The Camino de Madrid
in Madrid
▶ Camino de Madrid in Madrid
Camino de Madrid in Castilla y León
Accommodation Directory
Your Camino begins wherever you are in Madrid, but the traditional starting point is the Iglesia de Santiago y San Juan Bautista on Calle Santiago 23, near the Royal Palace. Head there first — the sacristy will issue you a credencial and your first sello. You'll need your passport.
Madrid hardly needs an introduction, but it does need a plan. Give yourself at least a night here before setting off. The city is enormous, and you'll want to be rested before tackling the long walk north. Stock up on any gear you're missing — there are outdoor shops throughout the centre, and a Decathlon is never far away.
The walk out of the city is surprisingly pleasant. From Plaza de Castilla, the first yellow arrows appear — look for them on lamp posts as you head north toward the Cuatro Torres financial district. Within a few kilometres you'll pass under the M-40 ring road and — just like that — you're in the countryside. It's one of the most abrupt city-to-country transitions on any Camino in Spain.
The RENFE cercanías trains run as far north as Cercedilla, so if you'd rather skip the urban kilometres entirely, you can hop on at Chamartín and pick up the Camino further along. Plenty of pilgrims do. There's no shame in it, and nobody is keeping score.
Summer heat in Madrid can be extreme — temperatures regularly exceed 40°C in July and August. If you're starting in summer, leave at first light. The early urban kilometres offer almost no shade.
Madrid's connection to the Camino predates its status as capital. The old livestock paths — cañadas reales — that thread north from the city toward the Sierra de Guadarrama have been walked by transhumant shepherds, Galician labourers heading south for the harvest, and pilgrims heading north for Santiago, for centuries. The Camino de Madrid follows these ancient droving routes for much of its early kilometres.
Madrid's fiesta calendar is enormous. For pilgrims, the most relevant celebration is the Feast of Santiago on July 25th, when the Iglesia de Santiago holds a special mass. The Fiestas de San Isidro in mid-May are also worth catching if your timing lines up.
From Plaza de Castilla, follow the yellow arrows north past the Cuatro Torres. You'll pass through the hospital zone and into residential areas before ducking under the M-40. Once past the ring road, the landscape opens up quickly. You'll follow a cañada alongside railway tracks and a bike path, with gentle terrain through cereal fields and holm oak groves. The waymarking is excellent from the start.
Fuencarral is technically still Madrid — a neighbourhood on the city's northern edge that you'll walk through in the first couple of hours. There's a metro station here (Line 10), which makes it a convenient alternative starting point if you'd rather skip the inner-city walk entirely.
You'll find bars for a coffee stop, but most pilgrims push through without lingering. The real transition from urban to rural happens just beyond here, once you pass under the motorway.
The path through Fuencarral is still partly urban — you'll walk past the cemetery and along the Camino de la Cañada, which marks the boundary between the city and the open country ahead. From here, the landscape changes quickly as you enter the fields.
Tres Cantos is a modern planned city about 25 km from central Madrid. It's functional rather than charming — clean streets, supermarkets, and a cercanías station. If you're walking from the centre, this is a natural first overnight stop. If you're taking the train out of Madrid, it's the first stop that puts you properly on the Camino. The yellow arrows pick up clearly behind the railway station.
Services are plentiful here — everything a city of 50,000 people provides.
When leaving Tres Cantos, pay close attention to the waymarking. There's a fork shortly after town where arrows point both left and right — the correct Camino path bears right. Pilgrims who've gone left have ended up adding kilometres through the heathland before finding their way back.
The path out of Tres Cantos follows the bike path briefly before descending into a shallow valley. You'll cross the Arroyo Tejada stream multiple times as you head toward Colmenar Viejo. The terrain is gentle, with open fields giving way to scattered groves. On clear days, you'll catch your first glimpse of the Sierra de Guadarrama on the horizon — a preview of what's to come.
Colmenar Viejo is the first proper town on the Camino — a place with character, services, and a reason to linger. You enter through the Ermita de Santa Ana, where there's a fountain to refill your bottles after a steep climb up from the valley. There's another steep pull up Calle Santa Ana to reach the Basílica de la Asunción de Nuestra Señora, one of the finest examples of late Gothic architecture in the Comunidad de Madrid.
The town has bars, restaurants, a pharmacy, and shops — everything you need for a comfortable stop. If you walked from Madrid, you've covered around 35 km to get here. If you started at Tres Cantos, it's about 10.5 km. Either way, the Basílica alone makes it worth the stop.
The town's name translates roughly as "Old Beehive" — a nod to its long tradition of apiculture. The Basílica dates to the 15th century and is considered one of the most important Gothic churches in the Madrid region.
From Colmenar Viejo, the terrain changes. You'll leave the suburban feel behind and enter more open, rolling countryside with scattered granite boulders. The Sierra de Guadarrama grows closer with every hour. The path to Manzanares el Real follows cañadas through grazing land, crossing the Río Manzanares several times.
