Catholicism · 150,000+ per year across non-Francés routes
Alternate Caminos
Del Norte, Portugués, Primitivo, Inglés, Vía de la Plata. The other Caminos that still end in Santiago.
Why this pack
The Camino Portugués crosses the Minho River — your eSIM profile needs to switch from a Portuguese carrier to a Spanish one mid-walk. Dual-country routing is essential.
Most Camino attention goes to the Francés route from Saint-Jean, but the Camino network has six main alternate routes — each with its own character, distance, and crowd level. The Camino Portugués from Lisbon is now the second-most-walked; the Camino del Norte along Spain's northern coast is the most scenic.
Our Alternate Caminos pack covers the same dual-carrier Movistar + Vodafone routing as the main Camino pack, extended to 45 days for the longer routes and Portuguese cross-border coverage.
Route and stages.
Coverage-aware breakdown of the route. We\'ve flagged the stages where carrier choice matters.
- 01
Camino Portugués (600 km from Lisbon)
Starts on Portuguese MEO/NOS, switches to Spanish carriers at Valença.
- 02
Camino del Norte (830 km along the Spanish coast)
Movistar coverage good along the Cantabrian coast.
- 03
Camino Primitivo (320 km from Oviedo)
Asturian mountain stages have patchy coverage.
- 04
Camino Inglés (120 km from Ferrol)
Short Galician route, fine for the "Compostela-eligible" walk.
- 05
Vía de la Plata (1000 km from Seville)
The longest and least-walked main route.
Sacred notes.
- Each route has its own traditional pilgrim greeting (buen camino, bon caminho).
- Albergues (pilgrim hostels) are common but less dense on the alternate routes.
- Stage markers vary — yellow arrows or scallop shells.
Best season: May–June and September–October for most routes. The coastal del Norte is walkable earlier in the spring.
Alternate Caminos questions.
- Yes. Camino Portugués from Lisbon runs on Portuguese MEO and NOS initially, then switches to Spanish Movistar at the Minho crossing.
After the journey