The Camino Frances isn’t extreme mountaineering experience, but it’s far from a walk in the park either. You’ll cover approximately 800 km, crossing three mountain ranges and an endless plateau. The main challenge here isn’t the steepness of the slopes, but the monotonous daily strain on your joints and feet.
The Camino Frances’s terrain can be roughly divided into three types:
- Mountain passes: Steep climbs and rocky descents (Pyrenees, Cantabrian Mountains, Galician mountains).
- Meseta: A completely flat, sun-drenched plateau at an altitude of 800–1000 meters between Burgos and Leon. The terrain here doesn’t strain the muscles, but the monotony and lack of shade are psychologically exhausting.
- Galician swings: Constant short but steep climbs and descents (rompepiernas – “leg breakers”) among forests and eucalyptus trees.
What to consider when planning:
- ❗ Protect your knees on descents: Climbing hills trains your heart and breathing, but long descents on gravel and rocks are especially damaging to your knees and ligaments. Listen to your feet: Asphalt and rocky trails are the main contributors to blisters. Shoes should be broken in and 1-1.5 sizes larger than your usual, as feet inevitably swell by the evening.
- ❗ The 10% Rule: The weight of your backpack (excluding water and food) should not exceed 10% of your body weight. Every extra kilogram on the climbs will feel like a hundredweight.
Lifehacks for a comfortable trek:
- 💡 Trekking poles are a must-have. They relieve up to 20-25% of the strain on your knees and hips on descents and provide excellent support on ascents. I was thinking for a long time whether I should bring my poles, and believe me, they saved my life many times when I was climbing rocks uphill or sliding in the mud downhill.
- 💡 Adapt the stages to your needs. The classic guidebooks divides the Camino into 30-33 stages. But no one forces you to follow them strictly. It’s better to walk less and enjoy your experience rather than rush and hurt yourself. If you have a challenging climb ahead, plan to stay overnight in albergue before that so you can conquer the mountain in the morning with fresh energy.
- 💡 Start early at Meseta. To traverse the flat plateau comfortably, set out at 5:30–6:00 a.m. You’ll cover most of the stage before the sun begins to burn down the soil under your feet.
The most difficult climbs and descents:
1. Pyrenees (Stage Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port – Roncesvalles)
Ascent: A grueling assault from the first kilometers. You’ll gain about 1,250 meters in elevation over a 20-kilometer stretch. Your muscles will burn, but the views, if the weather is good, make it all worth it. I was getting ready for Camino by walking stairs machine in the gym daily. Was I ready? Hell, no!
Descent: The last 4 kilometers before Roncesvalles pass through a beech forest. The descent is very steep, rocky, and often slippery due to mud and fog. Walking poles are a great way to protect your joints. There is also an alternative path by the road, but I will leave this story for you to read in My Camino experience.
2. Ascent to Alto de Mostelares (After Castrojeriz)
It is a short but brutal challenge waiting for you in the middle of the flat Meseta. Immediately after the village, the trail climbs sharply-you need to gain 140 vertical meters at a gradient of almost 12%. In the heat of a summer day, this climb becomes a real sweat fest.
3. Descent from Cruz de Ferro (Towards Molinaseca)
After the symbolic Iron Cross, one of the longest and most treacherous descents on Camino begins. In 15 km, you’ll lose about 1,000 meters of elevation. The trail is rugged, covered in fine shale and large rocks that constantly shift underfoot.
4. Ascent to O Cebreiro
Entering Galicia, a long climb awaits for you (around 700 meters of elevation gain), the final section of which takes you along a rather steep and narrow rocky trail. This is often made worse by the Galician weather-wind and drizzle-but the atmosphere of the misty Celtic village at the summit is worth the effort. Personally, I thought that this climb will never end.