Partner
Vlaams Compostelagenootschap
The Flemish St James society, founded in 1985 in a Bruges abbey: it plans and waymarks the Belgian Vias to France, runs a pilgrim hostel in Los Arcos and advises thousands of would-be pilgrims every year.
The Caminos on the map
Caminos of this partner
Via Brabantica Breda VariantThe Via Brabantica Breda Variant runs 56.2 kilometers from Breda in North Brabant to Kapellen just outside Antwerp, where the Via Brabantica joins its two starting branches. Along the way it crosses the Dutch-Belgian border three times: at the Capuchin friary of Meersel-Dreef, before Van Gogh's birthplace Zundert, and past Achtmaal on the edge of the Kalmthoutse Heide. With 59 meters of climbing and a high point of just 25 meters, it's a two-to-three-day walk with no network of pilgrim hostels, but with a train station at each end.Explore this Camino- Via BrabanticaThe Way of St. James through the former Duchy of Brabant: 323 kilometers from Bergen op Zoom at the mouth of the Scheldt, through Antwerp, Lier, Mechelen, Brussels, and Halle to Saint-Quentin in northern France—flatter than almost any other route, covering 13 to 16 daily stages. Its concentration of St. James sites surpasses that of most feeder routes in Europe: a pilgrim hostel whose charter was certified on April 5, 1305, before the aldermen of Antwerp and where you sleep for eight euros today, a church that began as a pilgrim hospice and whose tower was meant to rise above the cathedral, and a chapel in Lier that has been blessing and stamping pilgrims since 1383.Explore this Camino
- Via BrugensisThe Flemish Way of St. James with the most honest name: It’s named after a city, not a saint, and follows a trade route, not a legend. 199 kilometers in 9 stages from Sluis via Bruges, Torhout, Roeselare, and Menen to Arras—flat, Flemish, and well-documented: Between 1360 and 1380, a man from Bruges documented the route to Compostela in 388 stations covering about 2,200 kilometers, and the places he mentions are your stage destinations. In Bruges, the route is marked by bronze plaques set into the pavement—about 40 scallop shells from the Dampoort to the train station.Explore this Camino
- Via YprensisThree days, 71.5 kilometers, 111 meters of elevation gain: The Via Yprensis leads from the Belgian coast near Nieuwpoort through Diksmuide and Ypres to Wervik on the Leie River—through a landscape that was completely destroyed during World War I and subsequently rebuilt stone by stone. The starting point is 500 meters out in the North Sea, where pilgrims once disembarked.Explore this Camino
- Via ScaldeaThe Scheldt Way of St. James: 276.2 kilometers from Vlissingen on the North Sea to the Basilica of Saint-Quentin—upstream, from the mouth almost to the source, through three countries and two languages. The name is the river’s oldest: Caesar called it “Scaldis” in 53 B.C., and he immediately misidentified its location. Along the way: the ferry across the Westerschelde, Ghent with its St. James Church dating from 1093, the old imperial border near Ename, the Five-Tower Cathedral of Tournai, 2.3 kilometers of Paris-Roubaix cobblestones—and at the finish, a floor labyrinth from 1495 that measures 260 meters when traversed on one’s knees.Explore this Camino
- Via MonasticaThe Monastery Trail through three countries: 283 kilometers from Vessem in North Brabant through the Kempen, the Hageland, and Haspengouw, then along the Meuse Valley and through the Ardennes forests to Rocroi in France. It takes its name from the Norbertine abbeys of Postel, Tongerlo, Averbode, and Leffe—and there’s a family tree behind it: Almost all of them trace their origins back to Floreffe, which Norbert of Xanten founded himself in 1121 and which lies along the route just before Namur. Since the fall of 2024, the route has been continuously marked; in Rocroi, it passes the torch to the Via Campaniensis, heading toward Vézelay.Explore this Camino
- Via Limburgica131.9 kilometres in six stages from Thorn to Branchon: the Via Limburgica is the feeder route by which pilgrims from the north cross both Limburgs into Wallonia — from the Meuse valley up onto the Kempen plateau, then through the loess country of the Haspengouw, with only 564 metres of ascent. Along the way the oldest book in the Benelux countries, the oldest town in Belgium and a guesthouse founded between 1050 and 1195 for Santiago pilgrims. A way that does not pretend to be old — and hands over to the Via Monastica at Boneffe.Explore this Camino
Who stands behind the route
The Vlaams Compostelagenootschap – officially Vlaams Genootschap van Santiago de Compostela vzw – was founded on 4 May 1985 in the Sint-Andriesabdij in Bruges, modelled on the French Société des Amis de Saint-Jacques. For its 40th birthday the society returned to exactly that place on 4 May 2025, with some 160 guests, a celebration and a pilgrim walk.
The circle of friends has grown into a large community: around 245 active volunteers in more than 20 working groups and several regional branches, plus the magazine “De Pelgrim” and the monthly newsletter “¡Hola!”. Santiago shows how many Flemings are on the way: in 2024, 3,620 pilgrims from Belgium collected their Compostela.
The association's routes
The society plans and signposts the Flemish Vias – feeder routes leading from Flanders and the Netherlands to France. You'll find them all on Camino Ninja:
- Via Brabantica – 323 km from Bergen op Zoom via Antwerp, Mechelen, Brussels and Halle to Saint-Quentin
- Via Brabantica Breda Variant – 56.2 km from Breda to Kapellen, the second starting branch of the Via Brabantica
- Via Brugensis – 199 km from Sluis via Bruges, Roeselare and Menen to Arras
- Via Yprensis – 71.5 km from Nieuwpoort on the coast via Diksmuide and Ypres to Wervik
- Via Scaldea – 276.2 km up the Scheldt from Vlissingen via Ghent and Oudenaarde to Saint-Quentin
- Via Monastica – 283 km from Vessem via the abbeys of Postel, Tongerlo and Averbode and the Meuse valley to Rocroi
- Via Limburgica – 131.9 km from Thorn through both Limburgs and the Haspengouw into Wallonia
Every route has a printed pilgrim guide, digital maps and GPS files. Further Vias such as the Via Tenera and the Via Lovaniensis are in the works.
What the association does for pilgrims
Almost 100 volunteer route managers look after the waymarks, and a dedicated working group recruits hosts along the way and keeps the accommodation lists up to date. If you are setting off for the first time, you get advice at the info point in Mechelen, at five info days a year in changing Flemish provinces and at the national “Dag van de Pelgrim”.
The society is present in Spain too: in Los Arcos on the Camino Francés it runs a pilgrim hostel where volunteers serve as hospitaleros in rotating teams of two for two weeks at a time.
Contact and getting involved
Website: compostelagenootschap.be with routes, guides, webshop and events · Info point in Mechelen. Membership costs €32 a year in Belgium and €42 abroad and covers the whole household (as of October 2026); it includes “De Pelgrim”, “¡Hola!”, a free stamp booklet and 10% off in the webshop. You can get involved as a route manager, in a working group or as a hospitalero in Los Arcos.