Budget for your Camino Frances – Pilgrimage budget Spain

If you want to go on a pilgrimage you want to know how much money (Pilgrimage Budget) you need to bring for the whole trail. I did the Camino Frances late 2016 and base my Pilgrimage budget for your Camino Frances on that. The daily costs are in comparison to other travels not that high but still it is not a really budget kind of travel. So if you want to travel low budget you might want to choose differently.

My pilgrimage, the Camino Frances, took me hiking for 35 days. As you can imagine.. you need to prepare properly for that. You don’t just hike away and keep on for that long. You do need some previous exercise and preparation to go well prepared for such long trail. In the end you will find out it takes a bit more then only being able to walk for an extended time.

That is only a part of your preparation. Your pilgrimage budget starts before you start walking on that famous route in Spain. You need to buy a good hiking backpack, good hiking boots etc. Those two are the most important though, hiking boots and a hiking backpack.  They need to support you through the whole route so choose carefully!

– Equipment –

A mayor part of your
pilgrimage budget

• Equipment for your pilgrimage

Before I shared a packing list for your pilgrimage. See it under My Packinglist for the Camino de Santiago. I didn’t ellaborate about the costs for Equipment Camino de Santiago which I had to buy on forehand.

• A good hiking backpack.  € 150,00

My choice was the Osprey Sirrus Women Hiking Backpack.What I especially liked about this backpack was the fact that the backpart is free from your back. So there is a ventilation option if you are carrying the women hiking backpack on your back. I have to admit that I put my trainingsjacket most of the time in this space 🙂 It was a great way to put it away while walking and even getting it back while hiking.

• Good and comfortable hiking boots.  € 165,00

Good hiking boots is the most important equipment that you are going to buy for your pilgrimage. Each day from early morning to late in the afternoon you will be hiking these boots along the camino. Your feet are most important on this trek and need to be treated well! I bought the Lowa Renegade for ladies. You do see them a lot and they fitted me perfectly. I did bought them again…in another colour this time fotr the change 🙂 First I had the black one, now the petrol green.

• Good Hiking Socks ( € 15 a 20 a pair )

The socks you are wearing inside the hiking boots are important too. They need to have as little seams as possible because ofcourse they can itch and squeeze. And with socks just on the part where your foot is the widest there are seams… WHY?? At special hikings socks there is no seam or it is made differently. I had a couple of different pairs of socks for a change. They socks can costs from 10 to 20 euro a pair.

There are different kind of fabrics ofcourse too. All have their own pros and cons. I think it is difficult to tell you what to do. Everybody has different feet and habits. I had some cotton and some partly wool. Next to that I had some really cheap ones which I liked too. To change socks and pressure points is good for me but that’s personal.

– Hiking clothes tips –

Next to this you need to have clothes that fits good and is easy to wear.

I can recommend using hiking leggings instead of trousers/pants. They are small, light and won’t be a bother in any way for you legs/knees or hips/inner thighs. Also in your backpack they won’t take lot of space, which is also a good thing. And…they are in all kinds of colours! That might be the favorit part for me!! There are special hiking leggins for women but I use my yoga leggings. I have all kinds of colours and designs!

Next to that I had some shirts in my backpack. When it gets colder you need to work in layers instead of a thick sweater or jacket. This way you save room in your backpack. And there was some underwear in there.

Read also packinglist for pilgrims if you really want to know what was in my backpack.

• Daily costs for accomodation

There are different kind of albergues, hostels as you might know them.The difference is ofcourse the price and the luxury that they offer. Your pilgrimage budget for the most part is obsorbed by the daily costs of your nights. Ofcourse you can also book hotels during your pilgrimage. I did that in Burgos and Leon when I took a day off hiking. For the rest of the nights I took a albergue and therefor dorms.

• Private albergue

At the private albergues is the most luxury offered. Don’t think in terms of a spa or resort though! The showers are a bit nicer and they have better beds. They offer pilgrim dinners and most of the time they sell some things like food, drinks or other articles which can come in handy for the pilgrim. Most of the time at the private albergue they give it a bit more effort because they live of it. I did like the albergues because of that the most.

– € 10,00 to 15,00 a night

• Municipal albergue

At the municipal albergues are volunteers from the community. Most of the time it is very comfortable and cozy with locals. There is a real Spanish vibe what sometimes means that it is a bit less neat. When not one person is responsible for what happens in there or who cleans.. Ofcourse it differs per albergue. I did like these ones too!

Food is most of the time not offered in these albergues but they do know where you can get the best. They often have a kitchen for you to prepare you own food.

– € 8,00 to 12,00 a night

• Religious albergue

These are ofcourse the ones that belongs to the church. Most of the time they pray before dinner and they have dinner together. From one albergue I know that in the evening time the feet of the pilgrim was washed by a pastor. How interesting!! There was no electricity at that one and so they had dinner with candlelight. I heard this of fellow pilgrim Sean who had slept there. This was just before Castrojeriz and I think that must be a ones in a lifetime experience!!

