Walking the Camino with Kids – 8 Things to Consider

Of course, there is no such thing as an ‘age restriction’ to walk the Camino route. One gets to see kids of all sorts and kinds of ages: from newborn babies pilgrims carry strapped to their chests or toddlers pushed in buggies, all the way to grown adults who walk the Camino with their even more ‘adult’ parents.

But, zooming in on kids in the common understanding of the word, the question is: is this about you, or about them?

If you are interested in giving your kid an impactful experience, where it is just as much ‘their’ Camino as it is yours, my recommendation would be not to go much younger than the age of 10. While logistically still fully dependent, kids around this age can start to define for themselves what makes them happy.

Instead, the Camino will only have the potential of becoming an amazing experience for your child if they are going to be able to participate in joint decision-making. In addition, nimble and resilient as most kids are—some, in fact, much more so than some adults—practice shows younger kids may struggle on an average Camino day.

There is a clear benefit in the option of transporting backpacks from one destination of the day to the next. However, with or without a backpack, the attention spans and biorhythms of a younger child are different than those of an older child or an adult.

Plus, the physical impact stands in direct relation to the number of steps walked. My daughter and I did this experiment on both of her Camino routes: for every 100 steps I took, she had to take 140 at the age of 10 and 120 at the age of 14! Extrapolate that onto 150 miles, and the result will appear quite humbling.

This will depend greatly on the age of your child. I would recommend walking the entire Full French Camino (from St. Jean Pied de Port or Roncesvalles) only of your child is 15 or even 16 or older. If this is the case, and unless your teen is already out of school, the only time to go would be in the summer.

If your child is younger, my recommendation would be to do a portion of the Camino Frances, the most popular route. One way of doing it is to start in St Jean and walk as far as Logrono or Burgos, with the idea of returning and resuming the Camino at some point in the future.

However, I would recommend planning to take 10-14 walking days, and finishing in Santiago de Compostela. The 3 logical starting points, in decreasing order of distance to the city of Santiago, are Leon, Astorga or Ponferrada.

My reasoning behind this recommendation is simple: you would want to arrive in Santiago and to receive your Compostela certificate with a deserved sense of accomplishment.

Starting in Astorga will have you cross stunning and quite diverse terrains, and having covered a solid stretch of 150 miles (around 265km). Neither you nor your child will have the feeling of arriving in Santiago “too quickly,” even if you end up walking side by side with people who’d started their Camino in St. Jean Pied de Port!

As an alternative, I would recommend the Portuguese Way from Porto to Santiago, also approximately 150 miles (around 265km).

While the most logical time to do these would also be done during the summer school break, a great alternative to consider is going in the spring or in the autumn, for example, during the spring or Easter break.

The ideal case scenario is when the idea of going on the Camino stems directly from your child. This was my lucky case.

I had walked my first 2 Caminos before my daughter was even born, and returned on the Camino regularly as she was growing up. I led Study Abroad programs to the Camino from the university I taught at in the US.

My daughter was growing up meeting my students and hearing not only mine, but also their stories filled with awe, excitement, and inspiration.

She wanted to walk the Camino with me before she could remember and, when she was 5, we made a deal that she would come with me when she turned 10. Her Camino was pre-destined to turn into an amazing experience.

But what if the Camino idea comes from you and not your child? In this case, it is instrumental you involve your child as much as possible in all decision making.

To quote my own daughter, the words she said to another adult when asked about this: “The last thing you’d want to do is to tell you child ‘So, mom and I decided we’re all gonna go backpacking in Spain – isn’t that amazing?!’”

The only way to get the kids excited about the Camino is by being not only including but also actively involving them in the process from the get-go. That way, they “own it” as their own experience!

You need to be ready to accept the fact that they may not be as excited about this as you are. They may not be thinking about it is much as you are, not planning it as eagerly as you are. In fact, they may not be excited about it at all!

And, since forcing the Camino trip against your child’s will is the last thing you’d want to do, you may have to admit to yourself it is not the right time.

