The shoes that you walk the Camino de Santiago with are the most important gear decision you will make on your Camino de Santiago Packing list. Walking in the wrong shoes can result in terrible blisters, tired feet, and other injuries that can even end your Camino.
Don´t underestimate the importance of wearing proper socks on the Camino, it can make a huge difference to the comfort of your feet. To prevent blisters good hiking shocks must prevent chafing, keep your feet dry, and provide some cushioning. See our in-depth guide to the Best Socks for Walking the Camino de Santiago.
There are so many opinions, everybody is different, and every route is different so unfortunately there is no one straightforward answer to which shoes are the best for the Camino. Alya has walked 9 different Camino de Santiago routes and Campbell has walked 7. We’ve done many other treks all over the world. In this post, I will give you my opinion on the best shoes based on our walking experience on the Camino de Santiago.
Boots vs shoes for walking the Camino de Santiago
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There is no best shoes for the Camino de Santiago, you must wear the right shoes for you, choosing the right footwear can be tricky, in this article we give you some tips based on our hiking experience to help you choose the best footwear for your pilgrimage.
Our favorite kind of footwear for the Camino de Santiago is hiking shoes.
This is a very popular topic to discuss on Facebook groups and in online forums and you will find plenty of discussions if you search a little. Here is a quick summary of our experience with different kinds of shoes.
If you want to know the pros and cons of walking the Camino in different seasons read our post on the best time to do the Camino de Santiago.
Trail runners on the Camino
Trail runners are a very popular option for walking the Camino de Santiago. Trail shoes are similar to road running shoes, but they are built more rugged to protect the shoes and your feet from objects like rocks, and sticks, so they are light and tough. I have read so many discussions with pilgrims praising trail runners. These shoes do sound like the best choice for hiking the Camino they are light, get dry quickly, and provide enough support for the kind of terrain that you will experience on the Camino. You will mostly encounter forest trails, some rocky sections, paved roads, and depending on the Camino route cobbled stone sidewalks.
Our experience with trail runners on the Camino was not great. We walked two shorter routes in trail runners, the Camino de San Salvador (120 km/74 mi) and the Camino de Santiago de Gran Canaria (67 km/41,6 mi). We hiked in well-worn trail shoes that we use for trail running. The shoes were comfortable on the trail, but we both had problems with blisters walking in trail shoes.
In the Defense of Trail Runners
You do get many different brands and models of trail running shoes, maybe a different trail runner would be a good idea. We have however not had any problems running with our Adidas or Asics trail runners while running. Since we bought these shoes for running they were a comfortable fit, but not large enough to wear with our thick merino wool socks that was a problem walking long distances. We swear by Merino wool socks, they are fantastic!
Choosing the Right Trail Running Shoe for the Camino
With trail runners, the tread, fit, durability, and heel drop are important factors to consider when choosing new shoes.
The durability of shoes is very important on long hikes. You do not want to walk in a pair of shoes and have them reach the end of their lifetime during your Camino. The best option is to buy one pair for training, and a second pair of the same shoe to break in a couple of weeks before you go.
– For proper fit of trail shoes check that there is no slipping, lifting, or rubbing in the heel, the toes have enough space, and there are no pressure points when walking
The Toe Box of the shoe is the front part of the shoe where your toes fit. A wider toe box means more room for your toes to move and a smaller chance of blisters due to friction. Check that you can wiggle your toes inside, but not so much room that your foot slides forward or back.
Heel drop – The drop of a shoe is the height difference between the heel and forefoot. The greater the drop, the steeper the angle from the toes to the heel. When standing barefoot and the heel and forefoot both touch the ground the drop is zero. When wearing high heels the drop will be very large. The drop has nothing to do with cushioning. Drop is important to match your foot strike, which part of your foot hits the ground first: the heel, midfoot, or forefoot. The more you run/walk on your forefoot the lower drop you’ll want. A zero-drop shoe has a 0 mm drop, a low-drop shoe has 1-4 mm, and the average heel-to-toe drop trail running shoe is between 7 – 10 mm.
Popular Trail runners for walking
Popular Trail runners for walking
Hoka Speed Goat 4 (Speed Goat 4 Ladies) – You see Hokas everywhere on the Camino nowadays. These super cushioned, trail runners have become extremely popular on the trail. Most pilgrims walk in the Hoka Speedgoat, with lots of cushioning; grippy outsole, and a quality upper. The Speed Goat 5 is the latest release. This is a low-drop shoe (4mm). The toe box on the Speed Goats got a bit more roomy with every new addition released but is still relatively narrow.
Altra Lone Peak 6 (Lone Peak 6 Ladies) – a running shoe that has since become a thru-hiker favorite. These shoes are well known for their zero-drop design and large toe box. Very popular on the Camino with extreme comfort and thick padding. Unique design. The zero drop is similar to walking barefoot. If you have never walked in no-drop shoes before this can be time to get used to this type of shoe, so make sure you walk them in beforehand.
Brooks Cascadia 16 (Cascadia 16 Ladies)- very popular with through hikers, feels like a comfortable road shoe, with good underfoot protection. Light quality built trail runners. These shoes have an 8mm drop
Walking the Camino in hiking shoes
Hiking shoes are designed for hiking. With a lower cut, they are more agile and lightweight than hiking boots. Many boots are also available as lower-cut hiking shoes. For Alya and myself, we found hiking shoes to work the best and have worn several different shoes in the 16 Camino de Santiago’s we have walked between the two of us. We found shoes to be fairly lightweight, comfortable, stay relatively dry, and do not take too long to dry when getting wet. Hiking shoes have a stiffer sole which we found to be great on Camino where you spend a lot of time walking on cobblestones such as the Camino Portuguese.
