It’s been over a thousand years and people are still walking to Santiago de Compostela. In a world of cheap short-haul city breaks and Chat-GPT reocmmeneded itineraries, it somehow hasn’t slowed down. Far from it, it’s never been walked so much, with thousands of new arrivals each year, many of whom are not religious at all.
A path that’s been walked for over a thousand years
The oldest stretch is the Camino Primitivo. It dates back to the 9th century and is the route Alfonso II supposedly took after the tomb of St James was found near Santiago de Compostela. It slowly grew into a broader network coming from many different angles – France, Portugal, North Africa, and beyond.
In 1993 the French Way became a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the certification later grew to cover the Camino del Norte, the Camino Primitivo, and several other routes across northern Spain. It’s a proper walking heavyweight in the world.
It’s just not a niche pursuit anymore. Over half a million people did the Camino in 2025, of course it was a record, but that doesn’t seem like it’s going to tail off. It wasn’t some flash-in-the-pan social media hype.
Its success is because it appeals to so many people. Cyclists can do it, dog walkers can do it, young spiritual hippies can do it, atheists working in tech and looking to test themselves might do it. And, of course, religious pilgrims may still do it.
That’s why there has been such a boom in operators offering authentic Camino de Santiago tours. There are so many first-timers not knowing where to start, but know it’s accessible enough to be within their reach.
What actually changes when you walk it
A study in 2022 followed 142 modern pilgrims. It found that 75% reported real, lasting changes in their life after finishing the Camino. Three-quarters is quite the success story. The study found six recurring themes:
- Authentic experience
- Walking in nature
- Self-transformation
- Community
- Simplicity
- Spirituality
The beauty was in its accessibility and simplicity. You just walk, and when using a provider like Santiago Ways for expert local knowledge and hotel booking, there’s little else to think or worry about. It’s arguably a simpler holiday than a city break, with fewer people, less chaos, less schedule-shifting lateness.
Nature, culture, and the people you meet along the way
Mornings smell like eucalyptus and woodsmoke while the afternoons run through vineyards and medieval bridges. The trails expose us to different tastes, smells and wildlife, giving us something to think about and notice, but not a lot. Stimulation is low-level, while the people you meet can brighten your day by sharing the journey they’ve had.
But maybe that’s why it still pulls people in after a thousand years. Not because it promises transformation, but because it quietly delivers it anyway, one blistered mile at a time. The villages aren’t all that different to hundreds of years ago in some cases, at least in their facades and appearance, as you really get a sense of what it would have been like.
