The Camino from Logroño to Santiago: the Camino Francés from the Rioja, day by day

Logroño, the capital of the Rioja, is 29 days and 607.4 km from Santiago on our plan, and the walk climbs 7,227 m. Starting here leaves out the first 7 days of the Camino Francés, Saint-Jean over the Pyrenees and through Navarra, and that week is 21% of the route’s distance but 31% of its climbing.

What leaving out the first week changes

The first 7 days of the Camino Francés, Saint-Jean to Logroño, are 161.2 km with 3,217 m of climbing: the Pyrenees on day one and the hills of Navarra after them. Start in Logroño and the walk is 21% shorter and has 31% less climbing, and from here it climbs 11.9 m per kilometre, against 13.6 for the route from Saint-Jean. You walk 29 days instead of 36. What you give up is that first week itself: the mountains, Pamplona, and the people you would have met there.

To walk Navarra but not the Pyrenees, start in the first town in Spain: the Camino from Roncesvalles.

Or from Pamplona, over the Alto del Perdón: the Camino from Pamplona.

The last day into Logroño, in pictures: Los Arcos to Viana and the octagon of Torres del Río.

Where day 1 ends: Nájera, walked in pictures, and the legend of the falcon and the cave.

On the way, the town where a roast cock and hen are said to have crowed: Santo Domingo de la Calzada.

29 days, 20.9 km a day

From Logroño our plan has 29 days, 20.9 km a day on average. The longest is day 1, Logroño to Nájera, 29.3 km. The steepest is day 22, Trabadelo to La Laguna de Castilla: 616 m up, 38.3 m per kilometre. Over the whole walk you climb 7,227 m, a little more than the height of Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas at 6,961 m, climbed from the sea.

Every stage of the Francés from Saint-Jean, one by one: the stages guide.

The way there: the Rioja, the Montes de Oca, the meseta

The first days cross the vineyards of the Rioja to Nájera and Santo Domingo de la Calzada. On day 5, Villafranca Montes de Oca to Atapuerca, the walk climbs over the Montes de Oca to 1,154 m, its first high ground, and on day 6 it reaches Burgos. Days 7 to 15, Burgos to León, are the meseta: 181.1 km of high, flat plateau. The route’s high point, 1,505 m, comes on day 19, and O Cebreiro, at 1,293 m and the first village in Galicia, on day 23. On day 25, out of Sarria, you cross the 100 km line that the Compostela asks for.

The meseta, walked from Burgos: Burgos to Santiago. The last big climb, metre by metre: O Cebreiro.

How busy it is: a steady path, then Sarria

The Pilgrim’s Office lists its 20 biggest starting points, and Logroño is not one of them: fewer than 3,646 people a year start here, the smallest number on that list, which in September would be at most 19 a day. Most people on the path out of Logroño started in Saint-Jean or Roncesvalles a week before: about 175 a day in September, a floor, because the starts the office does not name are not in it. From day 25, out of Sarria, it is 1,104: 6.3 times as many.

The last days from Sarria have their own page: Sarria to Santiago.

Know these words before your Camino. Spanish is preparation, the same as boots and stages. Try the free topic

Every day from Logroño

Distances and climbing from our own track and stage plan, the same figures as the stages guide and the route page. Places to sleep from map data, so read them as places, not beds. People a day: the Pilgrim’s Office’s 2025 starts, spread over the months the way all Compostelas were.

Common questions

How long is the Camino from Logroño to Santiago?

607.4 km in 29 days on our plan, 20.9 km a day on average, with 7,227 m of climbing.

What do I miss by starting in Logroño?

The first 7 days from Saint-Jean: 161.2 km and 3,217 m of climbing, the Pyrenees and Navarra, Pamplona among them. From Logroño the walk climbs 11.9 m per kilometre, against 13.6 from Saint-Jean.

How many people start in Logroño?

Fewer than 3,646 a year: the Pilgrim’s Office lists its 20 biggest starting points and Logroño is not among them, so no exact figure is published.

Do I get the Compostela if I start in Logroño?

Yes. The Compostela asks for the last 100 km on foot, and the walk from Logroño is 607.4 km. You cross the 100 km line on day 25, out of Sarria.

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