101 Tips for Pilgrims: What Experienced Camino Pilgrims Want You to Know

Backpack contents by Gert Kleinsteuber.

Anyone who has walked the Camino has advice for those who are still to set off. Our readers have shared their best tips with us – here are 101 of them, sorted by topic and just as they wrote them to us: sometimes practical, sometimes philosophical, sometimes with a wink.

Not every tip suits everyone, and sometimes two pilgrims flatly contradict each other. That’s exactly what’s so lovely about it: the Camino is a little different for everyone. Take what suits you.

Luggage: less is more

The classic among all pilgrim tips – and the one almost everyone only truly understands once they’re on the way.

• Don’t take too much luggage. Seriously, don’t. It happens to me again and again, and I think to myself: “Next time it’ll be less” … (Anja Lackhütter)
• Really important: think small – take small tins, small bottles, no full bottles, tins etc., way, way, way too much weight. Take one set of clothes. (ZeeZee Müller)
• Less is more. My backpack weighed 7.6 kg on the flight out! (Katja Stiller)
• Less is more! Don’t pack more than 8 kg. And definitely take a rain poncho, not a rain suit! Earplugs for a restful sleep are important too! (Benedikt Hauser)
• Tip: take away a third of what you were planning to pack … You don’t need it … (Dennis Vieten)
• Unpack half of it again! (Beat Roy)
• You don’t really need 20 pairs of knickers if you’ve got laundry paste with you. (Steff Steffson)
• Panty liners save on underwear. (Sybille Schmidt-Grundmann)
• The Camino isn’t in the jungle; you can get everything you need there. There are cash machines, mobile reception, Wi-Fi, sun cream … Everything you need. (Günter Ganzevoort)
• Give away what you don’t need. Others might be able to use it. (Angelika Elif)

What doesn't belong in your backpack is shown, with a wink, in the funny anti-packing list.

Gear and clothing

• Wear the scallop shell visibly on your backpack. It opens doors and hearts for you. (Peter Eich)
• Take old men’s shirts: long sleeves protect your arms from sunburn or when it’s chilly in the morning, roll the sleeves up when it’s warm, and the collar can protect your neck from sunburn. If you take enough shirts, you can throw them away along the way and then have less to carry. (Joke Keks)
• PLEASE, NO JEANS! (ZeeZee Müller)
• As well as your hiking boots, take a pair of flip-flops or light sandals. (Peter Eich)
• Crocs are highly recommended. They weigh nothing and can be used for everything. Shower shoes etc. (Patrick Spannhoff)
• Walking poles are very helpful and recommended … (Anja Beep)
• A head torch for the early morning hours, so your hands are free. And a walking pole takes the strain off your knee joints. (Hanni Bumann)
• My best purchase was a water bladder with a drinking tube for the backpack. Super practical, and it guarantees that you drink enough. (Ann-Kristin Budde)
• Two large insulated bottles to refill along the way, laundry paste, a few clothes pegs. Most important: deer tallow (against blisters) and a hat (against sunstroke). (Steff Steffson)
• A washing line is good and useful. (Anja Beep)
• Safety pins are handy for attaching laundry to your backpack if it hasn’t dried overnight. (Anja Beep)
• The sleeping bag stuff sack makes a great “evening handbag”! (Imke Lang)
• Don’t forget a spoon! (Anne Langers)
• Leave your watch and tech stuff at home. (Joke Keks)
• Get yourself a credit card … You won’t get anywhere with cash at the airport. (Dennis Vieten)

Rain jacket or poncho? You’ll find more than 70 arguments from our readers in Rain jacket or poncho?

For the memories

• A friend gave me a tiny address book to take along – over the course of the Way it filled up with the email and postal addresses of my fellow pilgrims. (Nicole Hein)
• Don’t forget a diary. I still love reading it, even a year later. They’re such lovely memories. I absolutely have to do it again. Bom Camino! (Kerstin Theobald)
• And don’t forget: a diary. (Steff Steffson)

Sleeping in the albergue

• Toilet paper and earplugs! (Carolin Bogenrieder)
• Earplugs. (Joke Keks)
• Earplugs and painkillers. (ZeeZee Müller)
• Take an S-hook (or a butcher’s hook) with you. That way you can hang your backpack on the bunk bed in the albergue, reach it easily from your bed, and you don’t have to put it on the dirty floor. You can also hang up your clothes in the showers so they don’t get wet. (Wolfgang Beckmann)
• Take as many rustly plastic bags as possible ;) (Armin Müller)
• Please use only cloth bags instead of plastic bags to stow your belongings (the rustling really gets on a grumpy morning person’s nerves fast, and then the day is already ruined).
• There are two things you have to accept on the Way: snoring fellow pilgrims and blisters. (Lea Rmpl)
• Read your guidebook properly: if it says “legendary albergue – a must-see”, that doesn’t mean you have to sleep there (bedbugs). (Alex Je-litto)

