Partner
Associazione Amici del Cammino di Santu Jacu
The volunteer association behind the Sardinian Way of St James, founded in 2010: it waymarks the Cammino di Santu Jacu across the island, issues the credenziale and testimonium, and arranges beds in the villages through stage contacts.
The Caminos on the map
Caminos of this partner
Sardegna Nord268 kilometres from sea to sea, with the island in between: from the granite basilica in Olbia through the Gallura to Luogosanto, where a Holy Door opens once every seven years, over the granite town of Tempio Pausania and the Anglona with its rock-cut tombs and Romanesque country churches to the striped basilica of Saccargia, on to Sassari and down to the harbour of Porto Torres, where the Sardinian Way of St James hands over to the ships bound for Spain. 13 stages, 5,105 metres of ascent, a single church dedicated to St James along the way — and days without a second pilgrim. The northern strand of the Cammino di Santu Jacu.Explore this Camino- Sardegna da Orosei270 kilometres right across Sardinia, from zero to a thousand and back to zero: from Orosei, whose town patron is St James, up into the Supramonte and to Nuoro, birthplace of a Nobel laureate, through the lonely uplands of the Goceano to the highest point at 1,054 metres and down to Ozieri — and from there along the official final stages of the Cammino di Santu Jacu past the striped basilica of Saccargia and Sassari to the Gulf of Asinara. 12 stages, 4,927 metres of ascent, a well temple from the 13th century BC, no hostel network. The eastern route of the Sardinian Way of St James.Explore this Camino
- Sardegna da Olbia135 kilometres from the airport to the patron saint James: from the granite basilica of San Simplicio in Olbia three days up into the cork-oak country of Padru, over the saddle at Pedra Bianca to 707 metres and down through Sardinia's only UNESCO biosphere reserve, then three days of coast — the Bean Castle of Posada, the dunes of Berchida and Capo Comino, the five bays of Bidderosa — to the domed church of San Giacomo Maggiore in Orosei. Six official stages of the association that add up exactly to our route length without a single corrected kilometre. The eastern branch of the Cammino di Santu Jacu, in Camino Ninja's system Sardegna da Olbia.Explore this Camino
- Sardegna Centrale448 kilometres from harbour to harbour, with no sea in between: from the St James church in Cagliari through the olive country of the Parteolla, over the menhirs of Goni and the ducal town of Mandas up into the Barbagia to 922 metres, to Lago Omodeo, through the ghost village of Rebeccu and the Valle dei Nuraghi to the rail hub of Chilivani, where the other Sardinian strands join, and via Saccargia and Sassari down to Porto Torres. 20 stages, six St James churches, the island's largest rock-cut tomb chamber and heaviest dolmen — and a saint who is called Santu Jacu in Sardinian and carries the keys of lightning. The main axis of the Cammino di Santu Jacu.Explore this Camino
Who stands behind the route
The Associazione Amici del Cammino di Santu Jacu is an Associazione di Promozione Sociale (APS), a non-profit association made up mostly of locals who work as volunteers. Santu Jacu is Sardinian for James – and that is the name of the route network the association has been building on the island since it was founded in December 2010. Since 2012 the Cammino di Santu Jacu has been recognised as a pilgrim route by the Region of Sardinia.
The idea behind it is twofold: to lead pilgrims straight across an island most people only know from its coast, and to bring guests to the small inland villages that have been losing inhabitants for decades. According to the association, it receives no public money. It lives on membership fees and on the donations pilgrims give for their credenziale – a Way of St James that is, quite literally, paid for by its pilgrims.
The association's routes
- Sardegna Centrale – 448.6 km from the church of St James in Cagliari through the Barbagia to Porto Torres, the main axis (asse centrale) of the network
- Sardegna Nord – 268.3 km from Olbia through the Gallura and the Anglona to Porto Torres
- Sardegna da Orosei – 270.7 km from Orosei on the east coast via Nuoro and the Goceano to Porto Torres
- Sardegna da Olbia – 135.4 km from Olbia along the coast to Orosei, the eastern branch
“Sardegna Centrale”, “Nord”, “da Orosei” and “da Olbia” are Camino Ninja's route names; locally people simply say Cammino di Santu Jacu. The association also looks after the Cammino di Sant'Antioco, about 120 km in six stages from Iglesias to the island of Sant'Antioco – not yet on its own page at Camino Ninja.
What the association does for pilgrims
The association routes the paths along back roads and farm tracks wherever possible, checks them and waymarks them with yellow arrows, in the villages with blue stickers showing the scallop shell, and provides GPS tracks. It issues the credenziale for a free donation: by post (order at least two weeks before you start) or for collection at the info points in Cagliari (Via Roma 145) and Porto Torres (Stazione Marittima). If you have walked at least 100 km (200 km by bike) or five consecutive stages, with one stamp per stage, you receive the testimonium – in person, by post or digitally (as of October 2026).
There is no hostel network as in Spain; municipal hostels are not currently in operation. Instead, the association arranges partner businesses with pilgrim rates, parish houses (sometimes with your own sleeping mat and sleeping bag), the guesthouse of the Benedictine monastery of San Pietro di Sorres and donation-based beds, with €10–20 as a guideline. You need the credenziale with the previous day's stamp. The heart of it all are the referenti di tappa: volunteer contacts for every stage who help with variants, accommodation and problems. Let them know 24 to 48 hours in advance.
Contact and getting involved
Website: camminosantujacu.it (Italian) with stages, accommodation, credenziale and contact form; WhatsApp +39 392 513 2245. Plus a Facebook group and Instagram (@il_cammino_di_santu_jacu). Expect replies in Italian. In Porto Torres, the finish of three of the four routes, the ferry to Barcelona departs – from there, Santiago is no longer far.