CaminantesThe Camino de Santiago in August: 77,095 pilgrims and 13h 59m of daylight
By August Frederik Kramer, who has walked the Camino twice · Last updated 22 September 2026
Two things about August can be measured, so here they are. 77,095 pilgrims collected the Compostela in Santiago in August 2025, 14.5% of the year and the number 3 month of twelve; that is about 2,487 arrivals a day. This year the office counted 84,793 in the same month. In 2018 it was 60,415, so August has grown 1.3 times over in seven years.
The other measurable thing is light. In the middle of August Santiago gets 13h 59m of daylight. Take off 1h 30m for breakfast, coffee and lunch and walk at 4 km/h, and the day holds 49.9 km. Every one of the 214 stages on our 10 routes fits inside that, and the longest of them, 34.9 km from Villaharta to Alcaracejos on the Camino Mozárabe, still leaves 3h 46m of light.
What August is like, in numbers
August is the month that used to be the peak. In 2018 it was the busiest of the year with 60,415; in 2025 it was third, 77,095 against 81,534 in September, and this year the office counted 84,793 in August alone, the biggest single month it publishes. The light is still generous, 13h 59m, only 1h 20m short of June, so no stage on any route is a race against the evening. What August has that September does not is heat, and the honest answer is that we do not measure it: what we can tell you is that the crowd has moved a month later, and the albergues have not.
Where August sits in the year
The Pilgrim’s Office’s monthly count for 2025, with the daylight in the middle of each month at Santiago’s latitude. The three quiet months are shown together because the office’s chart hides their labels.
| Month | Pilgrims | Share | Daylight |
|---|---|---|---|
| March | 14,068 | 2.7 % | 11h 51m |
| April | 54,642 | 10.3 % | 13h 21m |
| May | 78,650 | 14.8 % | 14h 36m |
| June | 74,043 | 14.0 % | 15h 19m |
| July | 67,013 | 12.6 % | 15h 04m |
| August | 77,095 | 14.5 % | 13h 59m |
| September | 81,534 | 15.4 % | 12h 34m |
| October | 62,854 | 11.8 % | 11h 08m |
| November | 11,072 | 2.1 % | 9h 47m |
| January, February and December | 9,751 | 1.8 % | - |
The whole year, the routes, the countries and where people start are in our guide to how many people walk the Camino. If the light matters more to you than the crowd, our winter guide is the page that turns on it, and our guide to the best time of year takes every month in turn.
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Where the numbers come from
The pilgrim count is the Pilgrim’s Office’s own, read from its public dashboard on 21 September 2026; it counts Compostelas issued, so it is a floor. Daylight is computed for Santiago’s latitude on the middle day of the month, ignoring hills and horizon. The walking budget is our own rule of thumb, 4 km/h with 1h 30m of stops, the same one the winter guide uses, so the two pages cannot disagree.
Common questions
How many people walk the Camino in August?
77,095 pilgrims arrived in Santiago in August 2025, according to the Pilgrim’s Office, about 2,487 a day. It was the number 3 month of the year.
Is August busy on the Camino?
August carries 14.5% of the year’s pilgrims. The busiest month is September with 81,534; the quietest three, January, February and December, share fewer than ten thousand between them.
How much daylight is there in August?
13h 59m in the middle of the month at Santiago. At 4 km/h with 1h 30m of stops that is 49.9 km of walking, more than any stage on our ten routes needs.
Keep reading
The Camino in October: 62,854 pilgrims and the daylight to walk them in
How busy October really is, from the office that counts, and how many hours of light it gives you: two measured things, and what they leave on the longest stage of any route.
The Camino in September: 81,534 pilgrims and the daylight to walk them in
How busy September really is, from the office that counts, and how many hours of light it gives you: two measured things, and what they leave on the longest stage of any route.
The Camino in May: 78,650 pilgrims and the daylight to walk them in
How busy May really is, from the office that counts, and how many hours of light it gives you: two measured things, and what they leave on the longest stage of any route.
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