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Ten days along the most beautiful and meaningful stretches of the Camino del Norte, the Primitivo and the Francés, from the cliffs above the Bay of Biscay to the Holy Door at Santiago de Compostela, in the Jubilee Year of St. James.
Founder and President, Real Life Catholic
Chris Stefanick is an internationally renowned Catholic speaker, author, and television host who has devoted his life to sharing the love of Jesus, and helping others do the same.
Founder and president of Real Life Catholic, a Denver-based ministry, Chris has reached millions through live seminars, EWTN, and his bestselling books, including Living Joy. A graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville and a recipient of the Papal Benemerenti Medal, he leads pilgrims with the same bold, contagious faith that fills his events.
On pilgrimage he’s often joined by his wife, Natalie – his partner in ministry and marriage, and mother of their six children.
A priest travels with us for the whole pilgrimage, offering daily Mass, confession and the sacraments.
We will announce our chaplain here once he is confirmed.
“Quien va a Santiago y no al Salvador, visita al criado y olvida al Señor.”
“Whoever goes to Santiago and not to the Savior has visited the servant and passed over his Master.”
An old Camino proverb: one who reaches Santiago without first visiting the Salvador, the Savior, in Oviedo has honored the servant, St. James, without honoring the Lord he served. Our route reaches Oviedo first, praying before the Holy Shroud in the Cathedral of San Salvador, before we continue on to Santiago. We visit the servant, but not before honoring our Master.
Ten days, five of them on foot. We walk the most beautiful and meaningful stretches of three of the great routes to Santiago, with Mass each day and the Holy Door at the end of them.
Our pilgrimage begins as we depart the United States on our overnight flight to Bilbao, Spain. Dinner and breakfast will be served during the flight.
Upon arrival at Bilbao Airport, our local professional tour escort greets us and accompanies us by motorcoach to our hotel. After check-in, we gather this evening for a welcome dinner to begin our pilgrimage together.
After breakfast we depart Bilbao for the fishing village of Pasai Donibane, where we set out on foot along the Camino del Norte. A short ferry crossing of the harbor, a traditional part of this stage of the Camino, carries us across before we climb through forest on Monte Ulia, reaching the cliffs above the Bay of Biscay and opening to sweeping views over La Concha Bay before we descend into the historic center of San Sebastián. We celebrate Mass in the city. Lunch is on our own today, with some time at leisure in San Sebastián before we return to Bilbao and gather this evening for dinner at a local restaurant.
Following breakfast and check-out, we travel to Zumaia to continue on foot along the Camino del Norte, walking one of the most spectacular coastal stages on the entire route as we make our way to the historic center of Deba. We celebrate Mass at the Church of San Salvador in Deba before continuing by motorcoach to Oviedo. Lunch is on our own today. This evening we gather for dinner at a local restaurant for a traditional sidrería experience, Asturian cider poured tableside in the regional style.
After breakfast, we travel into the Picos de Europa National Park to Covadonga, where the Shrine of Our Lady of Covadonga, La Santina, rests along the mountain cliffs. We celebrate Mass at the shrine before visiting the neo-Romanesque Basilica, a place of pilgrimage for the people of Asturias for centuries. We return to Oviedo, the historic starting point of the Camino Primitivo, the original Way of St. James, where a saying reminds pilgrims that one who reaches Santiago without first visiting the Salvador in Oviedo has honored the servant, St. James, without honoring the Lord he served. We visit the ninth-century Cathedral, whose Holy Chamber is a UNESCO-listed monument and home to the Santo Sudario, the Holy Shroud of Oviedo, venerated as the cloth that covered the face of Christ after the Crucifixion, taking time to reflect before it in prayer. Dinner this evening is on our own.
