Camino de Baztán

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Cathedral of Sainte-Marie in Bayonne (France) / Trinidad de Arre in Villava (Navarre), about 4 km from Pamplona's old town
• Length: 106.4 km, just under 32 km of it in France up to the border at Dantxarinea
• Duration: 5 stages averaging a good 21 km; 6 days if you overnight in Ustaritz and Urdax
• Elevation: ↗ 2,260 m / ↘ 1,825 m
• Highest point: 923 m at km 73.9 on the Puerto de Velate, between Almandoz and Lantz
• Landscape: Basque hill country with white-and-red farmhouses, border villages, the green Baztán Valley, beech forest on the Velate, and finally the Ultzama Valley
• Operator / Waymarking: in France the Association des Amis du Chemin de Saint-Jacques des Pyrénées-Atlantiques, with posts and stickers; in Navarre yellow arrows, much more frequent
• Traces of St. James: Bayonne Cathedral as a UNESCO World Heritage site of the Way of St. James (1998), the monastery hospital at Urdax, the parish church of Santiago in Elizondo, the Hospital of Santa María de Velate, the basilica and bridge at Trinidad de Arre
• Accommodation: Refuge Saint-Jacques in Bayonne, pilgrim hostels in Urdax, Berroeta, Lantz and Olague, a hostel in Amaiur, and gîtes, hostales and country hotels in between
• Connecting routes: Camino Francés from Trinidad de Arre, Camino del Norte and Voie Littorale in Bayonne, Voie de la Nive sharing the same track between Bayonne and Ustaritz
• Best time: May to October; snow and fog on the Velate in winter, rain all year round

Overview

The Camino de Baztán is the third Pyrenean crossing of the St. James pilgrims, after Roncesvalles and the Somport, and the lowest of them all. The math is simple: the Ibañeta Pass above Roncesvalles sits at around 1,430 meters, the Somport on the Camino Aragonés at 1,632 meters, the Velate at 923. That is why pilgrims, traders, shepherds and armies have used this door from the Basque coast to Pamplona since Roman times. If you arrived by ship in Bayonne, this was your shortest way to the great stream of pilgrims.

Today the route is almost forgotten, and that is its charm. In June 2016, two pilgrims reported on the caminodesantiago.me forum that they had met exactly two other pilgrims along the whole way; the hostel in Berroeta counted around 590 overnight stays in all of 2015. You walk through the Baztán Valley, where Basque is the everyday language, over a pass where history was made in 1512, and past a hospital that got by with four beds. To be honest, the Baztán is no gentle warm-up: Gronze ranks it among the toughest routes, comparable to the first stages of the Camino Primitivo.

Other Names

In Spain the route is called Camino Baztanés or Camino de Baztán, in Basque Baztan Bidea, in French Voie du Baztan or Chemin du Baztan; older literature speaks of the Camino de Bayona, after its starting point. In 1964, Father Germán de Pamplona gave it the clunkiest name of all: "El Camino de peregrinación jacobea Bayona-Urdax-Velate-Pamplona" – and with that, modern research on it began. In German you will read Baztán-Weg. On maps the pass appears as Belate (Basque) or Velate (Spanish), and the border town of Urdax has officially been Urdazubi/Urdax since 1989.

Who It's Ideal For—and Who It's Not So Ideal For

Ideal if you want to start the Camino Francés not in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port but on an empty trail, merging into the stream only at Trinidad de Arre. Ideal if Basque villages, border history and beech forest appeal to you more than pilgrim company, and if you like the idea of reaching Bayonne easily by TGV.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you expect a dense network of hostels and a bar every five kilometers: according to Gronze, Berroeta has neither a bar nor a shop, and on some stages you will find nowhere to stop between start and finish. Not for you if you shy away from mud: between Lantz and Sorauren the paths get muddy and overgrown after rain, nettles and brambles included – long pants help. And not for you when heavy rain, snow or storms are forecast: then the Velate doesn't belong on your plan for the day, but a taxi over the road does.

