Reaching Santiago de Compostela & Camino Endings
After months, or sometimes years, of thinking about it and planning and dreaming, you walk into Praza do Obradoiro and look up at the Cathedral in the heart of Santiago de Compostela and can’t believe you’ve made it.
For most pilgrims, this marks the end of their Camino. But for many, the end of the walk is not always the end of the story.
What happens next? Do you stay? Leave immediately? Walk on to Finisterre? Do you feel elated of lost? Or are you completely unsure what to do now?
This section gathers everything you need for the practical side of finishing in Santiago, and for navigating the days that follow.
Feeling overwhelmed with planning your Camino?
Instead of searching endlessly, take a look at my Camino Planning Workshops. I turned over a decade of experience into a library of 20+ hours of practical, short, easy-to-follow videos, answering every question a pilgrim could have and plenty you’ve not thought to ask yet!
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Whenever you travel, you should have great travel and medical insurance. None of us expect anything bad to happen, but in the event of an incident, you want to be sure that your insurance will cover you.
I’ve ended up in hospital in Peru, Indonesia, Portugal, Japan and Ireland. Every time my insurance took care of everything. I would never leave home without full and comprehensive insurance.
MondialCare : Due to increasing limitations, mainly due to age, we have recently switched to MondialCare for our travel insurance. We have taken an annual policy at a very reasonable cost that includes medical and other travel cover. There are no trip length limits and the upper age for cover is 84. For Camino walkers and travel in Europe they have a low cost Schengen policy with no age limit.
TrueTraveller : We have used this policy and were very happy with the cover, especially considering our ages and pre-existing conditions.
Globelink: We have used and recommended Globelink for years and not heard of any issues. They are a great choice for European and UK Residents.
Genki : This is an EU based company offering long term policies for nomads and travellers. Their monthly rates are very competitive for longer trips too.
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Hey I’m Colleen. I’m married to Gerry, we’ve three fabulous kids and been living in France for almost two decades. I fell in love with Spain in the 1980s and I’ve walked 1000s of miles along the Camino de Santiago. Now we’re exploring and walking the world and I can’t wait to share what we’ve learned!