After breakfast we depart Oviedo toward Galicia, pausing along the way to walk one of the most cherished stretches of the Camino Francés. We begin at the Monastery of San Xulián de Samos, founded in the sixth century and among the oldest monastic houses in the West, one of the great cultural centers of medieval Europe and still today a living Benedictine community, one of only three inhabited Benedictine monasteries in Galicia. We celebrate Mass in the monastery church before setting out on foot from its walls through the wooded valley below, walking approximately 13 kilometers (8 miles) into Sarria, the town from which the greatest number of pilgrims begin their final approach to Santiago. We continue by motorcoach to Santiago de Compostela, where we check into our hotel and gather for dinner this evening.
This morning we travel to Monte do Gozo, Mount Joy, the hill from which pilgrims through the centuries have first glimpsed the spires of the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. From here we walk the final stretch of the Camino into the historic center of the city. Upon arrival we take a guided tour of the city, including the Cathedral, walking through the Holy Door, opened only during a Jubilee Year of St. James. St. James the Greater, son of Zebedee and one of the three Apostles closest to Christ, is held by tradition to have preached the Gospel in Hispania before returning to Jerusalem, where he became the first of the Twelve to be martyred, put to death by Herod Agrippa around the year 44. Tradition holds that his relics were later carried back to Galicia, and the tomb venerated here was identified in the early ninth century under Bishop Theodemir; pilgrims have journeyed to this spot for some twelve centuries since. Lunch is on our own today, with some time at leisure in the historic center. This evening we join in the Pilgrims’ Mass at the Cathedral. Dinner this evening is on our own.
After breakfast we walk the final stretch of the Camino dos Faros, weather permitting, leading to Cape Finisterre, long venerated as the End of the Earth, long held to be the edge of the known world before the discovery of the Americas. Lunch is included along the way. We celebrate Mass at a local church before returning to Santiago de Compostela, where we gather this evening for our farewell dinner together. If weather does not permit the Camino dos Faros crossing, this walk is replaced with the stage from Cee through Corcubión to Estorde, approximately 4 to 5 miles.
After breakfast we travel to Padrón to visit the Church of Santiago, home to the Pedrón, the stone to which tradition holds the boat carrying the relics of St. James the Apostle was moored upon reaching Galicia. We celebrate Mass in Padrón before continuing to the Rías Baixas, among the most scenic regions of Galicia, stopping in Cambados and on the island of A Illa de Arousa. We board a catamaran for a two-hour exploration of the Ría de Arousa, passing the shellfish beds of the estuary and the Carreirón Nature Reserve, with a seafood platter lunch and the traditional queimada included, paired with regional Albariño wine. From O Grove we continue south into Portugal to Porto, Portugal’s second city, set along the banks of the Douro River, where we check into our hotel. Dinner this evening is on our own.
With hearts renewed by the grace of the Camino and the intercession of St. James the Apostle, we transfer to Porto Airport for our return flight home.
Everything below is covered by the package price.
Four-star hotels throughout, chosen for location: two nights in Bilbao, two in Oviedo, three in Santiago de Compostela and one in Porto. Accommodations subject to availability.
Hotel ILUNION San MamésBilbao · 2 nights
AC Hotel Oviedo ForumOviedo · 2 nights
Hotel Exe PeregrinoSantiago de Compostela · 3 nights
Hilton Porto GaiaPorto · 1 night
Land package per person, ground only. Airfare is quoted separately. Every rate is stated as an addition, so you can add up exactly what you are booking.
Both extensions are optional. Chris Stefanick is not currently scheduled to attend the pre-tour or the post-tour.
Shared rooms are always doubles with two beds. If you would like us to match you with a roommate, tell us when you book and we will do our best. Please note that if we cannot find you a match by the final payment date of 15 June 2027, the single room supplement will apply.
Some pilgrims come as a couple, some bring the whole family, some come with a friend from the parish, and plenty come on their own. Everyone is welcome.
$200 per person is non-refundable.
Final payment is due 90 days before departure and is non-refundable once paid. Payment plans are available if you would like to make smaller payments before then.
The pre-tour group departs separately for Toulouse on 11 September and spends two nights in Lourdes, then travels to Bilbao on the 14th and joins the main pilgrimage that evening for the welcome dinner that opens Day 2 of the main itinerary.
