The Camino glossary

An albergue is a pilgrim hostel, the classic and cheapest accommodation on the Camino. You usually sleep in bunk beds in dormitories with other pilgrims, often for a few euros a night. They come as municipal, church-run and private hostels, and most require you to show your credencial.

We arrived early at our albergue, secured a bottom bunk and headed out to eat.

Ampolla is the Spanish word for a blister. It is a useful one to know if you need the pharmacy or have to ask for help along the way. Say tengo una ampolla and you explain that you have a blister, and any pharmacy on the route knows exactly what you need.

At the pharmacy we pointed at the foot and said tengo una ampolla, and they took care of the rest.

Backpack transfer, transporte de mochilas in Spanish, is a service that drives your backpack from one hostel to the next, so you can walk the day with only a light day pack. Companies like Correos offer it on the major routes. It is a good option for injuries, hard stages or simply a day when the body needs a break.

With bad knees for a single day, we sent the backpack on and walked the hard stage light.

Base weight is the weight of your packed backpack without food, water and fuel, everything that is not used up along the way. It is the number you steer by when you want to pack light. A good rule of thumb is that the full backpack should weigh no more than about ten percent of your body weight.

We shaved our base weight down by dropping the spare set of clothes and the heavy book.

Bedbugs, chinches in Spanish, are the small insects that can occasionally hide in mattresses and leave itchy bites. They are not dangerous, just annoying. You lower the risk by keeping the backpack away from the bed, using a liner and shaking out clothes and gear before you pack on.

We always kept the backpack on a bench and never on the bed to avoid bedbugs.

Blisters are the fluid-filled bubbles that form where shoe and sock rub against the skin. They are the pilgrim's classic enemy and can stop a trip if they are left to spread. You prevent them with shoes that fit, socks without folds and by reacting to hot spots before they turn into blisters.

We taped up the sore spots straight away, so the blisters never had a chance to break out.

A bocadillo is the Spanish sandwich on a piece of baguette you find in almost every bar along the route. Filled with ham, cheese, tortilla or chorizo, it is the pilgrim's classic lunch. It is cheap, filling and easy to pack for a break further along the stage.

We bought a bocadillo con jamón in the bar and ate it on a rock with a view.

A bordón is the traditional pilgrim staff, a long wooden stick pilgrims have leaned on for centuries. Today most people use lighter trekking poles, but the bordón is still one of the Camino's classic symbols, often with a gourd or a scallop shell tied to it.

Some pilgrims still cut a bordón from a branch and carry it the whole way as a keepsake.

The Botafumeiro is the giant incense burner swung beneath the roof of the cathedral in Santiago. It is one of the largest in the world, weighs more than 50 kilos and is pulled by eight men called tiraboleiros. It does not swing at every mass, so it is a special moment if you are lucky enough to see it.

The smoke from the Botafumeiro filled the whole cathedral as it swung high up towards the vaults.

Botiquín is the Spanish word for a small first aid kit. The pilgrim's version takes up little room: plasters, blister cushions, tape, painkillers, something to disinfect with and a small pair of scissors. With a single botiquín in the top of the backpack you can handle the small ailments yourself before they grow into big ones.

Our little botiquín of tape and blister cushions came out almost every evening on the trip.

Breaking in your shoes means using your hiking boots or trail shoes thoroughly at home before the trip begins. New shoes need to mould to the foot, and the leather has to soften, so they do not cause blisters on the route. The rule is simple: never set off on a long trip in shoes you have not put many kilometres into first.

We broke our boots in on local walks in the month before departure.

Buen Camino is the greeting that carries all the way to Santiago. Translated directly it means good way, and pilgrims, locals and hospitaleros use it to wish each other a good walk. These are the two words you hear the most, and they tie everyone on the route together.

You meet a pilgrim on an early morning stage, you both nod, and one of you says Buen Camino.

A buff is a thin tube of fabric you can wear as a neck gaiter, headband, hat or sun protection on the back of your neck. It weighs almost nothing and solves many small problems along the way, from morning chill to dust and sun on the meseta. One of the most versatile things in the backpack.

On the shadeless meseta we pulled the buff up over the back of the neck against the sun.

The Camino del Norte is the coastal route that follows Spain's green northern coast through the Basque Country, Cantabria and Asturias before turning inland towards Santiago. It is hillier and a little less crowded than the Francés, but rewards you with sea views, beaches and good food. A route for those who want to walk a little on their own.

