The one thing I wish I had focused on more when packing my backpack was weight. The golden rule is to stay under 20% of your body weight but honestly I think it should be closer to 10-15%. This is considering most people don’t account for food and water weight which can add an extra 2-4 kilos (4-8 pounds) to your bag.
The Camino has been around for hundreds of years and therefore has infrastructure built around it that is fully developed with everything you could possibly need. There are towns along the way that were built only to assist pilgrims on the way and most have pharmacies, food stores and outdoor shops. This is crucial to keep in mind when packing your bag. You can leave your big shampoo, full first aid kit and camping stove at home!
Pack light, pack right and you’ll have a great Camino!
I walked the Camino Frances in September – October which meant mild warm days and warm to cool nights. Here is a packing list that covers the essentials of what you’ll need.
Basic Packing List
- 30-40L Comfortable hiking backpack
- Large quick dry towel
- Sleeping bag or liner (you can get away with just a liner in the summer)
- Carabiners (to hang your still wet clothes on your bag that haven’t dried form the night before)
- Phone charger
- Water bladder (2L max)
- Earplugs (crucial unless you like the sound of snoring)
- Sunglasses
- Wet wipes or tissues
- Headlamp (most albergues & hostels have a lights off at 10pm rule)
- Scrubba bag for washing clothes (doubles as a dry bag and something I used almost every day)
Clothing
- Trail shoes (Any brand that works for you, just try to avoi
- Flip flops
- 3-4 Merino wool underwear
- 2 bras (comfortable sport bras are better than regular bras)
- 2 breathable short sleeve tops (merino wool)
- 1 tank top
- 1 long sleeve (merino)
- 1 fleece or windbreaker
- 1 rain jacket
- 1 pair of shorts
- 1 pair of leggings
- 1 pair of hiking pants (or warm long john style pants)
- 3-4 merino socks (smart wool/ Injinji) (You want your feet dry and blister free – socks are important)
- Buff
- Hat / Visor
Toiletries
In travel sizes packed in a small plastic bag
- Deodorant (Some people didn’t carry deo but I personally can’t handle long sweaty days without it)
- Shampoo/ Conditioner bar
- Face wash
- Face moisturiser
- Body cream
- Hair brush
- Prescriptions (Bring enough for 40+ days just in case)
- Razor (to save weight you can just bring the razor head and leave behind the handle)
- Clothes washing detergent
- Sunscreen
- Small aid kit with basics (Antihistamine / Ibuprofen/ Anti-Diarrheal / Bandaids (anti blister, sports tape, moleskin, compeed)) (you will most likely get 1 blister during your time on the camino, but you can re-stock along the way))
- Chapstick
- Hair ties
- Tampons
- Tweezers
- Nail file
- Floss
ID / Tech / Luxury Items:
- Passport or ID (keep in a small plastic bag)
- Credit card
- Cash (most places don’t take card)
- Phone
- Headphones (I brought my airpods but probably would’ve preferred corded headphones that didn’t need charging)
- Camino Guidebook (I loved having mine and ripped out the pages each day after finishing the section to save weight!)
- Kindle / Book
- Small bag for evenings
A few notes:
Clothing
….Blisters. No one wants them but everyone gets them. I recommend bringing compeed (little band-aids made for blisters… they sell them in every pharmacy in Spain) and iodine in your bag to clean your blisters after popping them.
….SHOES. You will read alot about what the best shoes are for the Camino… Take all of it with a grain of salt. I started my Camino in HOKA Speedgoats and after a week switched to Teva Hurricane XLT hiking sandals because my blisters were bad and I developed a knee injury. I ended up walking the whole rest of the Camino in my sandals and it was the best decision for me. You will read alot about trail runners vs. hiking boots but keep in mind htat everybody and all feet are different. What worked for someone else might not work for you! The best thing to do is trial your shoes before you leave and make the decisions based on you.
….I love merino wool clothing. You can go a couple days without washing it and it doesn’t stink! Many long distance hikers swear by a good merino wool shirt and underwear. Merino wool is sweat wicking, dries fast and doesn’t smell bad even after days on the trail. It’s a game changer, I promise.
….Don’t overpack clothes, you will most likely do laundry every night and you no one cares if you wear the same outfit everyday.
General
….I had the good luck of not encountering a single bed bug, and to be fair, most albergues have invested in plastic bed covers and extra cleaning to avoid this happening. However, the risk is still present and therefore I recommend spraying your bag and sleeping bag with a bed bug spray at home before starting the walk.
…..Most accommodations along the Camino (and all of the municipal albergues) take cash only – this is still the case in 2023 and you should always be prepared and carry some euros in cash with you. Major towns and cities have ATM’s but it’s best to take some cash out before you start.
….I loved my Camino guidebook (Camino de Santiago, Beebe Bahrami LINK) and I frequently read about the history of the towns and for stage/accommodation recommendations. However, the book is pretty heavy so I would rip out the pages that I no longer needed every night. Yep, you read that right, I ripped out pages of a book! But this is actually pretty common and unless you plan on giving the book to a friend or keeping it as a souvenir, save your back and rip out the pages as you go.