However, if your child is interested, eager and keen, let them feel included in the preparation process, but without forcing it on them. The Camino grows and unfolds in every one of us in a unique, individual way, and children are no exception.

Gauge and match their energies, and meet them where they are at. Be there, ready and available for them not only to answer their questions as they arise but also to show them how to look for and find the answers to these questions on their own.

If your child is a bit older, you may even consider giving them “research assignments”. Ask them to help look up and figure certain things out about how things work on the Camino – typical food, average weather along the Way, types of accommodation, notable historic sites, and even what to put in a backpack. Make sure it is something relevant not just for them, but for both of you.

The essence of the Camino isn’t just religion or reverence for St James: Walk. Eat. Sleep. Repeat. And, frankly, little else – and yet so much more!

And I don’t mean it as a joke: the Camino gives us an amazing opportunity to slow things down, to bring life down to an unusually comfortable, almost scarily-pleasant pace. It limits the number of choices we have to make on a daily basis to a bare minimum.

Continued physical outdoor activity, and re-learning to perceive life at a walking pace sharpens our senses and heightens our sensations. All these things comprise a wonderful mix of ingredients for both self-(re)discovery as well as for living a truly deep, memorable, and lasting experience with your child.

Walking the Camino with your child is a great place to talk, feel, share and express. To think aloud, to sing, to laugh, even to cry if that’s something that surfaces up. And to reconnect with your child on a higher level.

And, in addition to this invaluable possibility for reconnecting, the Camino offers us the gift of meeting other pilgrims from all over the world. Making new friends together with your child, interacting together in new, unplanned but amazingly rewarding and pleasant friendship circles while within the comfort and beauty of the Camino setting is, truly, a beautiful experience!

One of the many aspects that makes the Camino de Santiago unique is the fact that it constitutes a dynamic blend and mix of nature and culture, of landscapes and urban areas, of beautiful outdoors with the convenience of full, modern infrastructure. Traversing northern Spain, its location is anything but remote.

Unlike such well-known outdoors destinations as the Appalachian or the Pacific Trail or hiking tours in Asia and Africa, access to all comforts and amenities on the Camino is always given. This translates into a high degree of peace of mind one can enjoy while on the Camino.

Accommodation options of all sorts is abundant and bookable in advance. Even options to take transport – should it become desired or necessary – are always available. The same goes for food options – in fact, at times so much so, that some make the Camino a culinary experience as well.

All this makes the Camino an ideal experience for travelling with children without having to worry about any logistics and being able to focus on the essential: the journey, and the wonderful experience of togetherness.

To put it short and simple: yes, the Camino is absolutely and totally safe for children! In addition to all the logistical aspects listed above, medical help – should it become necessary – is also easily accessible and within reach.

The Way itself is well-marked with yellow arrows pointing our the Camino route, and maintained to a high standard. When traversing mountains and forests, it constitutes a wide and comfortable enough path so as to be walkable by anyone with reasonable physical fitness. There is no need for any special equipment other than basic hiking gear.

The challenges – if any – lie not in any particular stretches of the trail as such, but rather in the repeated, daily walking for considerable distances. However, this is something that, thanks to the above-mentioned accommodation choices and transport availability, one has full control of. You can walk as much or as little as you want!

Rare cases of inclement weather are usually limited to winter snowstorms in the mountains, and local authorities take adequate measures to keep the Way and pilgrims safe. The same applies to public safety. Local communities rely heavily on pilgrim traffic as their source of revenue to sustain them so that it is in their own greatest interest to keep things safe and sound.

The Camino intersects a number of traffic roads and traverses a few larger urban areas. This calls for basic, common-sense safety precautions on the part of the pilgrims, but even in these areas issues of public safety have no reason to be of any more concern than in comparable settings back home.

We live in the day and age where life without gadgets and devices is hard to imagine, and the Camino is no exception. Of course, there are occasional people that choose to “rough it”, go completely unplugged, and they manage just fine. On the other hand, there are those who spend more time looking on their phone screens than at landscapes they’re passing by.

A healthy and sound approach lies somewhere in the middle, and this is also a point of discussion and joint decision-making together with your child.

