CaminantesRest days on the Camino: where to take one on each route
By August Frederik Kramer · Last updated 27 October 2026
Which route are you walking?
Where to rest on the Camino Francés
Logroño, Burgos, Sahagún, Astorga and Sarria
41 days: 36 walking, 5 resting
Start on 1 May, in Santiago on 10 June
Why these towns
- Logroño, day 7: the next two days climb 746 m
- Burgos, day 13: the next two days climb 274 m
- Sahagún, day 19: the next two days climb 113 m
- Astorga, day 24: the next two days climb 720 m
- Sarria, day 31: the next two days climb 851 m
One rest every 6 to 8 walking days, only in a city or a town, and of those the one with the most climbing in the two days after it.
Tap a town to rest there. Tap it again to walk on.
Our rest towns
Take a rest day every 6 to 8 walking days, in a town rather than a village, and where you can, right before the climbing. On the Camino Francés that puts your rests in Logroño, Burgos, Sahagún, Astorga and Sarria: 5 days off that turn 36 walking days into 41. Pick a route and tap any town to move a rest.
Rest before the climb, not after the city
Burgos and León are the two cities in the middle of the Francés, and both are on every list of places to stop. Look at what comes after them. The two days after Burgos climb 274 m. The two days after León climb 308 m. Astorga is two days past León, and the two days after it climb 720 m, up to the Cruz de Ferro. So our plan rests in Burgos, because it is the only town where that rest falls, and then not in León but in Astorga.
How many rest days each route needs
With a rest every 6 to 8 walking days, the Camino Francés gets 5 rest days and 36 walking days become 41. The Camino Portugués from Lisbon gets 4: 31 become 35. The Camino del Norte gets 5: 39 become 44. The Camino Primitivo needs one, in A Fonsagrada, before two days that climb 1,011 m: 15 become 16.
How we chose the towns
The 6 to 8 days are the advice on our km per day page. A town counts if OpenStreetMap calls the stage end a city or a town; villages and hamlets do not, because a day off goes better with a choice of beds, food and shops. Where no town falls in the window, we look one day further each way. On the Camino del Norte the last 9 days come after the last rest the rule can place, in Ribadeo. The stages are our own plan, the same one the Camino Francés stages page prints, and how long the Camino is gives each route in full.
Stages, distances and climbing are from our own stage plan and the measured GPS profile of each route, the same figures the route pages print. Town or village is OpenStreetMap’s place class for each stage end. The drawing on each day is the land under it, on the route’s own height scale.
Common questions
Where should I take a rest day on the Camino Francés?
With a rest every 6 to 8 walking days, in Logroño, Burgos, Sahagún, Astorga and Sarria. That is 5 rest days, and 36 walking days become 41.
How many rest days do you need on the Camino?
One every 6 to 8 walking days: 5 on the Camino Francés, 4 on the Portugués from Lisbon, 5 on the Norte and one on the Primitivo.
Is León a good place for a rest day?
It is a fine city to stop in, but the two days after it climb only 308 m. Astorga, two days on, comes right before 720 m of climbing, so a rest there does more for your legs.
Keep reading
Camino bag transfer: what it costs, and on which days it is worth it
Tap the days of the Camino Francés you would send your bag on, and see the cost from the operators’ own prices and the climbing you skip.
A pilgrim’s day against Spain’s clock
Out of the albergue by 8:00, into the village at about 14:50, and the shops are shut. Turn the dial to your month and see every clash.
Getting to the Camino: Saint-Jean, Sarria, Porto, and home from Santiago
Pick where you start and the map draws the way in, with every train counted from the operators’ own timetables. Only one coach a day goes to Sarria.
Take it with you
Caminantes is free, works offline, and plans your stages around your own legs rather than a guidebook's.
