Camino Francés – Winter Route via Valcarlos

At a Glance

• Start / Finish: Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port / Roncesvalles; the first stage of the Camino Francés in its winter-proof valley variant, not a separate camino
• Length: 23.4 km
• Duration: 1 stage of about 7 hours; in winter better split into 2 days with a night in Valcarlos
• Elevation: ↗ 1,001 m / ↘ 248 m; gentle as far as Valcarlos, steep from Gainekoleta on
• Highest point: 1,052 m at km 21.7 on the Puerto de Ibañeta, followed by about 1.5 km of descent to Roncesvalles
• Landscape: the Nive valley, Basque hill country dotted with white farmhouses, and from Gainekoleta beech and oak forest up to the pass
• Operator / Waymarking: part of the Camino Francés, yellow arrows and scallop-shell posts; the winter closure is ordered by the Gobierno de Navarra
• Traces of St. James: the parish church of Santiago Apóstol in Valcarlos, the Iglesia de Santiago in Roncesvalles with the bell of Ibañeta, and the place name Valcarlos in the pilgrim's guide of the Codex Calixtinus
• Accommodation: gîtes and albergues in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, a year-round municipal albergue in Valcarlos, the large pilgrim albergue in Roncesvalles
• Connecting routes: Camino Francés from Roncesvalles; in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port the Via Podiensis, Via Turonensis, Via Lemovicensis, Voie de la Nive, Voie de Piémont and Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port – Irun
• Best time: mandatory from November 1 to March 31; the rest of the year, the safe choice when there's fog, storm, or snow on the mountain

Overview

There are two ways from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles, and only one of them is always open. The famous Route Napoléon climbs over open ridges to the Collado de Lepoeder at 1,430 meters and is closed from November 1 to March 31 by order of the Government of Navarre. That leaves this one: 23.4 kilometers through the Nive valley, across the border at Arnéguy to Luzaide/Valcarlos, and from Gainekoleta steeply up to the Puerto de Ibañeta. It has a thousand meters of climbing too; the difference isn't the effort, it's the way out.

It was never the second choice anyway. It's the one with the history. On August 15, 778, Charlemagne's rearguard was wiped out in these mountains by the Vascones, the Basques, not by Saracens, as the song would later have it. In the Vita Karoli Magni, Einhard gives the disaster half a line and names one of the fallen: "Hruodlandus Brittannici limitis praefectus" (Roland, prefect of the Breton March). And Aymeric Picaud, who wrote the pilgrim's guide in the Codex Calixtinus around 1135, noted that Charlemagne himself had camped in this valley with his armies. Hence the name: Valcarlos, Charles's valley. This route's namesake village appears in the oldest pilgrim's guide in Christendom.

Other Names

In Spanish the variant is called the ruta por Valcarlos, often also the ruta invernal or ruta baja, as opposed to the ruta alta, the Ruta de Napoleón. The village itself has the loveliest name: in Basque, Luzaide, probably from luze, long, and bidea, way. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is Donibane Garazi in Basque, Roncesvalles is Orreaga; you'll also see Gainekoleta spelled Gañecoleta.

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

Ideal if you're starting between November and March: you have no choice then anyway, and that's a good thing. Also ideal in uncertain weather, when you'd rather not bet on it being better up top, and if history pulls you more than panoramas.

Honestly, though, it's not for you if you're coming for the big Pyrenean views: the 360-degree moment belongs to the Route Napoléon. And it's not for you if you can't stand asphalt and traffic. A good part of it runs along the N-135, which logging trucks use too: wear bright clothing and walk facing oncoming traffic.

Route & Landscape

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Valcarlos (km 0–11.1): You start at 192 meters and leave town along the Nive. The first eight kilometers climb gently, partly on side roads, partly along the highway, through green hill country with white farmhouses. At Arnéguy (km 8.1) you cross the border: one river, one bridge, two countries. Then comes Luzaide/Valcarlos (km 11.1, 350 m), the last place to stock up.

Valcarlos to Roncesvalles (km 11.1–23.4): Past Gainekoleta (km 14.4, 453 m) the real climb begins. Most of your 1,001 meters of ascent is packed into the last seven kilometers, and there's only a single fountain before Roncesvalles. At the top of the Puerto de Ibañeta (km 21.7, 1,052 m) stand the chapel of San Salvador, a monument to Roland, and the pilgrims' wooden crosses. From there it's about a kilometer and a half down through beech forest to Roncesvalles (km 23.2) at 945 meters.

Stages, Terrain, and Difficulty

Most people walk the route in about 7 hours in a single day. In winter it's smarter to split it: the days are short and the hard climbing comes right at the end. So we show the two winter days; the distances come from the Camino Ninja map, calibrated exactly to 23.4 km.

1. Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port → Valcarlos (11.1 km) — a gentle climb up the Nive valley from 192 to 350 meters, crossing the border at Arnéguy; at the end, the heated, year-round municipal albergue.
2. Valcarlos → Roncesvalles (12.3 km) — the serious part: from Gainekoleta steeply up to the Puerto de Ibañeta at 1,052 meters, then down to Roncesvalles; twelve kilometers with no services.

The surface is mostly road and side paths close to the road, and even the short descent to Roncesvalles is steep: poles aren't decoration here. This isn't a flat stage, just a snow-safe one.

