Longest Camino?

[davidbape]

Hi guys,

I was wondering about which would be the longest official camino there is. After some digging it seems to me that the Estonian Camino starting in Tallin (+4780km) would be it, but I wondered if anyone knew of any other alternative.

I saw some other posts talking about the finland one but I didn't et any solid conclusion out of them.

Best Regards!

David

 

[C clearly]

In what way is it official?

 

[Paul-CH]

A camino may start in front of your house, when you are walking towards SdC or to Rome. Because it is easier to hike on marked trails and the infrastructure is already there, you use these existing paths.

 

[davejsy]

I think it's a bit of an open question as you can probably tell by the comments, but it's interesting. I think there probably isn't an official one, but obviously there are well-known routes with popular beginning and endpoints, and probably if the Estonia one you mention fits the bill then I'd guess that would be it given the length you mention.

 

[Antnix1]

There are official routes recognised by pilgrims associations.. for example, irish people who want to start in ireland have this option:

"The Cathedral of Santiago has agreed to grant a Compostela to pilgrims who complete the 75km Camino Ingles route from A Coruña to Santiago, as long as they have already completed a certified 25km pilgrimage in their country of origin.
Camino Society Ireland CLG (“The Society”) has undertaken the task of defining authentic pilgrim routes within Ireland. The Society has named the 25km walked in Ireland with the 75k walked from A Coruna, the “Celtic Camino”.

This is something agreed with the irish pilgrims association and the cathedral in Santiago.

So you could potentially start anywhere and join a "recognised " camino de Santiago route at the first opportunity and say you did the camino de Santiago. It would be personal to you, but (under bureaucratic definitions) wouldn't necessarily be the longest camino due to lack of recognition. The certificate of distance (if you choose to buy one) I'm guessing might not include unrecognised routes.

 

[Kathar1na]

I think it would help to distinguish between:

• the shortest Camino walked in Spain that will still qualify for a Compostela
  Answer: Coruña to Santiago plus ANY 25 km walked anywhere in the world.
  
  
• and the longest Camino walked in Spain and elsewhere that will qualify for a Distance Certificate
  Answer: Any length and combination of walks to Compostela, whether walked on trails created, marked, maintained and labelled as a "Camino" by International Friends of the Camino/Pilgrims associations or walked on any other combination of roads, footpaths, hiking trails and similar.

I suppose that the OP is asking about trails labelled "Camino to Santiago" or "Way of St James" and (re)created, marked, publicised and marketed as such.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I was wondering about which would be the longest official camino there is.

The "official" adjective is a slippery one, and possibly unhelpful.

But if we used established/historical instead, well hmmm ... if that's from Christian Europe, then either from Western Kazakhstan or somewhere further north in the Ural mountains ?

Otherwise ?

There's this :

A Way of St. James of more than 14,000 kilometers from Antarctica

On Thursday, after arriving in Santiago, an event held at the Hostal de los Reyes Catholics at lunchtime, with the presence of the president of the Xunta

vivecamino.com

 

[Peterexpatkiwi]

The certificate of distance (if you choose to buy one) I'm guessing might not include unrecognised routes.

As I understand it, you simply have to prove that you’ve walked it, from Wherever you started via whatever route you’ve chosen. Last year a Woman walked in to the pilgrims office with what I think was a school exercise book filled with stamps, and her mileage all written up. She’d walked in from Germany, the supervisor simply chatted to her for a few minutes, the woman offered to show a few photos, and that was it. The volunteer then issued the distance certificate, according to the kms calculated by the peregrina. She certainly wasn’t questioned as to what route she’d taken.

 

[Rita Flower]

I would think the longest route in Spain might be the Mozarabe if you continue to Santiago joining VDLP and Sanabres. I think I read recently it’s about 1300 km - the VDLP is officially 1007.
But of course you can start anywhere. In 2022 I met a young man who started in Greece.

 

[JabbaPapa]

I would think the longest route in Spain might be the Mozarabe if you continue to Santiago joining VDLP and Sanabres. I think I read recently it’s about 1300 km - the VDLP is officially 1007.

The Catalan Way et cetera is longer, if you start it either at Llançà or at the Perthus pass. Even longer from Perpignan, but whilst that's still in Catalonia, it's not in Spain. All three starting points are "official" i.e. recognised, though most suggestions are to start at La Jonquera rather than at the Perthus itself up there, Perthus to La Jonquera is not a terribly interesting walk. Portbou at the border is on the Camino, but not really a starting point as such, unless that's where you live.

That's about 1,450K in Spain, longer from Perpignan.

 

[DoughnutANZ]

Technically the longest possible straight line Camino that doesn't leave the planet would start at Arthur's Pass, Aotearoa New Zealand as this is the antipode of Santiago de Compostela

 

[Sirage]

would think the longest route in Spain might be the Mozarabe if you continue to Santiago joining VDLP and Sanabres.

If you include Portugal : from Almeria >>> Salamanca > Torres > Braga > de Geira > SdC covers a few more kms, which includes a lot of enjoyable solitude if that is your thing.

 

[JabbaPapa]

Technically the longest possible straight line Camino that doesn't leave the planet would start at Arthur's Pass, Aotearoa New Zealand as this is the antipode of Santiago de Compostela

IIRC somebody once worked out that the longest possible 100% walking (or cycling etc) route to Santiago would be from Cape Town in South Africa. I think that's longer than from Singapore.

