How far

[Susan Campbell]

Could someone please tell me how far it is on the Camino from St Jean to Santiago. I Am actually walking the France Way at this time and would like to know how far it is, every seems to have a different answer!
Many thanks Susan

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

According to the Pilgrim office 775km.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

Brierley's guide (12th ed., 2015) gives the camino a distance of 776.2 km / 482.3 miles.

Roughly 800 km / 500 miles

There are alternate routes and likely some small changes.

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

As I was saying, see the picture .

Wish you well,Peter.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

It changes, so there is no precise figure.

 

[Tincatinker]

Ah well, now that kind of depends. There are various variant routes along the general line of the Camino Frances so it kind of depends on which of those you take.

I do remember a thread from a couple of years back that asked this very question. A thread that got so heated that the Moderators closed it having issued suitable admonishments that were ignored.

That famous sign on the outskirts of the small French town gives an indicator.

Fans of that unspeakable Scottish duo may generally be allowed to chant "I just walked 500 miles..." on arrival in Santiago. "780 kilometres" doesn't fit the tune.

 

[Bill Krueger]

Be sure to figure in the walking you will do 'in the evening". In some of the big towns Pamplona, Burgos, Leon, and the like, you will want to see the sights. So plan on early arrivals, or rest days to give you time to explore the buildings and the food, and best of all the people. Ask for help or directions, the people are the very best part.

 

[grayland]

In order to compute an exact figure you will have to describe the exact route for the total distance. There are many alternative options which add/subtract considerable distances over the entire route. The paths often change or are altered due to ownership conflicts. The routes through larger cities offer alternatives.
One KM is a rather small unit of measurement over a long distance and it is very easy to add 20 to 50 KM (12 to 30 miles) over a walk from SJPdP to Santiago simply by taking an alternative path or two.


The most often and probably most accurate estimate is "about" 800 km.

@Peter Fransiscus I have worked in the Pilgrim Office in Santiago. I can assure you that the information used by the PO is not particularly accurate or carefully researched. It should not be relied on as more reliable than any other.

 

[celinehenriette]

Very
Very far

 

[Peter Fransiscus]

@grayland , I know it's not accurate.
One thing is certain , its a long walk .

Wish you well , Peter .

 

[Kurt5280]

Don't read the distance markers...because at times...you will think you going backwards.

 

[Deleted member 39850]

When I walked in 2014, I was wearing a distance tracker that send me an email at the end of the Camino to the effect of, "Congratulations, you have just walked the distance of NYC to Miami". And I thought, "Silly Jawbone!"
If anyone out there is wearing a satellite distance tracker (like a GPS smart watch), I'd be curious to know what the data reads are.
But it is true: how much you wander to see sites that are off the path, whether you take the main route or an alternate (like from Leon to Villadonga, and Orbigo to Astorga; the Oviedo from Pontferrada, the Valcarlos or the Napoleon start, the river or the industrial route into Burgos... these things will alter your distance from those of fellow pilgrims).
I bussed a total of 26k K on Camino because of illness and injury on the last trip, but I do not doubt that I crossed North/central Spain on foot.

 

[Rick of Rick and Peg]

For fun I went to https://www.distancecalculator.net/ to find the great circle distance (shortest-distance on a sphere) from SJPdP to SdC. It gave the result of 595 km / 370 miles.

 

[Tincatinker]

If anyone out there is wearing a satellite distance tracker (like a GPS smart watch), I'd be curious to know what the data reads are.

I've been following a published GPS track through the Sierras de la Demanda while looking for a route from Santo Domingo de la Calzada to Santo Domingo de los Silos. There is one point where I am sure the poster wishes they had switched off their tracker. A sudden direction change and then a loop back to the original track aroused my curiosity so I zoomed in on satellite view and realised after some scrutiny that their route deviation arose from a, possibly hurried, search for a bush to crouch behind in otherwise open country...

GPS might tell you how far you've been (if you'll pardon the pun) but it won't tell you how far you might have been.

 

[LesR]

As I was saying, see the picture .

Wish you well,Peter.

Mine says 799 kms.... so it does seem to change - regularly...

 

[t2andreo]

The "Official" Saint Jean Pied de Port-to-Santiago distance was changed a couple of seasons ago. It was 775 km. It is now 799 km.

I noticed the change while I was working there as a volunteer. I asked staff about this and was told that the distances were recently revised using GPS instead of a surveyor's wheel. The interim distances as well as distances along other main Camino routes are also being revised.

Hope this helps.

 

[AlwynWellington]

Some truisms

A journey of 775 (or even 799) kilometres starts with but one step.

The Pilgrims Office is unlikely to award a Compostella should you rock up with irrefutable proof of having walked 775 (or even 799) kilometres.

Whatever, kia kaha (take care, be strong, get going)

 

[LesR]

The interim distances as well as distances along other main Camino routes are also being revised.

Are these revised distances going to be made more widely available?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Mine says 799 kms.... so it does seem to change - regularly...

My distance certificate says 799 kms, too. I was surprised they didn't round it out to 800 kms!

 

[Deleted member 67185]

If using the traditional definition of where a Camino begins, then it all depends on where your front door is located

 

[t2andreo]

Are these revised distances going to be made more widely available?

No. Generally, you walk the Camino, show up and ask for a Compostela, and ask for the optional Distance Certificate. The staff review your credencial and figure out the distance walked.

That is how you find out how far you walked, at least officially. I am not aware that the revised distances are published anywhere. They reside in a table resident in the Pilgrim Office computer system.