Daily Stages for the Via Podiensis (Le Puy) Route
A practical 30-day itinerary breaks down the sparse information available for this 750km pilgrimage route, with daily stages designed to balance physical demands and time in must-see towns.
hiking keep heading west
I’ve been doing my planning and prep for a hike along the Via Podiensis (Le Puy) route towards the Camino de Santiago. In comparison to the French Way, which stretches approximately 750km from St. Jean Pied de Port at the base of the Pyrenees, route planning information for the Via Podiensis is surprisingly sparse. The only decent book I have found so far, aside from the official GR65 maps, is the Cicerone guide, The Way of St James Part 1 – Le Puy to the Pyrenees.
I have to admit that the style of planning in the Cicerone book isn’t my favorite. Whilst it does contain great town information and route descriptions, it doesn’t make it easy to plan daily stages as distances between town are cumulative from 0km at Le Puy. Yes, I get that long distance hikes, and especially pilgrimage routes like The Way, are supposed to be a little less structured, but daily stages give you a loose guide to how long a route will take, and a general ideas of each day’s destination.
Last year, when I completed the French Way, I used the daily stages in the Village to Village Press guide, as rough way markers of progress. More often than not, I actually avoided the “official” end of stage towns as a way to avoid crowds or larger cities. I also learned a lot about the importance of starting slowly and allowing your body time to adjust to the daily rigors of hiking 20-30km per day.
My well loved daily stages of the the Camino Frances
The chart below is a breakdown of the distances between towns with cumulative distances from Le Puy, and suggested daily stages for a 30 day itinerary. There are a number of short days intended to, not only give your body a bit of a break, but also set you up to spend a little more time in the not-to-be-missed towns of Conques, Cahors, and Moissac. I relied heavily on the Cicerone guide for distances between towns and accommodation markers. If you want to customize your own stages, you can download the Numbers version here.
Day Start End Distance (km) Cumulative Distance (km) Distance to SJPP (km) 1 Le Puy-en-Velay Saint-Privat-d’Allier 23.5 23.5 724 2 Saint-Privat-d’Allier Sauges 19 42.5 705 3 Sauges Chapelle Saint-Roch 23 65.5 682 4 Chapelle Saint-Roch Aumont-Aubrac 24 89.5 658 5 Aumont-Aubrac Montgros 23.5 113 634.5 6 Montgros Saint-Chely-d Aubrac 20 133 614.5 7 Saint-Chely-d Aubrac Espalion 22 155 592.5 8 Espalion Golinhac 27 182 565.5 9 Golinhac Conques 21 203 544.5 10 Conques Livinhac-le-Haut 23.5 226.5 521 11 Livinhac-le-Haut Figeac 24 250.5 497 12 Figeac Cajarc 30.5 281 466.5
13 Cajarc near Varaire 24.5 305.5 442 14 near Varaire Junction near Le Pech 27 332.5 415 15 Junction near Le Pech Cahors 12 344.5 403 16 Cahors Montcuq 30.5 375 372.5 17 Montcuq Auberge de l’Aube Nouvelle 22.5 397.5 350 18 Auberge de l’Aube Nouvelle Moissac 16 413.5 334 19 Moissac Saint-Antoine 27.5 441 306.5 20 Saint-Antoine Espasot 28 469 278.5 21 Espasot Condom 30 499 248.5 22 Condom Eauze 33 532 215.5 23 Eauze Nogaro 20 552 195.5 24 Nogaro Barcelonne-du-Gers 32.5 584.5 163 25 Barcelonne-du-Gers Pimbo 31 615.5 132 26 Pimbo Pomps 26.5 642 105.5 27 Pomps La Sauvelade 26.5 668.5 79 28 La Sauvelade Chateau de Joantho 31 699.5 48 29 Chateau de Joantho Ostabat-Asme 27 726.5 21 30 Ostabat-Asme Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port 21 747.5 0