Sarria to Santiago: Walking the Last 100 km, Day by Day

Sarria to Santiago is 71 miles (114 km), and most people walk it in five days. That distance isn't an accident. The cathedral in Santiago issues the Compostela to pilgrims who can document the last 100 kilometers on foot, and Sarria sits about 114 km out — far enough past the line that you finish with room to spare.

We're a local agency based in Palas de Rei, the town where Day 3 begins. Our office sits on the Camino itself, 42 miles (67 km) from the cathedral. What follows is what we'd tell you if you walked in and asked.

Why everyone starts in Sarria

Sarria is, far and away, the most popular starting point on any of the Caminos. The reason is the 100-kilometer rule for the Compostela — 200 kilometers if you're cycling. Sarria is simply the practical place to satisfy it.

Which raises the question Americans are too polite to ask out loud: does walking only the last 100 km make you a real pilgrim? You'll find people online who sneer at it. Ignore them. Historically, pilgrims left from their own front door, not from a village in the Pyrenees. Nobody in Galicia is keeping score.

Sarria is busy, though, and you won't be walking alone. Some people arrive expecting solitude and are startled; others find the company is the best part. Either way, know it going in.

Forget what you think Spain looks like

Galicia doesn't look like the Spain most people picture. The mental image travelers bring is Andalusia — heat, dust, a spaghetti western. What you get is green: oak and chestnut woods, stone hamlets, and the sunken lanes that Galicians call corredoiras.

It's green because it rains, so bring a real rain jacket. Our Camino packing list covers the rest.

The five days from Sarria to Santiago

Here's the standard itinerary, with distances from our own route database. Spanish guidebooks call each of these an etapa; we'll call them days, because that's what they are.

Day 1: Sarria to Portomarín — 13.8 miles (22.2 km)

You start on Rúa Maior, Sarria's street of albergues and shops, climb past the remains of the castle and the Monasterio de la Magdalena with its pilgrims' hospital, and you're into the woods. This is the day people remember: oak and chestnut, stone hamlets, corredoiras, and the 100-kilometer marker just outside Ferreiros, in Paradela, beside the church of San Xoán. It's the photo stop of the whole walk.

Portomarín is the strangest arrival on the route. The old town lies under the Belesar reservoir; when the dam went in, the fortress-church of San Juan was moved stone by stone to the hill above. You cross the bridge over the Miño and climb the staircase of the old Roman bridge to get into town. Sarria to Portomarín, day by day.

Day 2: Portomarín to Palas de Rei — 15.4 miles (24.8 km)

A longer day. You cross the Sierra de Ligonde and pass Ventas de Narón, a hamlet known in medieval times as Sala Regina.

You finish in Palas de Rei, where the Romanesque doorway of San Tirso is worth a look and the Castillo de Pambre is worth the detour if you have the legs for it. This is our town, and our office is on the Camino here. Portomarín to Palas de Rei in detail.

Day 3: Palas de Rei to Arzúa — 17.7 miles (28.5 km)

The longest day of the five, at 28.5 km. It's also the best eating on the route. Melide, halfway along, is where the Camino Primitivo joins the Francés, and where you eat pulpo á feira; stopping at a pulpería there is close to a rite of passage. Arzúa is cheese country — a creamy cheese with its own protected name — and it's where the Camino del Norte comes in. From Arzúa onward you're walking with pilgrims from three routes, and the trail feels it.

If Day 3 worries you, split it. Palas de Rei to Melide is 8.9 miles (14.4 km); Melide to Arzúa is 8.8 miles (14.1 km). Two civilized half-days instead of one long one, and a night in a town most people only see at lunch. That makes it six walking days, and it's the single most useful change we make to people's itineraries. Palas de Rei to Arzúa: the full day.

Day 4: Arzúa to O Pedrouzo — 12 miles (19.3 km)

The shortest day so far, through small hamlets. O Pedrouzo is your last night on the road, with almost exactly the same distance again between you and the cathedral. Arzúa to O Pedrouzo in detail.

Day 5: O Pedrouzo to Santiago de Compostela — 12.1 miles (19.4 km)

Most pilgrims set off early, to be in Santiago with time for the Pilgrim's Mass. You pass Lavacolla, 6 miles (9.7 km) out, where medieval pilgrims washed so they'd enter Compostela clean. Then the long walk in through the old town, until the streets narrow and you come out into the Praza do Obradoiro with the cathedral filling the whole sky.