Sun, food, drink and health

• In summer, don’t forget sun cream. (Steff Steffson)
• Sun protection for your head. (Joke Keks)
• Drink a lot and eat bananas! (Heike Schulz)
• Drink a lot, even when it’s cold. In a snowstorm in the Pyrenees I had to help three Spaniards – despite −5 degrees and snow, they were completely dehydrated. (Alex Je-litto)
• Plenty of water for the way and a few sachets of sugar in your backpack in case your circulation drops. (Joke Keks)
• As a small emergency supply I always carry dried fruit, e.g. dried figs and/or apricots, and a few almonds. (Notburga Ossenkopp)
• Eat plenty of protein, such as yoghurt – your muscles need protein, and because of the strain your bones need calcium. (Alex Je-litto)
• For the first three weeks I took magnesium tablets every day and didn’t get sore muscles once. (ZeeZee Müller)
• Try something new now and then (for me it was different food). (Katja Stiller)
• Many people, mostly young ones, get that strange rash on their feet that is mistakenly called “pilgrim’s scabies”. Plants such as giant hogweed and ferns are predestined to cause such nasty burns in combination with the sun’s UV light. So make sure you avoid the plants by the wayside! (Josef Kornfeld)

Feet, shoes and blisters

Hardly any topic stirs pilgrims as much as this one. Opinions sometimes differ here too – try out what suits your feet. In detail: The right shoes.

• Treat your feet with deer tallow three weeks beforehand, and of course while you’re walking too … it can work real wonders. (Henny Fides)
• Deer tallow on your feet every evening, starting a week beforehand. Bepanthen wound-healing ointment for open blisters. (Alex Je-litto)
• Rub your feet with deer tallow cream every morning, don’t walk too fast (creates too much friction = blisters), and at lunchtime take your shoes off and let your feet dry. (Annette Segref)
• Rub the inside of leather shoes with deer tallow too. (Stef Fi W-m)
• Whatever you do, no blister plasters – deer tallow and Leukoplast tape are enough! I didn’t get a single blister. Otherwise: NO stress, the next bed will find you. (Janica Rosenberg)
• Leukoplast and iodine ointment – the best thing for blisters. (Steffen Re)
• Definitely no Compeed – it cost me two days and a week without socks in sandals. If you already have blisters, use the old Bundeswehr thread trick instead. So pack a needle, thread, a lighter and Leukoplast. (Gunter Skmnn)
• Something else that helps against blisters: two pairs of socks – simply pull a pair of thin nylon socks on under your hiking socks (works wonders). (Maria Fröhling)
• I’ve had good experiences with thin socks. (Joke Keks)
• Take your shoes off at every stop and maybe even change your socks. (Alex Je-litto)
• On gravel paths I often “collected” small stones in my shoes. That doesn’t happen to me any more. My trick: I cut the toes off silk knee-high stockings and pull them over my shoes and legs as gaiters. Not a single pebble gets through, and the annoying emptying of shoes is over. (Jakob Pilger)
• Take light hiking shoes (mid-height is quite enough) and go to an orthopaedist early enough to check for any foot misalignment in good time and to be able to break in insoles. I met many people on the Way who had problems with “flat feet” … I almost couldn’t finish the Way myself because of it. Even though I had been jogging/walking 30–40 km a week beforehand, there were problems. (Anja Beep)
• Don’t give up straight away, however much your feet hurt after three days – it stops! (I know what I’m talking about!) (Katja Stiller)
• When your feet have had enough, take a break or stop. Never walk further than your legs can carry you – you risk having to abandon the Way. (ZeeZee Müller)

Pace, stages and getting up

• Don’t let the early risers rush you! Even if you set off at 7 or 8 in the morning, you’ll still find a place in the albergue at the end of the stage. (Stefan Wiersbin)
• The most important tip: don’t get up at 4 – getting up at 6 is quite enough. I’m on the Camino right now, and it’s outrageous when people get up at 4 in the morning. (Pierre Braunschweig)
• Getting up early can be wonderful too! (Annette Segref)
• And also important: get up early so you set off at sunrise. There’s something very spiritual about it. So practise getting up early beforehand – and before you go, definitely check the contents of your backpack three times. (Steff Steffson)
• I always set off between 7 and 7:30 and was always at the albergue by 2 pm at the latest – and was one of the first. (ZeeZee Müller)
• Walk as long as your feet will carry you and follow your heart. Don’t try to cling desperately to particular stage destinations. That’s more exciting, for one thing, and less stressful, for another. (Angelica Castellano)
• Less is more: two shorter stages give you more time to enjoy the Way. Breaks in beautiful places. Time to explore a church. A detour to a viewpoint, etc. (Fra Ull)
• You can walk 30 km a day, but you don’t have to. (Günter Ganzevoort)
• Taking a rest day after six days at the latest works wonders. (Günter Ganzevoort)
• The Camino is not a marathon. Enjoy the Way! (Petra Semper)
• Walk at your own pace and don’t be thrown when a 60-year-old overtakes you in a flash. (Ann-Kristin Budde)
• Pay attention to your own pace, even if that means you have to walk part of the way alone. (Mirjam Schmidt)
• Go with an open end, then you can walk without pressure! (If your holiday allows it, that is!) (Christoph Ellinghausen)
• Don’t always look for yellow arrows. On sandy paths they are usually formed out of pebbles on the ground. (Steff Steffson)

More about arrows, shells and cairns: Signs by the wayside.