– € 5,00 to 10,00 a night

• Donation albergue

There are also albergues on a donation bases. You don’t have to, if you can’t miss it, pay anything. These albergues also works with local volunteers. I slept twice in a donativo along the way and I did like the atmosphere in there. I donated 5 euro each time. I can pay for my night and thought that was a nice amount. My fellow pilgrims did the same.

– What ever you can / want to donate

Pilgrimage Budget Camino Frances

• Breakfast and lunch along the way
  

– € 5,00 to € 10,00

This can be very different dependent on where you get your breakfast and lunch. I started my pilgrimage in Saint Jean Pied de Port and there I paid for a cup of coffee with a piece of tortilla with some bread around €2.50. This is the typical Spanish breakfast and I did like that too. But as I came further on the route the spanish breakfast build up to paying €4 a €4.50 for a coffee and tortilla.

I often took my lunch just along the way, sitting on the ground or at a nice viewingpoint. I had bought some bread and cheese somewhere in a local shop to enjoy. I always had some food with me, bread, cheese / meat (I wasn’t vegetarian yet at that point) and a small can of olives. I could always just sit down and enjoy some food. I also carried an apple and a banana each day.

The banana is really good food during your pilgrimage. It has lots of magnesium in it which is good for your muscles when walking daily.

I had some cramp in my calves one day on my pilgrimage and got the tip to eat a banana each day for its magensium. So from that day on the banana was a daily item in my diet.

• The Pilgrimage Dinner
  

Having your pilgrimage dinner is really great! I can really recommend you to do this as often as possible. If you want to go out for dinner this is also the cheapest way and so the best for you pilgrimage budget. You’ll be sitting on one big table with all your fellow pilgrims enjoying a three course dinner for about €10 to €15. The dinner is good for us, hikers, and also it is really helpfull to sit down with your fellow pilgrims to hear about their experiences and their tips and tricks.

As I was saying, it has 3 courses and most of the time lots of nutrients for hikers. It is a varied dinner, the Spanish do know what a pilgrim needs after a long day hiking the camino. Most of the time you can choose out of 2 to 3 different kinds of starters and main courses. And as a desert they usually have a cup of yoghurt/ice or a piece of fruit.

With the pilgrim dinner they serve water and wine.

– € 10,00 to 15,00

• Daybudget on the Camino Frances

So if I make the sum out of all these daily costs it’ll be around €40,00 a day if you walk the Camino Frances as I did.

One day will cost you more then the other but overall it will costs you around 40 euro a day. You are sure to make your Camino Frances till the end if you have this as your pilgrimage budget!

Do take a albergue that is on donation or cheaper then the private ones and do cook your own dinner once in a while. I can recommend that too. It will give another dimension on your pilgrimage as you dive into a different kind of pilgrim. I you always take your dinner at a restaurant you will never meet the budget traveller that has a great story to tell too! I did have some great dinners when I cooked my own dinner. I did love to go to the supermercado too 🙂 And…In the albergue there is some pasta or such to use, most probably!

The costs I had for my own dinner was around 3 euro.

– You can easily exceed your pilgrimage budget ofcourse

I sometimes saw the bus passing by where backpack were being brought from one place to the other. The pro is that you don’t have to carry it yourself the 20K you might be walking that day. The other side is that you have to walk that 20K to get to your backpack.. If you don’t feel like walking anymore you do need to go on… If you feel like going on you have to walk with your backpack..

If you choose for this kind of travel you need to reserve your bed at the albergue too. I actually don’t know if you have to pay for this service. I really liked the freedom to choose whenever I wanted where I wanted to stop and stay for the night. When the village looked great or the people I met that day stayed there for instance…

Budget for your Camino Frances

Pilgrimage budget Spain

Jerry from Canada was always afraid he didn’t got a bed at night.. Afraid the albergue was full .. For that reason he wanted to stop hiking around noon, that time the albergues open and he had the first or second bed. I only had once or twice that the albergue was full and then I had to walk some K or just to an albergue down the road. For me it wasn’t a problem at all, especially when you start looking for an albergue around 1 or 2 in the afternoon.

There are also pilgrims that didn’t like to walk into or out of the city. They took a bus for that part of the camino.. Most of the pilgrims did go all the way! And it is part of the way.. same as, for instance, part of your life… You can not skip a part because it is less beautiful and you would like it to be different. You need to walk through it!

And you have enough time!!
Who is chasing you?

I really hope you will share your experiences of the camino with me!!

How did you like it? What route did you take?

Did you cook your own dinner? Or did you take the pilgrimdinner a lot, as I did?

Did you have more costs a day? What was the reason?

Save this pilgrimage bugdet or share it with others!!

My bubble on the net is not that big yet so if you share it for me you’ll make me happy 🙂

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Want to read more about my pilgrimage?

Start at the First 200K of the Camino Frances and then click on to the next 200K.

Also read my Packinglist for Pilgrims

Or check How a Pilgrim spends a day on the Camino.

Totall Workout & More Safety because of Trekkingpoles

But before starting this great and long journey you have to practise!!

Hiking in Germany : Hermannshoehen Hiking Trail

Hiking the Rheinsteig – Germany

But you can take it up a notch and go to Nepal!!

Poon Hill Trek – Nepal (8 days/7nights)

I hope you enjoy this beautiful world as much as I do!!