Camino Frances: Gentle Steps on the French Route

Our Gentle Steps Camino is for those who prefer to walk at an easier pace      

Our 14-night itinerary is very popular, but you can choose between 9 and 17 nights. Our slowest itinerary is from Sarria to Santiago, 114 km/74 miles and walked over 17 days. We hope this draws more people to walk the Camino at their own pace while staying in delightful hotels and experiencing the friendly pilgrim atmosphere.

This Camino is often the first choice for people new to longer walking vacations and Caminos. It is also a brilliant option for anyone who isn’t fit but wants to experience the Camino. Sometimes our clients prefer to test their enjoyment of a walking holiday by booking our more manageable Gentle Steps Camino. Often returning to try another one of our longer Camino Tours, such as our Classic French Way Camino.

If you’re looking for shorter or gentler Camino tours, consider our Camino Finisterre Tour or our Via de la Plata Tour.

Walk the Way, Your Way

The experts at Walk the Camino genuinely care. This is perhaps our defining characteristic. We take time to understand your requirements and create a personalised itinerary just for you. Each person has their own particular walking ability and fitness level. You certainly do not have to be at peak fitness to walk the Camino. We regularly welcome clients from 8 to 80+ years old.

We also design itineraries for couples or friends, where one walks the Camino and the other doesn’t walk. Whatever you need, we can probably make it happen for you. It’s this level of detail, care, and customisation that results in many of our guests coming back for several Caminos. Some even come each year!

If you are concerned about carrying too much weight in your backpack, you don’t need to worry, as we provide reliable luggage transfers. This daily service is organised so that all you have to worry about is carrying a small day sack with your essential items.

Santiago de Compostela As Your Base

We also design Camino experiences out of Santiago. Full day and half day tours are available around the Camino and the wider Galician area. Many of our couples and groups wish to combine gentle short walks with sightseeing excursions and gastronomy experiences.

For further details about our slow walks of the Camino de Santiago, just get in touch. We will be happy to create a personalised itinerary designed specifically around your needs and interests.

Transfer to Cape Finisterre and the Atlantic Coast

You can also spend 2 or 3 nights on Cape Finisterre, where there are short walks to be enjoyed. Stroll the 2km-long beach, take a gentle walk to the famous Finisterre lighthouse for a superb lunch, find the 0.0km waymarker and watch the Atlantic sunset. You can even add on a two-day mini itinerary from Finisterre to Muxia.

Enjoy the Camino de Santiago at Your Own Pace

We call this slow travel version of Spain’s classic and most popular route – the Camino Frances or French Way, our “Gentle Steps” edition. It’s the same route in shorter segments – fewer daily miles to walk, more overnight stops, and you are still eligible for the Compostela certificate.

We will tailor the walking tour to suit your requirements, walking a range of 4 – 8 miles each day. As experts on the Camino, we have considerable experience tailoring walking and driving tours of the Camino de Santiago. Contact us, and we will create an itinerary that fits you.

For those looking for a new slow-travel Camino experience, we also organise a travel version of the Via de la Plata.

Experience the classic pilgrimage route at a gentle pace

Walk the thousand-year-old pilgrimage route in manageable sections at your own pace. Soak up the Camino’s ancient history as you go past medieval villages, pilgrim fountains, and majestic monasteries linked for centuries to the Camino de Santiago de Compostela.

Spanish Gastronomy and Wine

Every town in the Camino has a variety of lively plazas with bars and restaurants, so you will have plenty of opportunities to enjoy the delicious Spanish gastronomy and the variety of world-famous Spanish wines.

This is an area that still preserves a traditional way of life. Galicia is the green corner of Spain, and its lush meadows support many family-run dairy and beef farms. Galician cooking is simple and hearty, using mainly fresh local produce.

Those with a sweet tooth will love Tarta de Santiago, a type of almond cake dusted with sugar outlining the shape of the cross of Santiago. A gastronomic point — in Melide look out for the local speciality “Pulpo Gallego”: octopus sprinkled with paprika and served with potatoes.

The wines, cheeses and seafood are all renowned Galician specialities. Unlike the red wine-producing rest of Spain, Galicia’s climate is better suited to whites. Albariño is a straw-coloured wine with a distinct peach flavour that’s now highly respected outside Spain and the perfect companion to fish and seafood.

Santiago de Compostela, a UNESCO World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1985, Galicia’s capital city, Santiago de Compostela, is the world-known destination of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. Around the Cathedral of Saint James of Compostela, a masterpiece of Romanesque art, the city boasts a picturesque old town worthy of one of Christianity’s greatest holy cities.

Guided Tours of Santiago de Compostela

As an optional extra, we can arrange a guided tour of the city’s extraordinary ensemble of distinguished monuments grouped around the Cathedral of Saint James the Greater.

Day Excursion to Finisterre & Muxia

We can arrange a full-day excursion to Cape Finisterre on Galicia’s Atlantic coast, which traditionally was the final destination for many pilgrims on the Camino de Santiago. A walk on the long golden beach searching for your own scallop shell makes for a superb ending to the whole experience.

Choose B&B or Half Board
For any traveller on the Camino, nourishment and refreshment is an important part of the daily routine. There are many places to enjoy good local dishes to suit a variety of tastes and budgets. We also aim to cater for those with particular dietary needs.

Breakfast
Where available we always order a full breakfast spread for our clients. But it does vary between establishments. Whether you have a light or substantial offering, you can always top up mid-morning at cafe bars along the route. The Spanish habit is to have breakfast between 10 and 11 when cafes and bars fill with locals having their “desayuno”.

Lunches
Lunch on the Camino is often taken as a picnic, and most places have local shops selling items of fresh local produce to purchased each morning before you set out on the trail. Certain lodgings will offer pre-ordered packed lunches. Or check your guide and plan to stop off in a cafe-bar or restaurant on the Way.

Dinner
Spanish people tend to have dinner from 9 pm. But on the Camino, dinner is usually served from 8 pm — so do take advantage of the habitual afternoon “merienda” to keep you going, once you have arrived at your daily destination. That could be cold beer “cerveza” and tapas or coffee and cake.

Hydration
Hydration is essential — carry between 1.5 and 3l of drinking water, depending on the season, temperatures and distance you plan to cover. Keep a sugary and salty snack handy in your pocket or daypack – this will give you that little extra burst of energy to keep you going.

Mid morning/afternoon snacks known as “merienda” are the perfect way to sustain yourself on the Way. Especially if you are not used to the later meal times which are the norm across Spain. It is customary for Spanish people to have a mid-morning stop for breakfast and late afternoon for a bite to keep them going until the traditional late dinner.