Chris Stefanick is not currently scheduled to attend this extension.
Included: 2 nights in Lourdes with breakfast, dinner on both evenings, a local tour escort, private motorcoach, and the transfer to Bilbao to join the pilgrimage.
Our pre-tour pilgrimage begins as we depart the United States on our overnight flight to Toulouse, France. Dinner and breakfast will be served during the flight.
Upon arrival at Toulouse-Blagnac Airport, our local professional tour escort greets us and accompanies us by motorcoach to Lourdes. After check-in, we gather this evening for a welcome dinner to begin our pilgrimage together.
Today is devoted entirely to the Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, where the Blessed Virgin appeared eighteen times to St. Bernadette Soubirous in 1858. We begin at the Grotto of Massabielle, the site of the apparitions, where we celebrate Mass. We continue with a guided tour of Bernadette’s home and the grounds of the basilica, followed by a visit to the Basilica of St. Pius X and the Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary. We visit the Carmelite Monastery before having the opportunity to bathe in the healing waters at the baths. This evening we join the Eucharistic Procession, followed by the Candlelight Marian Procession through the sanctuary grounds.
Following breakfast, the morning is at leisure for personal prayer and reflection at the sanctuary before check-out. After lunch on our own, we travel by motorcoach to Bilbao, where we are joined by the main pilgrimage group this evening for our welcome dinner together.
Rates for this extension are in the pricing table above.
The post-tour begins the morning the main pilgrimage ends, with two nights in Porto and no internal travel. Each day carries a Mass and an afternoon at leisure, and one crossing of the Douro to Vila Nova de Gaia.
Chris Stefanick is not currently scheduled to attend this extension.
Included: 2 nights in Porto with breakfast, all guided touring, and a port lodge cellar visit with a tasting. Not included: dinners and the airport transfer.
Our extension begins in Porto, the city built on granite hills above the mouth of the Douro that gave Portugal its name. We celebrate Mass at Porto Cathedral, the Sé, the fortress-like Romanesque cathedral begun in the twelfth century, from whose doors pilgrims have set out north along the Camino Portugués for eight hundred years, and we venerate the fourteenth-century image of Our Lady of Vandoma, patroness of the city, whose figure the people of Porto have carried on their arms and in their prayers ever since. We descend through the old streets to the Church of São Francisco, whose plain Gothic shell conceals one of the most extravagant gilded interiors in Portugal, its carved and gold-leafed Tree of Jesse tracing the ancestry of Our Lord from the root of Jesse across the whole of one wall. We continue into the Ribeira, the UNESCO-listed riverfront quarter of tall painted houses and stone arcades, and walk out onto the upper deck of the Dom Luís I Bridge for the view along the river. The afternoon is at leisure to rest or to explore the old town at our own pace, and the evening is our own.
Following breakfast we celebrate Mass at the Church of Santo Ildefonso, its façade faced from top to bottom in blue and white azulejos telling the life of St. Ildephonsus of Toledo, the seventh-century bishop and Doctor of the Church whose great treatise defended the perpetual virginity of Our Lady. Nearby we visit the Chapel of Souls, tiled inside and out with scenes from the lives of St. Francis of Assisi and St. Catherine of Alexandria, and we continue to the Church and Tower of the Clérigos, the Baroque work of Nicolau Nasoni, whose granite bell tower was the tallest structure in Portugal when it was raised and has guided sailors up the Douro for two and a half centuries. This afternoon we cross the river to Vila Nova de Gaia and climb to the Monastery of Serra do Pilar, a UNESCO World Heritage Site whose circular church and round cloister are unlike anything else in the country, and from whose terrace the whole of Porto lies open before us in prayerful quiet. Below the monastery we step into the cool of a port lodge on the Gaia quay, where the wine of the Douro has been aged in oak since the eighteenth century, for a visit to the cellars and a tasting. The remainder of the day and the evening are at leisure.
