgrims too but knew my friend would not be able to walk additional steps. Without the laundry issue this place is incredibly beautiful and unique. The hotel staff went above and beyond getting money back to us that we left in the room.
1. May 2023 - 18:06
The laundry service is amazing and well worth the cost. Beautiful building, much better than the old one in the stables (I stayed there in 2008).
23. April 2023 - 18:22
This place had the best pilgrim lunch. Right when you get into town up the hill.
23. April 2023 - 18:22
This place had the best pilgrim lunch. Right when you get into town up the hill.
5. May 2022 - 15:02
Very good spirited volunteers at the refugio. Found a bed for me in basement even though there was no space left.
26. August 2020 - 17:32
Be aware that they don’t have a card machine and there is no cash point in town. Price is €14 (26 August 2020).
24. May 2019 - 15:28
We were 4. all having met the day before, but we were able to stay in a cubicle with 2 bunk beds. in a big room, but felt small. clean and well organized. I enjoyed it.
10. May 2019 - 15:46
Now they only sell the tickets for the dinner at the Albergue, and not at the bar at Sabina.
6. May 2019 - 15:07
Wonderful place to stop after long day of walking. Well organized, clean and filled with pilgrim spirit.
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.
