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Priatelia Svätojakubskej cesty na Slovensku Camino de Santiago

The association behind Camino Slovakia: since 2013 it has been reviving the Way of St James from Košice to the Austrian border – with shells on the hiking network, its own stage guides and the Slovak credencial.

Visit websitecaminodesantiago.sk

The Camino on the map

Caminos of this partner

Camino SlovakiaThe Camino Slovakia, in Slovak Svätojakubská cesta, crosses the entire country from east to west: 650.8 kilometers from St. Elisabeth Cathedral in Košice through the Spiš region, Liptov, the old mining towns and the Little Carpathians to Wolfsthal in Austria. It has been waymarked since 2013; the impetus came from a Colombian who came to Bratislava to study in 1984. There are no yellow arrows, only scallop-shell stickers on the signposts of the Slovak hiking trail network, and according to the Camino Ninja map more than 16,000 meters of elevation gain. In Wolfsthal, the Way of St. James in Austria takes over.Explore this Camino

Who stands behind the route

Priatelia Svätojakubskej cesty na Slovensku – Camino de Santiago means “Friends of the Way of St James in Slovakia”. It is a volunteer-run civic association (občianske združenie) based in Košice with a single aim: to bring the Way of St James in Slovakia back to life for today's pilgrims. The idea came from outside – a Colombian who had come to Bratislava to study in 1984 gave the impulse. In 2013 the association opened the first waymarked section in Košice.

Since then it has worked with the Slovak Bishops' Conference, the Klub slovenských turistov, the Slovak Cycling Club, the regions, tourism boards, towns and villages, and it is a founding member of the Slovak association of pilgrimage organisations. Worth knowing when you research: the association has nothing to do with groups called “Jakubská cesta” and explicitly distances itself from them.

The association's routes

Camino Slovakia – 650.8 km across the country, from St Elizabeth's Cathedral in Košice via Levoča, Banská Bystrica, Hronský Beňadik, Trnava and Bratislava to Wolfsthal in Lower Austria
Rajka – Bratislava – short link from the Hungarian border on which pilgrims from Hungary reach Bratislava
Žilina – Bratislava – a second route the association names as a goal for further waymarking

What the association does for pilgrims

You won't find yellow arrows here – not out of neglect, but because every waymark in Slovakia needs permits the association has not yet obtained for the whole route. Instead, the yellow shell on a blue background is stuck onto the signposts of the Slovak hiking network, and in Košice and Nitra bronze shells are set into the pavement. Sections on forest and field tracks are described in the association's stage guides. Arrows painted on trees come from third parties and are not official.

The association issues the official Slovak credencial (€4.50), registered with the Pilgrim Office in Santiago and valid for the Compostela, plus printed stage guides („Bedekre“, €6–7 per section) with profile, accommodation and sights (as of October 2026). Shipping from €3.50; because everything is run by volunteers, an order can take up to ten working days – or you buy directly at the sales points along the way. The association also maintains an interactive map and a partner programme for pilgrim-friendly hosts, and organises talks, meetings and group pilgrimages.

Contact and getting involved

Website: caminodesantiago.sk (also in German, English, Hungarian and Spanish) with contact form · Seat: Košice · Facebook: Camino Slovakia. The association lives on volunteering and donations – if you have walked the route and want to give something back, the website shows how to support it.