The Camino Ingles is one of the shortest Camino de Santiago routes to the tomb of the Apostle St.James in Santiago de Compostela. The route dates back to the 12th century. It was used by the pilgrims who arrived at the Northern Spanish ports and wanted to continue their journey to Santiago. Nowadays most pilgrims start their walk in Ferrol.
The Camino Ingles offers a forest/rural scenery and is one of the quietest routes to walk the last 100 km to Santiago de Compostela. There are significantly fewer pilgrims than on the Camino Frances from Sarria or the Portuguese route from Tui.
You can find more information on the walking stages, distances, maps, and graphs in our post.
PDF files for the Camino
To make your planning easier we’ve created these downloadable PDF files.
GPX tracks of the Camino Ingles
What is the Camino Ingles?
The Camino Ingles is a multi-day pilgrimage route in Northern Spain. It starts in Ferrol or A Coruña and finishes in Santiago de Compostela. It’s one of the shortest routes – a great one for first-time pilgrims who want to try the Camino de Santiago. The route goes through one Spanish region – Galicia. According to the Pilgrims’ Reception Office in 2023, 24 096 people (5,4% of all pilgrims who arrived in Santiago) completed the Camino Inglés.
The Camino was established as a pilgrimage route in the 12th century when pilgrims from England and Northern European Countries arrived in A Coruña via the sea and continued on foot to Santiago de Compostela.
How long is the route?
The total distance of the English Way from Ferrol to Santiago de Compostela is 116 km/72 mi. It takes between 4 and 6 days on average to complete the route depending on your daily distances.
Where does the Camino Ingles start?
There are two route options on the English Camino:
the first starts in Ferrol, the total distance is 116 km/72 mi;
the second starts in A Coruña, the total distance is 74 km/46 mi.
We’ve walked only the route from Ferrol, but from what we’ve read the route from A Coruña is not well-marked, it’s tricky to find the way and you have to use GPS navigation sometimes. Both routes join at Hospital de Bruma and continue to Santiago together.
The route from A Coruña is shorter than 100 km/62 mi. The last 100 kilometers to Santiago is the required walking minimum for getting the Compostela. For this reason, pilgrims that start from A Coruña can’t get the Compostela for this route unless they live in A Coruña and walk from there to Santiago or they start their pilgrimage overseas and continue from A Coruña. You’ll need some proof e.g. stamps from local churches on the route.
A great advantage of this route is its short distance, only 116 km/72 mi, compared to the other Camino routes so you’ll need less than a week to complete it. It means you can reduce your luggage to the minimum.
How difficult is the Camino?
The Camino Ingles is a moderate multi-day trail. It is challenging like any other long-distance route for an inexperienced person. You can make it easier or more difficult by changing your daily distances. If you split the route into 6 stages your average daily distance will be less than 20 km/12,4 mi. If you walk the Camino in fewer days it’ll be more challenging.
If you’re not used to walking or exercising regularly it’s recommended to do some training for the Camino even if it’s just a short route like the Camino Ingles.
Is the route well-marked?
Yes, it’s well-marked. The Camino Ingles is marked with yellow shells and arrows painted on fences, poles, trees, ground, etc. Every 500 m to 1 km you can see milestones indicating the distance left to Santiago de Compostela.
What to pack for the walk?
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We have a detailed Camino de Santiago packing list post where you can find packing tips for men and women for different seasons.
There are 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.
Wearing the right footwear for the walk is very important. Find out the pros and cons of wearing different types of shoes on the Camino de Santiago.
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.
Recommended guidebooks
Luggage transfer service on the Camino Ingles
It’s possible to arrange luggage delivery for every stage of the Camino. You can arrange it before you start walking or along the route. If you use the shuttle service you don’t have to worry about packing your backpack light you can pretty much bring as much stuff as you want.
It works very easily; you leave your luggage at the reception in the morning, and the company picks it up and delivers it to your next accommodation place. Usually, by the time you arrive, your backpack is already there. Correos and Pilbeo offer luggage transfer service on the Camino Ingles. The price is 7 Euros per backpack per stage.
When is the best time for walking?
From our Camino experience in Galicia, you can be lucky or unlucky with the weather regardless of the season, we had some cold and rainy days in June and nice and sunny days in October but in general, it rains a lot here. Summer is the warmest time with the least rain and the sunniest days.
We always try to walk the Camino not in peak season, July, and August as it’s the busiest time. May, June, and September are good months for walking the Camino; warm but not too hot, not too much rain, and not too many people. April and October can be nice if you’re lucky with the weather. If you walk this Camino completely off-season (November – March) you might walk the entire route in the pouring rain.
We walked the Camino Inglés at the end of May – the beginning of June and were very lucky with the weather it was very hot for Galicia, about 30°C, we got light rain only one morning, the rest of the time it was sunny. I must say the year before we walked the Camino Primitivo at about the same time and it was different; cold and rainy for 10 days.
The cost of the Camino Ingles
Accommodation. Public albergues cost 8€ per person. Private albergues/hostels 12-15€ per person. Hotels/guesthouses – from 35€ for a double and 30€ for a single room.