The Door Is Open to All, Even in January

First the rule, explained properly: the winter closure of the Route Napoléon is a Spanish decision. The Gobierno de Navarra has ordered it since 2015 for the Spanish side of the high route from the border on; the closure point is signposted at the Collado de Bentartea. The argument isn't the altitude but the lack of an escape: from 1,288 meters, the Napoleon route offers no way off for five kilometers, all the way to the Collado de Lepoeder. The curve behind it: 30 rescue operations in 2013, 42 in 2014, 48 in 2015.

And Navarre doesn't threaten fines; Navarre sends invoices. Anyone who recklessly heads onto the closed route pays for the rescue at the official rate. On March 15, 2016, two cycling pilgrims on the closed route called for help in falling snow and were brought down by helicopter; the bills came to 5,360 € and 450 €, and the authority's verdict, verbatim: "claramente imprudente y temeraria" (clearly careless and reckless).

And then there's the other half of the truth: for almost a thousand years this path has been welcome infrastructure. A charter from 1071 names the "monasterio noble y leal de Ibañeta" at the top of the pass; its hermit rang the bell "desde el atardecer hasta la medianoche" (from dusk until midnight) so that pilgrims could find the pass in the fog. That bell hangs today in the Iglesia de Santiago in Roncesvalles. You walk the stretch between the bell tower and the bell.

Down below waits the hospice that, between 1199 and 1215, had it set down in verse whom it would take in: "Porta patet omnibus, infirmis et sanis, / Non solum catholicis, verum et paganis" (the door is open to all, the sick and the healthy, not only to Catholics but to pagans too). In January, that is still the point today: the mountain closes, the valley stays open.

Highlights Along the Way

• Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port (km 0) — the citadel, the Rue de la Citadelle, the pilgrim office.
• Luzaide/Valcarlos (km 11.1) — Charlemagne's valley from the Codex Calixtinus; the parish church of Santiago Apóstol, rebuilt from 1799 to 1802 after the War of the Pyrenees, the only church of St. James along the way before Roncesvalles. On Easter Sunday the Bolantes dance.
• Puerto de Ibañeta (km 21.7) — 1,052 meters, site of the monastery from 1071 with its fog bell; today the chapel of San Salvador, consecrated on St. James's Day in 1965, and the Roland monument.
• Real Colegiata de Santa María (Roncesvalles) — founded as a hospital by the Bishop of Pamplona in 1127, a collegiate church from 1135, home to the Gothic Virgen de Roncesvalles.
• Silo de Carlomagno (Roncesvalles) — the 12th-century Capilla de Sancti Spiritus, ossuary of pilgrims who died here; legend makes Charlemagne its builder, for the fallen of 778.
• Tomb of Sancho VII "el Fuerte" (Roncesvalles) — the king died in 1234; his effigy measures 2.25 meters, the tomb was rediscovered in 1890 and re-erected in 1912.

How Pilgrims Find Their Way onto This Path

Almost everyone is already standing in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on foot, because that's where the French routes to Santiago converge:

• Via Podiensis — from Le Puy-en-Velay, the busiest feeder route
• Via Turonensis — from Paris via Tours
• Via Lemovicensis — from Vézelay
• Voie de la Nive — from Bayonne up the Nive valley
• Voie de Piémont — along the foot of the Pyrenees

Everyone else arrives by train from Bayonne or by bus from Pamplona. If you'd rather have the coast than the Pyrenees, head west from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port – Irun.

Continue the pilgrimage?

In Roncesvalles the winter variant ends, and the Camino Francés carries on as usual: via Burguete and Zubiri to Pamplona and right across northern Spain to Santiago de Compostela. From the monastery courtyard on, everyone follows the same yellow arrows; the Camino Ninja planner combines the winter route and the main route automatically, just like the signs do.

Preparation & Practical Information

Winter closure and weather. From November 1 to March 31 you walk this way because the rules say so. In the shoulder season, in October and April, ask at the pilgrim office in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port about conditions on the mountain. Pack a rain jacket, gloves, poles, and a headlamp. Before you set off, check the winter operations of the albergue in Roncesvalles: in winter only part of the building may be open.

Pilgrim passport and app. As on all Spanish routes, you need a pilgrim passport (credencial) to stay in the albergues and to 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 can also get one at the pilgrim office in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. Especially in winter, the easiest way to plan is directly in the Camino Ninja App, where you put together your stages and book suitable accommodation right along with them.

What the journey will cost you

The municipal albergue in Valcarlos costs 15 €, plus 3 € for bed linen; the large pilgrim albergue in Roncesvalles charges 14 to 15 € for one of its 183 beds, with dinner there about 11 to 14 €. In Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port a gîte or albergue usually runs 15 to 25 €, and a menú del peregrino in Spain costs 10 to 12 € (as of October 2026).

Count on 25 € a day if you're very frugal, 40 € for comfort, and 50 € and up with a private room. In winter you're more likely to end up in a room than a dorm; plan on a 20 to 30 € buffer.

Getting Here

To the start. The rail line from Bayonne ends in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, several times a day, about an hour, around 12 €. From Spain, the ALSA bus runs from Pamplona, about 1 hour 45 minutes. Nearest airports: Biarritz, Pamplona, Bilbao (as of October 2026).

From the finish. From Roncesvalles, the Autocares Artieda bus runs Monday through Saturday to Pamplona, about 1 hour 10 minutes. On Sundays and public holidays there's no scheduled bus; plan around that before you go, not on the way.

• Train: sncf-connect.com — Bayonne – Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
• Bus: alsa.es — Pamplona – Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port
• Albergue: roncesvalles.es — Real Colegiata and the Roncesvalles pilgrim albergue