Popular hiking shoes for walking
Wearing hiking boots on the Camino de Santiago
The two biggest problems many people have walking the Camino de Santiago in boots are weight and breathability. The higher the cut of the shoe the heavier it will be. Leather boots tend to be heavier and less flexible. With boots there are many different choices, the height of the boot and the material used for construction make a massive difference. Old-style, heavy, leather boots do not work well for us.
We both love our Salomon X Ultra 3 Mid GTX (LADIES) mid-length, Gortex boots. Modern, light, and super comfortable we have done some distance in conditions varying from snow to hot dusty trails and have only had a great experience! Light and athletic with a mid-length design. I find them very comfortable and do not have a problem with breathability. I wear them with thick Merino wool socks.
Sandals for walking the Camino de Santiago
Most people pack sandals to wear around the Albergues after a long day on the road. I love my Havaianas flip-flops and have walked long stretches in these sandals on hot days on the Camino. They are not the lightest flip-flops, but they are super comfortable and I find them a good choice to carry in my backpack for wearing in the albergues and walking on the route. I have met people walking the whole Camino in hiking sandals and saying after switching from shoes to sandals they will never go back! Packing sandals to alternate with your shoes is not a bad idea to keep your feet dry and blister-free. Walking your Camino in sandals is mainly an option if you walk in the dry season. Some popular sandals we have seen are made by KEEN and Teva; Keen Ladies Whisper Sandals, Keen Men’s Clearwater CNX 2 Lightweight, Teva Hurricane Xlt2, and Teva Hurricane Xlt2 women.
Walking the Camino Wearing Waterproof Shoes/Boots (Gortex)
Walking the Camino in Waterproof shoes is usually not recommended. Waterproof material does not only keep water out but also keeps water in. If your feet sweat a lot, leather or Gortex is less breathable and your feet can be wet in any conditions. If it rains enough any shoes will get wet. Waterproof shoes take longer to dry and are not a good option. Changing wet socks during the day in the warmer months is a good way to prevent blisters. Many Gortex shoes do claim they are well-ventilated. We have never had a problem with extensive sweating in our Salomon Gortex shoes.
Gortex shoes can be the right footwear in the rainy season. I will not recommend wearing heavy, waterproof hiking boots on a hot dry Camino in summertime (July/August). Walking in the shoulder season (May, June, and September), can be good, but rain is possible. We walked a very wet Camino Primitivo during this time and waterproof boots worked fantastically. Walking the Camino del Norte in October and the Camino Finisterre in November when we got a lot of rain. Our hiking shoes got very wet on most days. We managed to dry the shoes on most nights by stuffing our shoes with newspaper (great tip for drying shoes). Struggling a lot we felt waterproof shoes would have been a good idea. If they would have stayed dry in these very wet weather conditions is of course not certain.
Choice of Camino Shoes for different Camino Routes
The Camino de Santiago is not a single route, but a network of pilgrimage routes ending in Santiago de Compostela. None of the routes are extremely rugged and they can all be walked in most kinds of shoes. No crazy mountaineering is involved, mostly hiking on relatively good trails and roads. On the different Camino routes, you will walk on many different types of terrain, a mix of sand, boardwalks, concrete, asphalt, Roman roads, rocks, rain, and mud.
The Portuguese Camino involves a lot of walking on cobblestones. We live in Portugal and walk parts of the trail regularly. The cobblestones can make your feet very tired and this surface gets slippery when wet. We prefer walking with a shoe with a stiffer sole for this terrain, hiking shoes are the best choice. The Merrell Moab 3 (Merrell Moab 3 Ladies) is a good shoe for the Portuguese Camino.
The Camino Primitivo is probably the most rugged trail you will hike on any Camino. It can be walked in any footwear, but we have walked a very wet Camino Primitivo with long stretches of mud. Our mid-length Gortex boots worked fantastically. Salomon X Ultra 3 Mid GTX (LADIES) is a nice shoe, perfectly suited for the Camino Primitivo. This nice, short, flexible, light boot is waterproof and we both find them very comfortable.
Walking in Running Shoes
We walked our first Camino after coming to Europe following a hiking season in Nepal. It was summer and Campbell decided to walk in his road running shoes rather than in his trekking boots. He has done a lot of running in the shoes (more than 1000 km) blister-free. He walked in his running footwear, thin running socks, and his Asics road running shoes. This was the wrong choice of footwear. After a couple of very long days (over 30 km) he got the worst blisters he has ever had. By the end of the Camino, his feet and the shoes both were destroyed. Walking and running are very different, especially long walks with a heavy backpack.
Good socks for the Camino
We are firm believers in Merino wool socks, this is a game changer. Hiking many thousands of kilometers on a variety of budgets we have used probably about every kind of sock you can imagine. Nothing comes close to Merino wool socks. They are simply fantastic at keeping your feet dry and blister-free. They just take much longer to start smelling bad than even the fanciest synthetic hiking socks. DARN TOUGH and Danish Endurance make excellent quality Merino wool socks.
Buen Camino! Good luck and take care of your feet!
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The pretty half of Stingy Nomads, responsible for all our land adventures (hiking, climbing, walking the Camino) and following them write-ups. Alya loves walking since she was a child, she prefers to walk 1000 km with a backpack rather than to do a 10 000 km road trip (actually any road trip). Alya is a big fan of Latin America, the Spanish language, and dancing. Every time we go away she desperately misses our dog Chile.