What happens to you in that square is your business. We're not going to tell you how to feel about it. O Pedrouzo to Santiago in detail.

Your credential and the two stamps a day

The credential is the passport you get stamped along the way, and it's what proves you walked. On the last 100 kilometers the requirement tightens: two stamps per day, not one. The simplest system: one stamp where you start the day, one where you finish it. If you travel with us, your credential is part of the trip.

Getting yourself to Sarria

Sarria has no airport. It's a town of about 13,000 people in the province of Lugo, and getting there is the one piece of this trip that regularly goes wrong, so we wrote a separate piece on exactly that: how to get to Sarria from the U.S.

One decision belongs here, though: your first day of walking shouldn't be your first day in the country. Build in a night in Sarria before you start.

Practical things Americans ask us about

Health coverage in Spain

This is the number one worry we hear, and it's a particularly American problem — a Spaniard walking this route doesn't have it. Most U.S. health plans cover Spain poorly or not at all.

If you travel with us, the trip includes an Aon Schengen policy: €30,000 in medical coverage abroad, plus repatriation — the part nobody wants to discuss and everybody quietly worries about. Our trips also include 24-hour assistance. If you'd rather buy your own policy, check with your insurer what it covers in Spain and under what conditions.

Your bag, and the 33-pound line

Luggage transfer moves one bag per person, up to 33 pounds (15 kg), collected after breakfast and delivered to your next hotel. Watch that number: a checked bag from the U.S. is usually allowed 50 pounds (23 kg), so the suitcase you packed at home can be over our limit before you land. Our Camino packing list has the rest, weight limit included.

Language, and the fact that Galicia has its own

You'll be fine without Spanish. A smile, a phone translator, and a few phrases carry you a long way — and our phone is answered in English, by someone on this route. Learn three phrases and you'll use them daily: un sello, por favor (a stamp, please); la cuenta (the check); and gracias. And know that Galicia has its own language: the Rúa in Rúa Maior and the Praza in Praza do Obradoiro are Galician, not typos.

2027 is a Holy Year, and it changes the math

2027 is a Xacobeo, a Holy Year, and it's the biggest variable in planning a walk that year — we've covered it in full in our guide to the 2027 Holy Year. The short version for this route: 2024 drew close to half a million pilgrims without being a Holy Year, and that pressure lands on exactly the 71 miles you're planning to walk. For anything between April and October 2027, book six to 12 months out.

Questions we actually get asked

How many days does Sarria to Santiago take?

Five days is the standard: 22.2 km, 24.8, 28.5, 19.3, and 19.4, for a total of 114 km (71 miles). Six days if you split the longest day at Melide. Seven is entirely reasonable.

Does it have to be the last 100 km, or any 100 km?

The last 100, on foot, documented with your credential. There's a persistent rumor in American pilgrim circles that you have to start in Sarria specifically. You don't. Sarria is just the practical town past the line, and its 114 km to Santiago leave you a cushion.

Is five days too aggressive?

For plenty of people, yes, and there's no prize for the shorter version. If you're unsure, add the sixth day and split Day 3 at Melide. The route isn't going anywhere.

Is it safe to walk alone?

This stretch is the busiest on the entire Camino, so walking alone is largely a choice; stop for a few minutes and someone will catch up. Keep your phone, documents, and cash on your body rather than in a pack you leave unattended.

Why do different sources give different distances?

Because they measure different things: the waymarked route, a GPS track, and the distance you walk once you detour to your hotel and back out for dinner. The five days above total 114 km, from our own route data. Whichever number you trust, you're past 100.

What we handle, if you'd rather not

You can do this on your own; plenty of people do. What we take off your plate are the parts that are hard to arrange from the other side of the Atlantic: beds booked in the right towns on the right nights, with breakfast; one bag per person moved hotel to hotel after breakfast; your credential; insurance that actually covers you in Spain; 24-hour assistance; and a phone answered in English by someone physically on this route. We're Ourway Travel, based in Palas de Rei — which means that on Day 3, the longest day of your trip, you walk past our front door.

Tell us your dates and how many days you want to walk, and we'll build the itinerary around them: plan your Camino from Sarria, or just email us and ask. If you're aiming for 2027, earlier is better.

Ourway Travel — licensed travel agency, XG-LU-000236. Palas de Rei, Galicia, on the Camino Francés.