Manzanares el Real is where the Camino de Madrid starts to feel like a proper mountain pilgrimage. The town sits at the foot of La Pedriza, a dramatic landscape of weathered granite formations within the Sierra de Guadarrama national park. The Santillana reservoir glitters below a well-preserved 15th-century castle — one of the best castles in the Comunidad de Madrid, and it actually looks like a castle, not a ruin.
Storks nest on every available surface here. You'll hear them clacking from the rooftops as you arrive.
The town has shops, bars, and restaurants. Stock up here — the next reliable shops aren't until Navacerrada, about 14 km ahead.
The castle — Castillo de los Mendoza — was built in the 15th century by the first Duke of Infantado. There are also ruins of an older castle (Castillo Viejo) on the edge of town, near where you'll see the milestone marking 626 km to Santiago.
The Romería de la Virgen de la Peña Sacra in September draws large crowds. Market days bring the town to life.
You leave Manzanares el Real via Calle Real and the Puente de la Cañada Real Segoviana. The path skirts La Pedriza's dramatic granite formations — one of the most scenic stretches on the early Camino. You'll pass the Centro de Interpretación and follow a well-marked path climbing gently through robles, encinas, and pine forest toward the Collado de la Jarosa.
A small sierra village about 7.5 km from Manzanares el Real. There are bars in the plaza and you can get a sello at the ayuntamiento. Mataelpino is a useful overnight option for pilgrims who want to break the Manzanares-to-Cercedilla stretch into two shorter days. Weekend visitors from Madrid fill the accommodation here, so book ahead on Fridays and Saturdays.
When you arrive, you'll have three route options, all waymarked: continue straight along the road (fastest), detour right into the village plaza (for the bar and sello), or take the upper street through the village. All three converge on the same road out.
The stretch between Mataelpino and Navacerrada is lovely walking — granite boulders, grazing land, and the Sierra rising close. You'll follow narrow senderos parallel to the road, with the Arroyo de la Angostura for company. Expect to see goats — sometimes hundreds of them, right on the road.
A proper sierra town at 1,203 m elevation, Navacerrada sits at the entrance to the Valle de la Barranca in the Sierra de Guadarrama. It's about 7 km beyond Mataelpino, making it a natural midday stop or, for those walking shorter days, an overnight option.
The Plaza de los Ángeles, where the ayuntamiento sits, is the centre of town and where you'll find the yellow arrows. There are bars, a pharmacy, a small supermarket, and several hostales — a legacy of the now-closed ski resort nearby.
This is your last chance to top up on supplies before Cercedilla, though Cercedilla itself has good shops.
From the Plaza de los Ángeles, you climb out of Navacerrada on the road. The path turns onto a service road leading toward the Embalse de Navalmedio, follows the reservoir for a stretch, then a sendero drops you into Cercedilla about 5.5 km later.
A small waypoint between Navacerrada and Cercedilla, near the Navalmedio reservoir. The setting is pretty — pine forest surrounding the water. For most pilgrims, this is a passing point rather than a stop.
The path continues through pine forest with reservoir views. You're in the heart of the Sierra de Guadarrama now, gaining elevation gradually.
Cercedilla is a picturesque mountain town and the last place to properly prepare before the big climb over the Puerto de la Fuenfría. Take it seriously — rest well here, stock up on food and water, and check the weather forecast before setting out.
The town has everything you need: shops, bars, restaurants, pharmacy, ATMs, and the cercanías train station that connects back to Madrid (handy if you need to bail or resupply). Cercedilla has a laid-back sierra feel — stone houses, narrow streets, mountain air. It's a popular weekend escape for Madrileños, so restaurants are plentiful.
One thing to consider: the main pilgrim accommodation options are not in Cercedilla proper but in Las Dehesas, 3 km further along the Camino. If you're planning to stay there, you'll cut 3 km off tomorrow's big day.
The stretch from here to Segovia (via the Puerto de la Fuenfría) is the most physically demanding day on the Camino de Madrid. Plan ahead and carry plenty of water — there are no services between Cercedilla and Valsaín. Check the weather: temperatures at the pass (1,796 m) can drop dramatically even in spring and summer, and snow is possible well into April.
From Cercedilla, you follow the Avenida Manuel G. out of town, heading westward toward Las Dehesas and the climb ahead. The yellow arrows are well marked.
Las Dehesas is a recreation area about 3 km along the Camino from Cercedilla centre, nestled in the Valle de la Fuenfría pine forest. There are youth hostels here, and staying overnight makes strategic sense — you'll shave 3 km off tomorrow's climb.
Accommodation in this area is popular with weekend visitors and youth groups, especially in summer. Book ahead and confirm availability — don't show up without a reservation.
From July 1st, parking at Las Dehesas is limited to 240 vehicles and must be pre-booked online. This doesn't affect pilgrims on foot, but it's a sign of how popular this area gets in summer.
From Las Dehesas, the real climb begins. You'll enter the Valle de la Fuenfría and start ascending toward the pass. The first section follows a broad forest track before joining the Calzada Romana — the old Roman road that has served as the mountain crossing for two millennia.