Most Camino packing lists are written for pilgrims carrying everything on their back. If you walk with us, that is not your situation: your main bag is collected after breakfast and delivered to your next hotel, and you walk with a small daypack. That changes the packing question entirely — and it introduces one rule that catches Americans by surprise.
The 15 kg rule
Luggage transfer on the Camino allows one bag of up to 15 kg (33 lb) per person — that is the carrier limit, not ours. A checked bag from the United States is usually allowed 23 kg (50 lb), so the suitcase you are legally allowed to fly with can be too heavy to move between stages. Two ways to handle it: pack to 15 kg from home, or tell us before you travel and we will book a second transferred bag for a small fee. Please do not discover this at breakfast on day one.
The daypack: what you actually carry
A 20-25 liter backpack is plenty. In it, every day:
- Water — a bottle or bladder, at least a liter
- Rain jacket, even in July: this is Galicia, and green comes at a price
- A warm layer in spring and autumn
- Sunscreen, hat and sunglasses — long open stretches
- Blister kit: bandages, tape, a needle. Ninety percent of Camino problems are solved with 10 euros at a pharmacy
- Your pilgrim credential — you stamp it along the way; it never goes in the transferred bag
- Phone, a small power bank, and our emergency number
- Something for lunch or the euros for it: villages with cafes come every few kilometers on the Sarria stretch
The transferred bag
- Two to three walking outfits — you will rotate and rinse, not pack for a cruise
- Proper evening clothes: one comfortable outfit is enough — this is not a dress-up route
- A second pair of shoes to give your feet a different shape after the stage
- Toiletries, medication in original packaging, and copies of your documents
- Flip-flops or sandals for the evening — the most missed item on every list
Boots: the only thing money should be spent on
Not new ones. Broken-in ones. Whatever you buy, buy it at least a month before and walk real miles in it at home. Trail runners or light hiking shoes are enough for the Camino Francés from Sarria — full leather mountain boots are more shoe than the terrain asks for, and heavier on your feet at kilometer twenty.
What not to bring
A sleeping bag (you have hotel beds), a camping mat, cooking gear, and the third pair of jeans. Every Camino veteran has a story about the things they mailed home from Sarria; the post office there sees more abandoned ambition than most.
Walking in 2027? It is a Holy Year and the busiest the Camino gets. On our organized trips the luggage transfer is already included, every stage, hotel to hotel — your bag travels while you walk. Tell us your dates and we will build it around them.