Albergues and beds

Will you always find a bed? Pilgrims don’t agree on this either – a lot depends on the season and the section.

• In July and August it isn’t that easy to get accommodation where you want it, especially on the last 100 km. (Michael Spanel)
• Towards the end, the last 100 km or so, it gets harder with the albergues, so save some money for the end – you simply need more there! (Andrea Pflug)
• It’s true that you always find a bed, but: towards the end I set off around 8 in the morning and walked until 6–7 pm (up to 56 km a day), and that late it’s not so easy any more! (Carolin Bogenrieder)
• These days there are enough albergues in every town, and you’ll still find a place even at 8 o’clock!!!! Buen Camino. (Pierre Braunschweig)
• There are enough albergues, on average one every 4 km. Don’t worry, you’ll find a place to sleep. (Günter Ganzevoort)
• Never go in peak season. Then the Camino degenerates into a race for beds in the pilgrim albergues. (Ti Ka)

Everything about the busiest section is in The last 100 kilometres.

Attitude: walking alone, trusting, letting go

• Curiosity and openness, trust and doing without, readiness to make an effort and the will to overcome your inner couch potato. (Notburga Ossenkopp)
• Character traits that belong in your luggage: be friendly, share, be helpful, and don’t assume that everyone in Spain speaks German or English – not everyone in Germany speaks Spanish or English either. (A little tip for you from a Spanish woman.) (Joke Keks)
• And – share what you have … (Anja Lackhütter)
• Walk alone, then you can decide everything for yourself and are truly free and open to encounters … and: you have room for your thoughts and learn to bear them and yourself … (Moni Neise)
• For me it was really important to set off alone. My pace and with full mindfulness. Surprising myself and giving my mind and thoughts a break. Pin on fresh flowers, then you out yourself as a “pleasure pilgrim” and get smiling looks. (Gerda Atteneder)
• Walk alone! (Anja Beep)
• Don’t go with your partner. There are usually problems. When you walk alone, you don’t have to take anyone else into account. (Brigitte Vidovic)
• Don’t let others drive you crazy or unsettle you. Don’t let anyone scare you – the usual Caminos are safe, even for women walking alone. Have the courage to set off alone – only if you can walk at your own pace will you arrive. And if you do want company after all, you’ll be sure to find fellow pilgrims. Don’t plan too much in advance; the Way will show you the right opportunities. Don’t let a lack of language skills hold you back – everywhere you’ll find someone who understands you. Don’t ask “Should I go?” – just do it! (Advice from Hans-Georg Göbel, who has walked various routes in Spain nine times)
• Walk your own Way and don’t let other people’s experiences unsettle you. (Marion Hörmann)
• Don’t think too much, just trust and set off …! (Stefano Vicinoadio)
• Don’t plan! The Camino will do what it wants with you anyway. And listen to your body. (Christian Wittenberg)
• Don’t have any expectations – things turn out differently anyway. Expectations can affect the experience negatively :) Just take it as it comes, and it will be perfect. (ZeeZee Müller)
• My tip: don’t worry. Everything is taken care of. (Carsten Grieger)
• Yes, I can only confirm it: the Camino gives everyone what they need. Open yourself up to nature and your fellow pilgrims, and you’ll see you’ve never felt better. There’s always a helping hand everywhere when you need it. They were the most beautiful six weeks of my life. (Brigitte Nic)
• Very important: what happens on the Camino, stays on the Camino … (Pam Copei)
• Don’t rely on Hape – he cheated. (Janka Wirdzekova)

Enjoying it

• Just enjoy it! (Katja Stiller)
• Enjoy the Way and look to the right and left now and then. Strength lies in calm. (Pierre Braunschweig)
• On these paths … you look at the ground more than at the landscape … but when you do have time to look, the landscape is really glorious. (ChrPunkt Schmidt)
• Keep your eyes open for the beauty along this route. (Verena Angelika)
• And if the rain annoys you along the way, remember: Galicia wouldn’t be so beautiful without its dear rain. (Joke Keks)

Is your tip missing?

Do you have a tip that helped you on the Camino? Write to us at info@caminoninja.com – we’ll be happy to add it to this page. And if you’d rather be inspired by experienced pilgrims: read the 10 lessons from the Camino or the 10 commandments of the Camino.