Eating out. Traditional Menu del Día (a set meal with starter, main, bread, drink, dessert, or coffee) is about 12€. A tapa (Tortilla, sandwich, etc.) for 2€. A cup of coffee for 1-2€. Breakfast (Tostada/croissant and coffee) from 3€. Beer/glass of wine – 2€.
Shopping (food). We bought stuff in supermarkets and made our food most of the time, our average shopping bill for two meals (dinner and breakfast) was about 7€ per person. It’s cheaper to make food than to eat out.
Transport. It depends on where you come from. Your transport expenses (to get to Ferrol and back from Santiago) can be between 40 and 80 Euros. Buses from A Coruña (the nearest airport) to Ferrol are 10€ per person. For more information on different transport options go to the paragraph “How to get to Ferrol?“.
Luggage transfer (optional). It usually costs 7 Euros per backpack/suitcase per stage.
Our budget breakdown
5 days, 2 people
We stayed 3 nights in public albergues, 1 night in a hotel, and 1 night in a private albergue. We made food most of the time though one day we had to eat out three times because it was Sunday and all the shops and supermarkets were closed. We often stopped for coffee on average twice a day, and sometimes went out for a beer or a glass of wine.
Accommodation – 97€
Eating out – 57€
Shopping (food) – 62€
Coffee – 20€
Transport (bus A Coruña – Ferrol) – 16€
Laundry – 5€
Total: 257€ or 25€ per person per day
We have a detailed post on the cost of walking the Camino de Santiago where you can find a lot of practical information and tips for planning your Camino budget.
What is the accommodation like on the Camino?
There are different accommodation options on the route from public and private albergues (the cheapest options) to hotels. Which one to choose depends on your budget and preferences. This Camino is quite short even if you stay in a private room every night it won’t ruin your budget. On longer Camino routes we book a private room every once in a while.
Public albergues are exclusively for pilgrims who walk or cycle the Camino Ingles. Having a credential is a requirement for staying there. The price is 10 euros per bed (there are some for 7 or 8 euros). Private albergues are more like hostels anybody can stay there; usually, there are mostly pilgrims. Private albergues are more expensive – 15 euros per person but normally have better facilities and are more comfortable.
Comparing public and private albergues on the Camino
Where to find public albergues on the Camino Ingles?
How to get to the Camino Ingles?
Most people start the walk in Ferrol. It is a nice coastal city with a beautiful historical center and a charming harbor if you have time you can stay for an extra day to see more of it.
You can get to A Coruña or Ferrol from several Spanish cities. If you come from overseas the best option is to fly to Madrid and take a bus/train or fly to Ferrol.
There is no airport in Ferrol. The nearest airports are in A Coruña and Santiago de Compostela. You can fly to one of them and take a bus/train to Ferrol. A Coruña is a better option because it’s closer to Ferrol and easier to get there.
From A Coruña there are many buses to Ferrol they leave every hour or so. The journey takes about 1 hour, the price is 10€ per person. Tickets can be purchased at the bus station before departure. All buses leave and arrive at the same bus terminal in A Coruña it’s easy to switch buses there.
From Santiago de Compostela there is one direct train to Ferrol and a couple of trains with a connection in A Coruña. The direct train takes 2 hours, the price is 21 Euro.
Getting to Ferrol from Madrid
If you want to take a bus from Madrid there is a night direct bus to Ferrol that departs from Barajas Airport T4.
Getting to Ferrol from Barcelona
The best way of getting to Ferrol from Barcelona is to fly to A Coruña or Santiago de Compostela. It’s possible to get there by train but it’s a very long and exhausting journey. There is no train to Ferrol, you’ll have to take a train to Santiago. We did the trip once and it took us about 15 hours by train to get from Santiago to Barcelona. There are buses but they take just as long as trains.
Where to get a pilgrim’s passport in Ferrol?
You can get a Credential (Pilgrim’s Passport) at the Church of San Julian (Co-Catedral de Ferrol) in Ferrol. It’s open daily from 10.30 am to 1 pm and from 5.30 pm to 7 pm (on Sundays only in the morning).
At the Officina Municipal de Turismo y de Atencion al Peregrino at Paseo da Mariña, near the starting point of the Camino Ingles. It’s open from 8 am to 1 pm (every day) and from 5 pm to 7 pm (only Sat. and Sun).
At La Domus (the bishop residency) in Ferrol at Miramar Street in the morning.
What are the highlights of the Camino Ingles?
Ferrol is a nice port town with a beautiful harbour and historical center.
Pontedeume is our favorite town on the Camino Ingles. It’s small and charming with many restaurants and bars on the main square.
A beautiful Galician forest on the way from Sigüeiro to Santiago.
Where to stay in Ferrol?
There is a public albergue in Ferrol near the port. It’s quite big and considering the number of pilgrims on the Camino Ingles you’re very likely to get a bed there.
You can stay in a private room as well. We stayed at Hotel Almendra, about 700 m from the bus station and 1 km from the port. The place was nice and clean, close to the restaurants and shops. The owners are very nice and friendly people.
More accommodation options in Ferrol
Planning resources for the Camino Ingles
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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.