Route & Landscape

Bayonne to the border (km 0–31.7): From the cathedral you head out of Bayonne into the Nive Valley, via Villefranque (km 8.8) to Ustaritz (km 13.7), the old assembly seat of the Labourd. Then the land turns hilly, the farmhouses white with red shutters: via Souraïde (km 24.1) to Ainhoa (km 29.6), a 17th-century street village, and down to Dantxarinea (km 31.7), where you cross the border into Navarre without noticing much more than a few ventas. The first two days are largely on asphalt and concrete, and the waymarking is sparse.

Baztán Valley to Trinidad de Arre (km 31.7–106.4): Beyond Urdazubi/Urdax (km 34.9) and its monastery, the trail climbs steeply to the Otsondo Pass and down to Amaiur-Maya (km 45.7). Via Arizkun (km 49.7) you reach Elizondo (km 55.6), the valley's main town, and continue via Irurita, Ziga and Berroeta (km 65.6) to Almandoz (km 67.9). That is where the big climb begins: around 500 meters of ascent over six kilometers to the Puerto de Velate (923 m, km 73.9), partly on the old stone road through beech forest. On the south side come Lantz (km 81.0), Olague (km 85.8) and the Ultzama Valley via Sorauren (km 100.0) to Trinidad de Arre (km 106.2), where you meet the Camino Francés at the bridge. Aritzu lies 0.6 km off the route.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

We show the route in 5 stages. Distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 106.4 km. Souraïde has only a hotel; if you want a pilgrim hostel, stay in Ustaritz (km 13.7) and Urdax (km 34.9) instead and walk it in 6 days. If you'd rather not sleep in Berroeta, move your stop to Elizondo (km 55.6), which has the widest choice in the valley.

1. Bayonne → Souraïde (24.1 km) — through the Nive Valley via Villefranque and Ustaritz into the hill country of the Labourd; lots of asphalt, little waymarking.
2. Souraïde → Amaiur-Maya (21.6 km) — via Ainhoa and the border at Dantxarinea to Urdax, then the steep climb to the Otsondo Pass, around 475 meters in one go according to Gronze.
3. Amaiur-Maya → Berroeta (19.9 km) — the quietest day: through the Baztán Valley via Arizkun and Elizondo, where shopping is your last chance before the pass.
4. Berroeta → Olague (20.2 km) — the queen stage: via Almandoz to the Velate Pass (923 m), past the remains of the hospital and down through beech forest to Lantz and Olague.
5. Olague → Trinidad de Arre (20.6 km) — through the Ultzama Valley via Ostitz and Sorauren to the bridge at Trinidad de Arre; from there Pamplona is still about 4 km away on the Camino Francés.

Technically there are no exposed sections, but there are rocky paths, roots, dense vegetation and mud. On the Velate, the arrows in fog are sometimes painted only on trees, and there is no clear path – here the Camino Ninja App with an offline track is more than a convenience. By bike the route is only doable for experienced mountain bikers; there is no waymarked cycling variant.

Four Beds and Twenty Days of Snow: The Hospital on the Velate

Below the top of the pass, on the south side, stands a Romanesque church with the hospital building beside it: Santa María de Velate, founded around 1160 – by whom, nobody knows. In a bull of 1165, Pope Alexander III listed it among the possessions of the Diocese of Pamplona. It was a double monastery with a prior and a prioress, and for 1325 we know both by name: the commander Don Aimeric and the prioress Doña Jurdana. They didn't have much room. Art historian Miren Koro Campos sums up the sources like this: "Aunque sólo tenía cuatro camas, el monasterio-hospital, siempre mantuvo su carácter caritativo" – although it had only four beds, it always remained a place of charity.

What that charity looked like is spelled out in the next sentence: "En verano los peregrinos que pasaban por allí recibían sidra y pan, y seguían su camino. Sin embargo, en invierno, algunos llegaban a quedarse veinte días y no les faltó nunca fuego, cama, ropa, buen caldo, sidra ni pan." In summer there was cider and bread and off you went; in winter some stayed twenty days, snowed in on the pass, and never lacked fire, bed, clothing, good broth, cider or bread. Four beds, twenty days: do the math on how cramped it was in January. A good 170 years later, around 1495, the Servite friar Hermann Künig von Vach probably came over this pass and noted a place where the pilgrim brothers were treated kindly – "Monte Sancta Maria".

