--- title: "After the Camino: going home" description: "What to do once the Camino ends: collecting the Compostela, walking on to Finisterre, sending your backpack home and the blues of going back to normal." url: https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/after-the-camino locale: en --- # After the Camino: going home On arrival The day you reach the Obradoiro is not the end of the story, even if it looks like it. This is what comes next, including the part nobody tells you about before you set off. [By Cesar Rodriguez · local guide](https://santiago.es/en/author) ![El faro de Fisterra sobre los acantilados del Atlántico, grabado dorado](https://santiago.es/img/illus/faro.jpg) [© santiago.es · Ilustración](https://santiago.es) There is a lot written about getting ready for the Camino and very little about getting out of it. And yet, for anyone who has spent weeks walking, the ending is as much a landing as a finish line. Here is the practical side — and the not-so-practical side — of the days that follow the Obradoiro. ## The last day, taken slowly If you have not been to the Pilgrim's Reception Office yet, that is the first step: that is where you collect the **Compostela**, the official certificate of having completed the Camino. All the details — address, opening hours, what to bring — are in [our guide to arriving in Santiago](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/arriving). Plenty of pilgrims spend that whole first day doing nothing but being there: sitting in the Obradoiro, taking the nap they have owed themselves for weeks, or simply walking around without a backpack for the first time in a long while. Before you pack, it is worth deciding without rushing [how many nights to stay in Santiago](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/how-many-nights) and how you are leaving afterwards: trains, buses and flights are all summarised in [the guide to leaving Santiago](https://santiago.es/en/leaving-santiago). ## Walking on to the end of the world A sizeable share of pilgrims do not stop in Santiago: they keep walking to [**Finisterre and Muxía**](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/finisterre-muxia), another 87 to 118 km depending on the combination of destinations you choose, over some 3-6 extra days. Anyone who completes that stretch can ask for the **Fisterrana**, the equivalent certificate for this unofficial extension of the Camino. For many people it is the way to really close the trip: finishing where the known world was once believed to end, looking at the Atlantic from the lighthouse. ## Sending the backpack — or the bike — home If you have walked with gear you would rather not haul onto a plane or a train, Correos handles the shipping through its **"El Camino con Correos"** service: the Paq Peregrino for suitcases runs about 20.95-31.40 € depending on weight, and bike shipping (Paq Bicicleta) starts at around 48.56 € depending on the destination. Worth confirming the final price for your own route before booking it, because it varies with distance and volume. If sending the gear home is no longer worth it, there are places in Santiago that will take it: see [where to donate your gear when the Camino ends](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/donate-gear). ## The blues of going back It is more common than people admit out loud: the mix of sadness and disorientation that arrives a few days after getting home, when ordinary life collides with weeks of walking, sleeping in albergues and thinking about little beyond the next stage. Thousands of pilgrims recognise it in forums and communities, and there is nothing odd about it: you have lived for weeks with a very simple structure — walk, eat, sleep, repeat — and going back to normal obligations weighs more than you expect. There is a version of it that gets talked about less and can be more confusing because it arrives with no warning: the delayed blues, which does not turn up a few days later but months later. Pilgrim accounts collected in August 2026 put it as far out as **four months** after finishing, almost always with a very specific trigger — a friend asking your advice for their own Camino, a photo, anything that takes you back there all at once — and it lasts only a few days. It is just as normal as the immediate blues and it passes the same way: with the same habits below. What helps once you are back Keeping the walking habit, even half an hour a day, instead of cutting it off dead. Writing up or rereading your Camino diary while the memory is fresh. Meeting up with a pilgrim you met on the route — plenty of Camino friendships survive afterwards over video calls or the odd reunion. And if the nostalgia will not let go, start looking at which Camino comes next: for a lot of people, the best cure is the promise of going back. In pilgrim forums that last one is close to unanimous, for both the immediate and the delayed blues: the veterans, with several Caminos behind them, insist the only real cure is starting to plan the next one. If you want to read something more about this stage, one recommendation circulates among pilgrims: the book *Still Walking: A Companion After the Camino*, about exactly what happens once you get home. We have not verified it first-hand, but several pilgrims cite it as a read that helps make sense of what they feel. ## The credencial, as a keepsake Keep the stamped credencial: it is, without exaggerating, one of the objects with the most personal history that will ever pass through your hands. Every stamp is a village, a bar, an albergue, a conversation. It is not just the paperwork for getting the Compostela: it is the most honest diary of the trip, written by other people. ## Frequently asked questions **What do I do right after finishing the Camino in Santiago?** Go to the Pilgrim's Reception Office to collect the Compostela, and then take your time to rest: the Obradoiro, an unhurried meal and as much sleep as you need. **Is it worth walking on to Finisterre?** For many pilgrims it is the best way to close the trip. It is another 87 to 118 km, some 3-6 days, with the option of getting the Fisterrana when you reach the lighthouse. **How do I send my backpack or my bike home from Santiago?** Correos handles both: the Paq Peregrino for suitcases runs about 20.95-31.40 € depending on weight, and the Paq Bicicleta starts at around 48.56 € depending on the destination. Confirm the exact price for your own route before booking it. **Is it normal to feel sad after coming back from the Camino?** Yes, it is a well-recognised phenomenon among pilgrims, sometimes called the post-Camino blues. Keeping the walking habit, writing up your diary and meeting up with people you met on the route all help soften the return. Keep reading **[Arriving in Santiago: mass, Botafumeiro and traditions](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/arriving)** — On arrival — What to do the day you walk into the Obradoiro with your feet destroyed. — Read the guide **[The Compostela and the credencial](https://santiago.es/en/camino-de-santiago/compostela-certificate)** — The certificate — Requirements, stamps and where to collect it at the Pilgrim's Reception Office. — Read the guide **[Day trips from Santiago](https://santiago.es/en/day-trips)** — Nearby — Finisterre, the Costa da Morte and the Rías Baixas, if you have a few days left. — Read the guide