Generally, when people talk about the Camino de Santiago, they are referring to the French Way Camino.
This is the route that starts in France and finishes in Santiago de Compostella.
When you finish walking the Camino to Santiago you need to have walked at least the final 100km to get the Compostella. The Compostella is a certificate to say that you have walked the Camino. This is why so many people start their Walk-in Sierra because this is the minimum starting point required to get the Compostella.
Everyone has their own reasons to walk the Camino. Our reason? we wanted a holiday but we were sick of swimming pools and beaches. We wanted to experience some culture and taste the real Spain. A sister in law read a book about a Father and Daughter walking across Spain, she told us about it and we started our research.
Initially, we taught that walking over 800km was (A) madness and (B) impossible but we did like the idea of a few weeks without any real plans or responsibilities. So we spontaneously booked a flight to Madrid without much planning or knowledge on how to reach our start point for the Camino.
We walked the French Way Camino from Saint Jean de Pier to Muxia over 3 separate years. Each time we seemed to have a different reason. but we always made the best friends and had the best experiences.
So, What does it cost to walk the Camino in Spain?
You always see the same answer to this question
Let me explain this, It is possible for you to walk the Camino for just food cost alone, as there is generally donation accommodation in most towns. On the other side of it, you could splash out and stay in 5-star hotels every night and the cost could be endless.
For us and our Camino budgets, we would say that;
we tried to stick to a budget of about €30 per day for food and accommodation.
Some days we would spend less but other days we might need a relaxing sleep and stay in a private room in a hostel but it averaged out at around €30 per day per person.