Camino Inglés: What It Actually Cost Me

The Real Numbers (I Saved 109 Euro and Didn't Even Try)

Not the pretty version of my Camino budget, the actual one. Planned versus what really happened, every category, every euro, including the ones I got embarrassingly wrong.
Short version: I set out to spend 871 euro. I spent 762. Keep reading for where I nailed it, where I blew it completely (souvenirs, I'm looking at you), and why traveling as three changes every number on this list.

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How I built the budget
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I built this in my own Adventure Planner(and it is still free for the first 100 ppl who get it!), the same tool I use for every trip I organize, and most of the numbers came from Facebook groups, real pilgrims who'd walked the route recently and were generous enough to share what they'd actually paid.

​The one thing that mattered most for accuracy: we were a group of 3. That changes everything. Municipal albergues weren't really an option for us, three women wanting their own space and a bit of quiet after a day of walking. So the numbers below are per person, and they reflect a small-group trip, not a solo backpacker on a shared dorm bed. Walking alone or in a bigger group, expect your accommodation numbers especially to look different.

Where we stayed

Ferrol: an apartment through Booking.com, about 3km from the town center, but close to the bus station, which turned out to be convenient since we arrived in the evening.

Pontedeume: another Booking.com find, an apartment right in the town center, fully equipped. Amazing, friendly host.

Betanzos: a hostal found through Gronze, shared room for 4 (there were only 3 of us), clean, kitchen available. Cash only.

O Castro: Casa San Pedro, found through Gronze. Shared room for 4, shared bathroom, sparkling clean, and the host was incredible. She ordered food from a local restaurant and we ate with the other pilgrims staying in the house. One of the best evenings of the whole trip. Cash only here too.

Piñeiron: an apartment via Booking.com, fully equipped, including coffee, a washing machine, and a dryer. Small luxuries that felt huge after a day of walking.

Santiago: an albergue, dorm style, 4 bunk beds in a room, but right next to the cathedral. After five nights of private apartments, this felt like the right way to end it.

Here's the whole route mapped out with our stops if you want to see it laid out: Camino Inglés route map.

Flights
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Planned: 300 euro. Actual: 278 euro. Amsterdam to Santiago and back. This is the one category where I actually came in under budget without trying, and also the one that will vary the most for you depending on where you're flying from. Book this one individually, don't use my number as a rule.

Accommodation
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Planned: 120 euro. Actual: 190 euro. This was my biggest miss. I found places through Booking.com and the Gronze app (which, if you don't know it, is the go to app for pilgrims for a reason), and communicated directly with a lot of hosts over WhatsApp. Traveling as three changes your options and your approach completely, you're not squeezing into a bunk bed in an albergue, you're looking for apartments and private rooms, and that costs more. Worth it for me. Just don't budget like a solo pilgrim if you're not walking like one.

Food
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Planned: 228 euro. Actual: 183 euro. A genuine win here, and honestly the category I care about most, because food is where I always overspend when I travel alone. Left to my own devices, I wouldn't order anything but Spanish food on a trip through Spain, that's just who I am. But when you're walking with a group, you adapt. One night was properly Spanish, another we ended up in an Italian place, another Thai. Not what I'd have chosen solo, but part of the deal when there's more than one opinion at the table. Snacks were coconut water, a protein shake, sunflower seeds (my guilty pleasure, don't judge), churros, and the occasional Coke when my legs needed the sugar more than my principles needed defending.

Souvenirs
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Planned: 20 euro. Actual: 45 euro. I say every single time that I won't get emotional and buy things I don't need. Every single time, I do. This time it was a t-shirt, a ring, and a bracelet. Budget more than you think you'll need here, I mean it.

Tips
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Planned: 60 euro. Actual: 20 euro. I way overbudgeted this one. Tipping culture in Galicia is much lighter than I expected. Google the local etiquette before you go, don't guess like I did.

Domestic transfers and local transport

​Planned: 10 euro. Actual: 8.60 euro for the bus from Santiago to Ferrol, plus 2 euro for two local bus tickets in Santiago itself. Close to planned, no surprises here.

The small stuff: passport, shell, credential, pin
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Planned: 8 euro. Actual: 10.50 euro. Small numbers, but they add up. The shell, by the way, is the scallop shell every pilgrim carries, it's the symbol of the Camino, and tradition says you tie it to the outside of your backpack so it's visible as you walk. I bought mine at the airport, overpriced, hoping I'd also be able to get my pilgrim's passport there, and that didn't work out, so lesson learned: sort your passport and credential before you fly if you can.

Bank fees, emergency buffer, and insurance

​ATM withdrawals: planned 9 euro, actual 0. I used Revolut, near zero fees, so this one basically disappeared.

Emergency buffer: planned 100 euro, actual just 15 euro, for a pair of reading glasses. I lost mine somewhere on the way, and at my age, that's not optional gear.

Travel insurance: planned and actual both 10 euro, already included in my bank card's monthly fee, so no separate cost for me there.

What I didn't have to budget for at all
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Because I'm based in the EU: no visa, no extra SIM card (roaming isn't an issue and there was WiFi everywhere anyway), no vaccines required for Spain, and my Dutch health insurance covers me across the whole EU. If you're coming from outside the EU, factor these in, they weren't zero for you the way they were for me.

​The total
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Planned, flights included: 871 euro. Actual: 762 euro. I saved 109 euro on a Camino.
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I didn't expect that. I expected to go over, if anything. But budgeting properly before you go, with real numbers from real pilgrims instead of guesses, makes a bigger difference than you'd think.

Find my detailed budget: projections vs. actuals (click on the map):

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​If you want to build your own version of this before your trip, whatever route you're walking, this is exactly what my Adventure Planner is built for.

Haven't read the full story of the walk itself yet?

​ Everything you need to know about the Camino Inglés is where it all started.

Buen Camino!