The Camino by bike (bicigrino)

Pilgrims on bikes —bicigrinos— are a minority in the Camino's overall figures, but a minority with its own culture, its own pace and its own unwritten rules. The first of them: getting the Compostela by bike takes more than twice the kilometres it takes on foot.

The 200 km minimum

Where 100 km is enough on foot, the minimum by bike is 200 continuous kilometres, finishing at the Cathedral in Santiago. Electric bikes do not count towards that requirement: the Pilgrim's Office asks for human power. The usual starting point for covering that minimum is Ponferrada, on the Camino Francés.

Albergue priority: you are last in line

The official order of priority in the Xunta's public albergues, from highest to lowest, is: people with physical limitations first, then pilgrims on foot, then those travelling on horseback, and bicigrinos last. There is logic to it — anyone on a bike arrives earlier and less worn out — but it is worth knowing in advance so it is not a surprise in high season: arriving early is still the best strategy.

How far you get in a day

A bicigrino's typical stage runs to 50-70 km a day, though anyone who has trained can comfortably go past 100. The full Camino Francés, from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port or Roncesvalles, is usually split into 10-14 days; a classic 14-stage split averages around 54 km a day, an easy pace that leaves room to stop in villages and at monuments along the way.

Planning the stages

Our stage planner is built for the Camino on foot, so a bike-specific tool works better here. The most complete one in Spanish is the Bicigrino planner, made by veteran bicigrinos: it splits the Camino Francés into realistic cycling stages and there is a mobile app too.

If you would rather not travel with your own bike, the other common option is to rent one on the route: the Bicigrino team themselves offer bike rental for the Camino with delivery and pick-up on the main routes in Spain and Portugal, which saves you the bike box and the journey home with it.

For a quick look at where the route runs in Galicia, there is our map of the Camino in Galicia.

Taking the bike on the train

Renfe has rolled out its Tren+Bici Action Plan, with changes phased in from July 2025 that make travelling with a bike considerably easier:

• Bike dismantled and in a bag: accepted on every train, including the AVE, where the bag is compulsory for non-folding bikes.
• Folding bike, already folded: treated as hand luggage on every train, AVE included, with no bag needed.
• Assembled bike, not dismantled: accepted on Avant (phased rollout, starting in Galicia) through the free «Tren + Bici» add-on, and on Media Distancia, where the old €3 supplement has already gone. On Avlo the supplement is €10.

The rollout is gradual and depends on the type of service, so it is worth always checking renfe.com before buying the ticket, especially if the journey includes an AVE or an Avlo.

Sending the bike home

Correos handles sending bikes back to their point of origin through its Paq Bicicleta service, with prices starting at around €48.56 depending on the destination (figure from correos.es, indicative: confirm the final price for your own journey before booking it). It is the same service pilgrims on foot use to send their pack home: there is more on it in what to do after finishing the Camino.

Bike shops on the route

The bigger cities on the Camino Francés —Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos, León, Ponferrada— have bike shops that can deal with a serious breakdown. On rural stretches, the sensible thing is to carry a spare inner tube, patches and a basic multi-tool: there is not always a workshop within reach between one village and the next.