Camino de Santiago 3-day itinerary

Collect your pilgrim passport (credencial) from the Pilgrim Office on Rue de la Citadelle in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port — the medieval Basque town that marks the start of the Camino Francés. Stamp it here, then set off by 7am on the Napoleon Route over the Pyrenees. The first 8km climb to the Col de Lepoeder at 1,450 metres is one of the hardest days on the entire Camino — 1,300 metres of elevation gain through green meadows and beech forest, with views into both France and Spain.

The descent from the Spanish border at Ibañeta Pass into Roncesvalles is a further 4km through ancient beech forest. The total stage is 24km with 1,300m ascent and 1,500m descent — challenging but manageable for a fit walker in 7–8 hours. Roncesvalles monastery has welcomed pilgrims since the 12th century and offers dormitory beds in its historic pilgrim hostel (albergue) for ~€15 per night. Check in, shower, and get your first stamp.

The Roncesvalles monastery hosts a pilgrim blessing at 8pm in the Romanesque collegiate church — a centuries-old tradition where priests bless the new arrivals in multiple languages. The atmosphere, with hundreds of tired walkers in a candlelit medieval church, is quietly moving. After the blessing, join the communal pilgrim dinner at the monastery restaurant (€12 for three courses including wine) — the shared table tradition where strangers become trail companions.

The second stage (46km from Roncesvalles to Pamplona) takes two walking days, but the first section to Zubiri (21km) passes through rolling Navarrese countryside of stone villages and oak forest. Stop at the medieval village of Burgete — Ernest Hemingway fished the Irati River here and wrote about it in "The Sun Also Rises." The Romanesque church of Santiago in Zubiri makes a good rest stop before the afternoon push toward Pamplona.

Pamplona is the Camino's first major city — famous for the San Fermín bull-running festival in July, but magnificent year-round. Walk the route of the encierro (the bull run) along Calle Estafeta from the corrals to the bullring. The medieval citadel at the city's heart has extraordinary star-shaped fortifications. Explore the Casco Viejo (old town) and the Mercado de Santo Domingo. Pamplona is Basque Country — pintxos bars along Calle Estafeta serve outstanding bar food from €1.50 per piece.

Visit Pamplona's Gothic cathedral at evening mass — the largest Gothic cloister in Spain and the Diocesan Museum with its Romanesque treasures (entry €5). Afterwards, the pilgrim community naturally gathers in the bars around Plaza del Castillo — the main square where Hemingway drank and wrote. Swap Camino stories over local Navarra rosé wine and patatas bravas with other pilgrims who will become familiar faces over the coming weeks.

The stage west from Pamplona climbs 10km to the Alto del Perdón at 790 metres — crowned by a spectacular iron sculpture of medieval pilgrims in silhouette against the sky, one of the Camino's most photographed landmarks. The panorama back over Pamplona and the Pyrenees behind, and forward over La Rioja's vineyards ahead, encapsulates the entire physical journey in a single vista. The Camino then descends steeply through a wind-farm plateau toward Puente la Reina.

Puente la Reina — "Queen's Bridge" — is where the various Camino routes converge. The 11th-century Romanesque bridge over the Arga River, built for pilgrims by Queen Doña Mayor, is one of medieval Europe's finest. Beyond Puente la Reina, the trail enters La Rioja — Spain's premier wine region. The path runs directly through vineyards where winemakers sometimes offer free tastings from their bodegas in exchange for a donation stamp in your credencial.

Logroño, La Rioja's capital, has one of Spain's finest tapas streets — Calle Laurel, a pedestrian alley where 40 bars each specialise in a single signature pintxo. The mushroom and prawn skewer at Bar Soriano, and the cod at Bar Blanco y Negro, are local institutions. After a day of walking through history, sitting at an outdoor table with a glass of Rioja and reflecting on the pilgrimage so far — whether you continue or turn back — carries its own sense of quiet achievement.