After that, the house had little luck. In 1513, troops of John of Albret looted the hospital on their retreat, and Prior Lope de Erro had them excommunicated for it. On April 23, 1764, the interior burned out, and the surveyors reckoned the walls would have to be torn down "hasta sus cimientos" (down to their foundations). In the war against the French Republic from 1793 to 1795, French troops devastated what was left; the venerated statue of Mary was taken to Alkotz, and the pilgrimage on August 28 faded away. In practical terms: plan a break on the Velate, since the church sits right on the trail; it is usually locked, but by its wall you can sit out of the wind. On the climb, watch for the large stone slabs of the old road – they were set on edge so they could still be seen in snow.

Highlights Along the Way

• Cathedral of Sainte-Marie in Bayonne (km 0) — a Gothic building begun anew after the town fire of 1258, its nave completed in 1404, its 85-meter towers only in the 19th century; together with its 13th-century cloister a UNESCO World Heritage site since 1998. The cathedral offers pilgrim information and the credential.
• Ainhoa (km 29.6) — a Basque street village of white half-timbered farmhouses, the last French stop before the border.
• Urdazubi/Urdax (km 34.9) — the monastery of San Salvador, documented as a pilgrim hospital in the 12th century under King Sancho VI the Wise, today a museum and pilgrim hostel. At the Axular farmhouse, Pedro de Axular was born in 1556; his book "Gero" from 1643 is considered a classic of Basque prose. The Ikaburu caves are nearby.
• Amaiur-Maya (km 45.7) — castle hill of the last Navarrese defenders: from July 13 to 19, 1522, around 100 men under Jaime Vélaz de Medrano held out against some 4,500 besiegers. The obelisk of 1922 bears the inscription "A los hombres que en el Castillo de Maya pelearon en pro de la independencia de Navarra" (To the men who fought at Maya Castle for the independence of Navarre); blown up in 1931, rebuilt in 1982.
• Arizkun (km 49.7) — with the Bozate quarter, the old home of the Agotes, an outcast minority with their own low church door; a papal letter of 1514 helped little, and only the Cortes of Navarre abolished the special laws in 1819.
• Elizondo (km 55.6) — main town of the Baztán, with Baroque palaces such as the Palacio de las Gobernadoras (around 1730) and the parish church of Santiago, rebuilt from 1916 to 1925 after the flood of June 2, 1913.
• Puerto de Velate (km 73.9) — 923 meters, the highest point, with the line of the Roman road and the Hospital of Santa María de Velate on the south side.
• Trinidad de Arre (km 106.2) — basilica and medieval bridge over the Ultzama, where you reach the Camino Francés.

Twelve Cannons on a Coat of Arms: Border History in the Baztán

The Baztán Valley held a privilege early on that many envied. On May 22, 1397, King Charles III of Navarre confirmed that the inhabitants were to be kept "mantenidos en lur condiciones de fidalguía e infançonía" (maintained in their status as hidalgos and infanzones) – the whole valley counted as noble, every farmhouse as the home of a hidalgo. That's why you see coats of arms carved on so many farmhouses. The palaces of the Indianos, locals who had made their fortune in the Americas and returned, were added in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The pass itself was a front line. In December 1512, after John of Albret's failed siege of Pamplona, troops from Gipuzkoa ambushed the retreating French-Navarrese rearguard on the Velate and captured twelve cannons. Gipuzkoa put them on its coat of arms in 1513 – and there they stayed until 1979, when the province removed them out of consideration for its neighbors. Nine years later Amaiur fell; among the prisoners were the abbot of Urdax, Juan de Orbara, and Miguel de Jaso, brother of Francis Xavier.

