Camino Ingles Hiking Trips

The Camino Ingles, or English Way, is the shortest of the main Camino routes, named for the pilgrims who once sailed from England, Ireland and Northern Europe to the Galician ports and walked inland from there to Santiago de Compostela. It has two starts: Ferrol, about 120 km out and the usual choice, since it clears the 100 km needed for the Compostela; and A Coruña, a shorter option of around 75 km. The two branches join at Hospital de Bruma and finish together through Sigueiro into Santiago, passing the seaside towns of Pontedeume and Betanzos and the green hills of inland Galicia. It is the original Self-Guided Camino Ingles tours, part of the wider Self-Guided Spain tours.

For most people the choice is simply where to start. Ferrol gives the full English Way over five or six days and earns the Compostela; A Coruña is shorter and more urban, better if time is tight or the certificate is not the point. Either way it is a gentle route, well suited to a first Camino or a quick trip, and easily spread over more days at a relaxed pace. Some walkers carry on from Santiago to the ocean on the Self-Guided Finisterre Way tours.

The route is walked at your own pace, with route notes and a GPS track, your luggage moved ahead each day, and rooms booked in advance. It is waymarked with yellow arrows and easy to follow, with days of around 15 to 25 km over rolling Galician country, a little coast at the start and woodland and farmland inland; the going is easy to moderate, with no big climbs. As one of the shorter pilgrimage tours among 10Adventures’ walking tours, it ends at the cathedral in Santiago, where walkers from Ferrol who have collected stamps in a pilgrim passport receive the Compostela.

Spring and autumn, from April to June and September to October, are the best times to walk, with mild weather and the trail at its quietest. Galicia is green because it is wet, so rain is possible in any season and waterproofs are worth packing. Summer is warmer and a little busier, while winter is cool, damp and very quiet, with fewer pilgrims and some albergues closed.

Walks on offer on the Camino Ingles, shorter to longer:

1. Self-Guided Camino Ingles from A Coruña 6 days on the shorter route from the port of A Coruña into Santiago.
2. Self-Guided Camino Ingles Pontedeume Option 7 days from Ferrol, a condensed English Way by way of Pontedeume.
3. Camino Ingles Self-Guided Pilgrimage 8 days on the full English Way from Ferrol, far enough for the Compostela.
4. Self-Guided Easy English Way Camino Tour 10 days on the English Way at an easy, unhurried pace.