Having a working device such as a smartphone is definitely a good idea at least in view of the reasons above, such as logistics, transport, safety etc. In addition, it is important to stay connected with friends and other family members back home. However, the Camino renders a perfect opportunity for kids and parents to experiment with reducing dependence on and use of devices, apps etc.

What has worked well for me and my daughter, and what I can wholeheartedly recommend, is to start by opening this as a topic for discussion and for brainstorming the different scenarios. I was surprised that it was, actually, my daughter who told me that she would like to go unplugged on the Camino and that it was I who had to tell her that staying connected is a good thing if done in an organized manner.

We talked a lot about this, and she ended up agreeing with her friends – those she cared to keep in touch with during the Camino – that she would be online and checking messages once a day for about an hour.

Instead of posting on her Instagram Story throughout each walking day, she decided to do so also once per day, in the evening, during her online hour. Otherwise, her phone was on aeroplane mode and she used it mostly for taking pictures and videos and, a few times, for listening to music.

This worked very, very well for her, and I know many people who employ a similar tactic. Ultimately, it is everyone’s personal (and parental) choice, but I believe that redirecting and transforming energies works better than trying to block and repel them.

Kids will generally be all over the idea of keeping using their devices but in a way different from the usual. For example, for documenting the journey via pictures, videos, Vlogs and other creative projects.

This is something that can be quite naturally inclusive of us parents, as well as new friends we make on the Camino, as a wonderful joint project. It can also come in handy for the post-Camino re-entry and for validating the experience for your children.

One of the hardest things about the Camino experience lies in trying to explain it to those who haven’t been on it.

Our friends and loved ones ask us with genuine curiosity how it was, what the journey was like, referring mainly to sights, weather, food, and activities.

We, on the other hand, come to a profound understanding that the farther we’ve walked, the deeper we’ve walked inside ourselves and when asked: “How was it?” we struggle to find ways of expressing it.

Pictures and videos do come in handy but, again, the Camino is about so much more! Kids and teens, for whom the importance of their social circles is on a whole different level, may find this struggle to adequately express themselves even more frustrating.

Therefore, it is important for both the parents and the kids to discuss this before re-entry, and to at least become aware of this upcoming challenge. You both will see that you have made this wonderful experience of the Camino together. You have created something new that connects you, binds you, and that only you (and, perhaps, your fellow pilgrims) will fully understand. And that it’s okay for it to be just like that.

Your kid might be asked: “Wait, what?! You spent your spring break going to Spain, with your dad, and all you did was walk 15 miles every day in the middle of nowhere? What was THAT like?!”

Tell them, the smartest way to answer questions like that is a short and wholeheartedly genuine “it was AMAZING!” And that might be just it – because most people, even those who we consider good or close friends, will not go on asking for further details, and you save yourself the frustration of explaining the unexplainable.

And the beauty of the experience, the shared adventure, the Camino bond is just for you – the Parent and the Child – to look back at, to cherish and carry with you for years to come… Until your next family Camino!

Max Maximov is an international educator, pilgrim, Camino photographer and travel coach. He was born in Russia and spent his formative years in Germany and the US. Starting with his first Camino in 2005, Max has been on different Caminos 14 times, including twice with his daughter – first, when she was 10, and then again when she was 14. While working as Lecturer and International Programs Coordinator in the US, he also led dozens of US university students on Study Abroad programs to the Camino, annually from 2011-2015.

Presently, Max lives and works in Germany and he continues to dedicate time to helping people plan their Caminos. You can see what Max is up to on his Instagram profile: @caminographer.

Thank you for sharing your experience of walking the Camino de Santiago with your daughter with us, Max!

Travelling with your kids is fun but the journey can sometimes be a little stressful. Especially for kids with autism and that’s why we prepared for you 7 tips for travelling with kids with autism.

To start planning your Camino with kids, get in touch with us! We have plenty of experience with helping families to plan their trip. Whether you are looking for a taste of the Camino on the Last 100km of the Camino Frances or the full French Way, we have tips to help you.