And then there's Zugarramurdi, about five kilometers off the route near Urdax. From the village and its cave by the "Infernuko erreka", the Hell's Stream, came the accused of the great Logroño witch trial: in November 1610, six people were burned alive and five more, already dead, in effigy. Afterwards the inquisitor Alonso de Salazar Frías questioned almost 2,000 people, found no evidence, and in August 1614 the pending cases were dropped – the end of witch burnings in Spain. The detour takes half a day.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Bayonne is a hub. This is where pilgrims arrive from the north, and where several routes begin or cross:

• Voie Littorale — the coastal route through the Landes that arrives in Bayonne
• Camino del Norte — the coastal route along the Bay of Biscay, starting from Bayonne on the Camino Ninja map
• Voie de la Nive — the route up the Nive to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, which shares the same track between Bayonne and Ustaritz

If you come through the Landes, you have to decide in Bayonne: continue west along the coast, go up the Nive Valley to Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and over Roncesvalles, or cross the Baztán over the Velate. Of these, the Baztán is the shortest way to Pamplona.

Continue the pilgrimage?

Yes, and right away: at Trinidad de Arre you join the Camino Francés coming down from Roncesvalles. After about 4 kilometers you're in Pamplona's old town, and from there it's still roughly a month on foot via Puente la Reina, Burgos and León to Santiago de Compostela.

A tip from experience: after five days almost alone, switching to the crowded Francés is a shock. A rest day in Pamplona helps, and in high season you should head for the hostels there early.

Preparation & Practical Information

Credential and app. As on all French and Spanish routes, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in the hostels and receive the Compostela at the end. It's best to order it online in advance so it reaches you in time for the start of your trip; you get your first stamp at Bayonne Cathedral. The easiest way to plan the route is right in the Camino Ninja App, where you put your stages together and plan suitable accommodation along with them – with an offline map, which you'll need in the fog on the Velate.

Accommodation. Hostels are few and far between, and some have few beds: Berroeta 16, Lantz 10 according to pilgrim reports. Call the day before or send a message. In previous years the hostel in Amaiur was booked out by groups on many days between late June and late July – ask there early. Bars, shops and restaurants in the Baztán and the Ultzama keep short hours; in Elizondo, stock up for two days.

Weather and language. The climate is Atlantic: rain almost all year, fog in the morning, snow on the pass in winter. A rain jacket or poncho, gaiters and a warm layer belong in your pack. In the villages many people speak Basque first; a "Kaixo" as a greeting and "Eskerrik asko" as thanks open doors. Pottoka horses and livestock guardian dogs roam the pastures – keep your distance.

What the journey will cost you

The municipal pilgrim hostels in Urdax, Berroeta, Lantz and Olague cost 8 € a night, the Refuge Saint-Jacques in Bayonne 12 € (as of October 2026). The hostel in Amaiur runs 22 to 25 €, about 32 € with breakfast, the Kortarixar hostel in Elizondo 20 €, the youth hostel in Lekaroz 24 €. On the French side you sleep in gîtes and chambres d'hôtes from 25 € in a dorm; double rooms in Ainhoa start at around 75 € (as of October 2026).

Budget 35 to 45 € a day for hostel, breakfast, groceries and dinner; rather more on the French side. To be honest, on this route you don't save on beds so much as lose out on choice: if you sleep in Souraïde or Ainhoa, you pay hotel prices.

Getting Here

To the start. Bayonne has a train station with TGV connections from Paris-Montparnasse and regional trains along the coast to Hendaye; Biarritz airport is just a few kilometers away. From the station, walk across the Adour into the old town to the cathedral.

From the finish. City buses run from Trinidad de Arre to Pamplona, and on foot you're there in a good hour. Pamplona has Renfe rail connections to Madrid, Zaragoza and Barcelona and a bus station with lines to San Sebastián, Bilbao and back to Bayonne. If you have to drop out: buses run regularly between Elizondo and Pamplona over the Velate road.

• Rail in France: sncf-connect.com — trains to Bayonne
• Rail in Spain: renfe.com — connections from Pamplona