With hearts renewed by these last days of prayer along the Douro and under the protection of Our Lady of Vandoma, patroness of Porto, our pilgrimage comes to its end in Porto. The transfer to Francisco Sá Carneiro Airport is not included, but our team will gladly help you arrange a taxi or private car for your return flight home to the United States.
Rates for this extension are in the pricing table above.
September 13 to 22, 2027, with Chris & Natalie Stefanick. A $450 deposit holds your place, and a pilgrimage specialist will confirm every detail with you.
Questions first? Call +1 (800) 653-0017, Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm ET, or email hello@canterburypilgrimages.com.
Every pilgrim in the group gets the app. Your itinerary, hotels and flights, the prayers of the day and a way to reach one another, all in one place and kept current as the pilgrimage unfolds.
The whole group in one thread, so a change of plan reaches everyone at once.
The full day-by-day schedule, always current, in every pilgrim’s pocket.
Where the group is staying each night, with addresses and dates.
Flight details kept alongside everything else, not in a separate email.
The prayers of the day, including the Liturgy of the Hours.
A keepsake record of the shrines the group visits along the way.
Times and meeting points pushed to everyone the moment they change.
This is a walking pilgrimage, and five of the ten days are on foot: about 5 to 6 miles from Pasai Donibane into San Sebastián, 8 to 9 along the coast from Zumaia to Deba, 8 from the monastery at Samos into Sarria, 4 from Monte do Gozo into Santiago, and 3 at Finisterre. That is roughly 28 to 30 miles in all, on trails that climb and descend. Our motorcoach carries the luggage between hotels and meets us at the end of each stage. On the other days the pace is that of a normal pilgrimage: a wake-up call around 7am, departure by 9am, back at the hotel between 5pm and 6pm. You should be comfortable walking 8 miles in a day over uneven ground.
Rates are per person based on two pilgrims sharing a room. If you are travelling alone we will do our best to match you with a roommate. If we cannot find you a match by the final payment date of 15 June 2027, the single room supplement will apply. If you would rather have a room to yourself, the single supplement is $1,000 on the main pilgrimage, and a further $250 for the Lourdes pre-tour and $350 for the Porto post-tour. We stay in four-star hotels throughout: two nights in Bilbao, two in Oviedo, three in Santiago de Compostela and one in Porto.
Yes. A US passport valid for at least three months beyond your return date is required, with blank pages for entry stamps. No visa is needed for a stay under 90 days. Entry requirements for US travelers to the Schengen area are changing, so we confirm what applies to your group before you travel.
Yes. This pilgrimage is priced ground only, so airfare is separate either way. Many pilgrims fly with the group so that arrivals, departures and transfers line up; others prefer to use miles or a favored carrier. Either way, tell us at registration so we can match your flights to the group’s arrival in Bilbao and departure from Porto.
We strongly encourage travel insurance for all of our pilgrims, and we partner with Allianz Travel Insurance to offer affordable coverage. Most of our pilgrims choose the Classic Plan. Insurance can be quoted and purchased after registration.
Today you register: we collect contact and travel details and how you would like to set up your pilgrimage. Full payment is due 90 days before departure, which is also the last day to sign up if space remains. At 30 days your pilgrim travel kit is mailed: travel app invitation, flight and trip itinerary, name badge, luggage tag, a Magnificat and a copy of the Canterbury Tales.
We will always do what we can to accommodate pilgrims who need specific seating due to a medical condition or disability, and wheelchair assistance is available from the airline. On the ground, uneven surfaces and some stairs are part of this itinerary. We can arrange handicap-accessible rooms where available, and wheelchair rentals pending availability. Wheelchair users must have a designated travel companion.
A pilgrimage is not a vacation or excursion but a unique spiritual journey that provides many opportunities to deepen your relationship with God and enrich your Catholic faith by bringing Scripture to life. Pilgrimages offer the opportunity to let Christ draw you near, and your chaplain is there to guide you spiritually on the journey.
More questions are answered in our Support Center, covering booking, payments, travel insurance, passports and what to expect on pilgrimage.
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