The Way for Young People

The Camino de Santiago for young people and teenagers has become the alternative to the classic summer camp: a week walking in a group, with monitors, measured stages and the Compostela as the goal. It is a genuinely educational experience — not a slogan — and this section gathers everything a family or a school needs to know before deciding.

Summer camp or Camino de Santiago?

A camp on the Camino has no fixed site: every night is spent in a different village and the group walks on towards Santiago. That changes what is learned. Walking in a group builds autonomy, responsibility, self-esteem and social skills, and makes switching off from screens happen naturally, without anyone imposing it. For many teenagers it is their first time away from home, in a safe environment with a healthy routine of sleep, meals and exercise.

From what age can a teenager walk the Camino?

On itinerant camps the cut-off is usually 14 years old, when the young person already manages their own hygiene, rest and backpack. But 14 is not 17: pace, kilometres and load are adapted to each age band. We explain it in From what age can a teenager walk the Camino de Santiago?, and what to pack (and what not to) has the list for travelling light.

With the family, with friends or with the school

If you are going on your own, the easiest formula is the Camino de Santiago in an organised group: guides, booked accommodation, optional luggage transfer and a group to share the last 100 km from Sarria or the Portuguese Way from Tui with.

If the trip is organised by a school, it is run by EducaCamino, our school-trip programme on the Camino de Santiago for Spanish primary and secondary schools: qualified monitors, civil liability and accident insurance, luggage carried by road, one free teacher per 20 pupils and subject-based classroom work before, during and after the trip. There are two set itineraries, the French Way from Sarria (115 km in 5 stages, 7 days) and the Portuguese Way from Tui (118 km in 6 stages, 8 days), both above the 100 km required for the Compostela. For a teaching staff starting from scratch, the complete guide to the school trip on the Camino de Santiago (in Spanish) covers routes, accommodation, what a well-organised programme includes and how safety is handled.

Guides and tips for walking the Camino with young people (in Spanish, on EducaCamino)

The articles from this section now live on EducaCamino, alongside the other guides for schools: from what age, monitors and stages, what is learned, what to pack, the credential, how to choose the end-of-year trip and a letter to read to pupils before leaving.