CaminantesPonferrada to Santiago: the ten-day Camino Francés, day by day
By August Frederik Kramer · Last updated 8 October 2026
- 0
- km walked
- 204.5
- km to Santiago
- m above the sea
- places to sleep mapped on this day
- people a day on this stretch in September
Drag the pilgrim along the profile, or use the slider. Every figure is the day you are on.
The other way out of Ponferrada
| Francés | Invierno | |
|---|---|---|
| Kilometres | 204.5 | 263.1 |
| Days on our plan | 10 | 13 |
| Metres climbed | 3,436 m | 4,941 m |
| Highest point | 1,349 m | 1,077 m |
The Invierno leaves the Francés in Ponferrada and rejoins the way to Santiago in Galicia, missing O Cebreiro and Sarria. The Pilgrim’s Office does not count it on its own. The whole detour, measured: the Camino de Invierno guide.
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Ponferrada to Santiago is 10 days and 204.5 km on our plan, and it climbs 3,436 m: 16.8 m per kilometre, the steepest of the common starts on the Camino Francés. It has one big climb, to O Cebreiro at 1,293 m on day 4, and one big change: on day 6, at Sarria, the path goes from 275 people a day to 1,104 in September.
Ten days, and why the first one is short
Ponferrada is not one of our stage ends: it sits on the stage from Molinaseca to Camponaraya. So day 1 is the part from the town, 9.8 km to Camponaraya, and the other 9 days are the plan’s own stages, 20.5 km a day on average over the 10. You can fold the short first day into the next one and finish in 9; the figures here keep the plan, so they add up the same as on the Francés starts guide. How the days and the kilometres fit together is in how long the Camino takes and how many km a day.
One climb: O Cebreiro, and then down to Triacastela
The route’s high point, 1,505 m, is 18.8 km behind you when you set out; ahead is one climb, and it takes two days. Day 3, Trabadelo to La Laguna de Castilla, climbs 616 m, 38.3 m per kilometre, the steepest day of the ten. Early on day 4 you reach O Cebreiro, at 1,293 m, and the track tops out at 1,349 m just after it. Galicia begins between La Laguna de Castilla, the last village in the province of León, and O Cebreiro, in Lugo. The rest of day 4, down to Triacastela, is the biggest descent of the walk: 850 m. Over the ten days you climb 3,436 m, a little more than Aneto, the highest mountain in the Pyrenees at 3,404 m, climbed from the sea.
The climb itself, metre by metre: O Cebreiro.
The two ways out of Villafranca del Bierzo, measured: Villafranca del Bierzo.
How busy it is: a quiet start, then Sarria
5,542 people set out from Ponferrada in 2025, the 15th of the 20 starts the Pilgrim’s Office lists. You are not walking with them alone: in September about 243 people a day are on the path out of Ponferrada, most of them already walking from León or further back, and about 12% of them started in Ponferrada. From day 5, when the people who start at O Cebreiro are on the path, it is 275. On day 6, out of Sarria, it is 1,104: 4.0 times the day before.
The last 5 days from Sarria have their own page: Sarria to Santiago. Starting 4 days earlier: León to Santiago.
Know these words before your Camino. Spanish is preparation, the same as boots and stages. Try the free topic
Where to sleep
Our map data has 247 places to sleep along the 10 days, 5 of them on the short first day. The most mapped is day 7, into Palas de Rei, with 40. Most places publish no bed count, so read these as places, not beds.
How places to sleep are counted: the albergues guide.
The 100 km line, and the Compostela
The Compostela needs the last 100 km on foot, and on the Francés they start just after Sarria: the line falls 14.4 km into day 6. From Ponferrada you walk 104.5 km more than the minimum, so a missed stamp before Sarria costs nothing.
The credencial: 10 stamps from Sarria, and the rule everyone misquotes ·The last 100 km: one town misses the line by two hundred metres
Or turn off: the Camino de Invierno
Ponferrada is also where the Camino de Invierno leaves the Francés. From here it is 263.1 km in 13 days on our plan, 58.6 km and 3 days more, and it climbs 4,941 m against 3,436. In exchange it tops out 272 m lower than the ground at O Cebreiro, and it misses Sarria, so the crowd never comes.
Every day from Ponferrada
| Day | Stage | km | Climb (m) | Places to sleep | People a day, September |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ponferrada → Camponaraya | 9.8 | 32 | 5 | 243 |
| 2 | Camponaraya → Trabadelo | 23.0 | 289 | 16 | 243 |
| 3 | Trabadelo → La Laguna de Castilla | 16.1 | 616 | 23 | 243 |
| 4 | La Laguna de Castilla → Triacastela | 23.2 | 371 | 12 | 243 |
| 5 | Triacastela → Sarria | 18.0 | 274 | 36 | 275 |
| 6 | Sarria → Portomarín | 22.0 | 339 | 25 | 1,104 |
| 7 | Portomarín → Palas de Rei | 24.9 | 512 | 40 | 1,104 |
| 8 | Palas de Rei → Arzúa | 28.3 | 455 | 31 | 1,104 |
| 9 | Arzúa → O Pedrouzo | 19.9 | 280 | 27 | 1,104 |
| 10 | O Pedrouzo → Santiago | 19.3 | 268 | 32 | 1,104 |
Distances and climbing from our own track and stage plan. Day 1 is measured from Ponferrada to the end of its stage; every other day is a stage of the plan, and the climbing is the sum of the day totals, 3,436 m, the same figure as the Francés starts guide and the Invierno guide give for this stretch. People a day: the Pilgrim’s Office counts for 2025, spread over the months as on the Sarria page; starts the office does not name are not counted, so read them as a floor. Places to sleep from map data.
Common questions
How far is it from Ponferrada to Santiago?
204.5 km on our plan, in 10 days, climbing 3,436 m.
How many days from Ponferrada to Santiago?
10 on our plan, the first a short 9.8 km out of town; you can fold it into the next day and take 9.
Is Ponferrada far enough for the Compostela?
Yes. The Compostela needs the last 100 km on foot; from Ponferrada you walk 204.5, 104.5 km more.
What is the hardest day from Ponferrada?
Day 3, Trabadelo to La Laguna de Castilla: 616 m of climbing, 38.3 m per kilometre, on the way up to O Cebreiro.
How busy is the Camino from Ponferrada?
About 243 people a day out of Ponferrada in September, rising to 1,104 a day from Sarria.
Keep reading
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The whole Camino Portugués from Lisbon, measured day by day: 18 days to Porto with at most 19 people a day setting out, then a path that fills to 975 a day.
Ultreia et suseia meaning: what pilgrims say, and what to answer
Ultreia is “further on”, suseia “higher up”: words from 12th-century pilgrim hymns in the Codex Calixtinus. What each part means, and the answer: et suseia.
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