From Uelen in the Chukchi Peninsula in far eastern Siberia might look longer on a map, but I think that's from Mercator projection distortions.

I guess it might be technically feasible for someone extremely competent to start from Ushuaia then cross over the ice cap from Alaska to Siberia ??!??

 

[Kathar1na]

I saw some other posts talking about the finland one but I didn't et any solid conclusion out of them.

@davidbape, did you see this thread:

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/camino-in-finland.77212/post-1073282

There are some further links in that thread that may be helpful. Forum member @lovingkindness did explore the possibility of walking from Finland through Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland to Santiago. We also have forum members from Finland but I don’t recall if anyone ever walked from there to Santiago. Nor do I recall any posts about walking in Finland itself.

There is also EuroVelo 3 or EV3, named the Pilgrims Route. It is a long-distance cycling route running 5,650 km (3,510 mi) from Trondheim in Norway to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. It travels through Europe passing successively through Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Belgium, France and Spain.

It can also be walked, of course. Walking the EV Pilgrims Route from Trondheim in Norway would be a bit longer than starting on the Estonian Camino in Tallin.

Are you considering it or are you just curious?

EV3 The Pilgrims Route - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Kathar1na]

I don’t see a link to the Estonian Camino in previous comments. Here it is:

Home - Eesti Jaakobitee

Eesti Jaakobitee Home -

caminoestonia.com

It says: This website has been created to help pilgrims on the Camino Estonia. The main task of the website is to provide pilgrims with information regarding the route, stages, as well as accommodation, catering and other infrastructure in Estonia. The Camino Estonia leads not only to Santiago de Compostela, but also to Rome. We have joined the Romea Strata network of cultural paths. Romea Strata crosses seven countries and runs from Tallinn to Rome.​

“Caminos” and “Saint James Ways” have sprung up in recent years like mushrooms after the rain. The further away they are from the Pyrenees the less likely they are “ways to Santiago”. They are just part of the effort to recreate walkable old trade routes in Europe that were once leading to many distant destinations in many directions.

 

[Kathar1na]

Nobody has mentioned the Way to Jerusalem which can be walked in both directions, Santiago to Jerusalem and Jerusalem to Santiago. This trail, too, has been developed for several years now. Forum members have walked it through Austria, Eastern Europe and Turkey.

The Jerusalem Way website claims that it is the longest pilgrimage route in the world, meaning I guess the longest route currently identified, named and marked as such and having some historical meaning and relevance as a pilgrimage route. Quote:

GPS from Spain to Jerusalem | 8.500km​

​

Since 2020 there is a continuous Jerusalem Way GPS from Finisterre in Spain to Antakya in Turkey. Syria has not yet been developed as a GPS. The 250 km route from Jordan, Palestine and Israel is available as GPS. The GPS of Finisterre to Budapest (3.500 km) is available online and is available at the respective stage downloaded. The GPS developed by Budapest to Jerusalem (5.000 km) can in our webshop be ordered for the desired countries.​

​

This quote sounds like a translation from another language and I copied it only because it indicates relevant distances.

 

[Bradypus]

Nobody has mentioned the Way to Jerusalem which can be walked in both directions, Santiago to Jerusalem and Jerusalem to Santiago. This trail, too, has been developed for several years now. Forum members have walked it through Austria, Eastern Europe and Turkey.

But I do not think that in recent years anyone on the forum has succeeded in walking all the way from Europe to Jerusalem. Regional politics make it dangerous and impractical. Even the extraordinarily ambitious Guy Stagg finished his remarkable journey from Canterbury to Jerusalem by flying to Israel via Cyprus.

 

[Kathar1na]

But I do not think that in recent years anyone on the forum has succeeded in walking all the way from Europe to Jerusalem. Regional politics make it dangerous and impractical. Even the extraordinarily ambitious Guy Stagg finished his remarkable journey from Canterbury to Jerusalem by flying to Israel via Cyprus.

Yes, sadly, it is more a hypothetical way at the moment and this has been the case for quite a few years now. Walking all the way from Jerusalem to Santiago on foot is probably only slightly more hypothetical for most of us than travelling from the Antarctic to Santiago (financial cost of getting there first and then back again) or travelling from Santiago's antipode in a straight short line to Santiago (technical issues ).

I got curious though. The website says that (as of February 2024!) the borders with Syria are closed. Antakya is the end of the Jerusalem Way in Turkey (when coming from Europe). We recommend flying from Antakya to Amman in Jordan. The bus takes you north to Ar-Ramtha to the starting point in Jordan and the pilgrimage can continue there. Please refer to Jordan. Pilgrimages to Israel and Palestine are possible at your own risk. However, we advise against it.

Below is a map that also shows alternatives, for example via Cyprus and it also lists distances for the various sections. It is, in any case, a historical pilgrimage. Numerous medieval pilgrims did travel to Jerusalem and onwards to Santiago or vice versa, and lived to tell the tale.

 

[JabbaPapa]

“Caminos” and “Saint James Ways” have sprung up in recent years like mushrooms after the rain. The further away they are from the Pyrenees the less likely they are “ways to Spain”. They are just part of the effort to recreate walkable old trade routes in Europe that lead to many destinations in many directions.

My early 1990s IGN map of the historical routes shows a Way from Riga in Latvia (via Warsaw or maritime via Gdansk) and Stockholm & Uppsala in Sweden, but no route from Estonia, nor anything leading northward off the edge of the map, such as the northerly route to Jerusalem does via Bulgaria, nor anything leading off the northern edge to Finland.