On the Camino del Norte the days alternated between steep cliff coasts and quiet fishing towns by the sea.

The Camino Primitivo is the original route, the first way pilgrims walked to Santiago, setting out from Oviedo as far back as the 9th century. It is short but mountainous and physically hard, and is considered one of the most beautiful and authentic routes. It joins the Camino Francés shortly before Santiago.

The Camino Primitivo was hard on the legs, but the empty mountains felt like the real, old way.

A casa rural is a rural guesthouse or country inn, often a beautiful old stone house in the countryside. It is a step up from the hostel dormitory, with your own room and quiet, without having to cost much. A good option on the nights when the body needs a real bed and a door that closes.

After a week in dormitories we booked a casa rural, slept ten hours and started fresh.

Catedral de Santiago is the great cathedral the whole Camino leads to. By tradition the apostle James's grave lies in the crypt beneath the altar. The facade facing Obradoiro square is the image most pilgrims carry with them the whole way, and the sight of it after weeks of walking is, for many, the high point of the trip.

When we rounded the corner and saw Catedral de Santiago rise up, several of us had tears in our eyes.

The Codex Calixtinus is a 12th-century manuscript often called the world's first travel guide. The book describes the route to Santiago, the towns along the way and advice for the pilgrims of the day. It shows that the Camino has been a well-documented journey for almost a thousand years.

Even in the Codex Calixtinus, medieval pilgrims were given advice on water, weather and hostels along the way.

Compeed is the best-known brand of blister plasters, a thick, gel-like cushion that sits like a second skin over a blister. It dulls the pain and protects while the blister heals, so you can keep walking. Most pilgrims carry a few sheets, and they can be bought at any pharmacy along the route.

A Compeed plaster over the sore heel saved the day, so we could finish the stage.

Completo means full, and the sign goes up at a hostel when all the beds are taken. In high season you see it more often, especially late in the day. That is why many pilgrims set off early to arrive in good time, or they book beds ahead on the busiest stretches.

We reached the town late and found completo at the first two hostels before we got the last bed.

The Compostela is the Latin certificate of completion you receive at the pilgrim office in Santiago. To get it you must have walked at least 100 kilometres, or cycled at least 200, and be able to show stamps in your credencial from the road. It is the formal seal that you finished.

The last 100 kilometres from Sarria are enough to earn your Compostela.

The concha, also called the vieira, is the scallop shell that is the very symbol of the Camino. Pilgrims carry it on their backpack, and the ribs that meet at a single point are read as all the routes coming together in Santiago. You find the shell on signs and waymarkers the whole way.

We tied a concha to the backpack in our starting town, so everyone could see we were pilgrims.

The credencial is your pilgrim passport, a small folded card you get stamped along the way. It gives you access to most hostels, and it is your proof that you actually walked the route. You pick it up in your starting town, at pilgrim offices or in certain churches and hostels.

Without a stamped credencial you cannot get your Compostela when you arrive in Santiago.

Cruz de Ferro, the iron cross, is one of the Camino Francés's most symbolic stops, high up in the mountains near Foncebadón. The tradition is that pilgrims lay a stone they have carried from home at the foot of the cross, a symbol of something they want to let go of. It is a quiet moment for many.

We each laid our stone at Cruz de Ferro and stood in silence for a while before walking on.

Desayuno is breakfast in Spanish, and it is often simple: a café con leche and a piece of toast or a croissant. Many bars open early for pilgrims, but not always as early as northern stomachs would like. A good number of people walk the first few kilometres and eat desayuno in the first open bar.

We walked an hour in the dark and then stopped for desayuno with a hot café con leche in the first bar.

Donativo means donation. A donativo hostel or a donativo meal has no fixed price, you give what you can and want to. The system rests on trust and on people paying enough that the next person can be welcomed too. Give from the heart, not the smallest amount possible.

The hostel was donativo, so we left what an ordinary night would have cost in the box.

An etapa is a stage, a day's section of the route from one overnight stop to the next. Guidebooks and apps split the Camino into classic stages, but you set your own pace. You can join two short stages together or split a long one, depending on how the legs feel.

We took a short stage the day after the Pyrenees, so the legs could ease into the rhythm.

A farmacia is a pharmacy, recognisable by the green cross you see in every town along the route. The pharmacies are used to pilgrims and help with blisters, sore muscles, cuts and small ailments. The staff often give good, free advice before you buy anything at all.

Every farmacia along the way had plasters and blister products out by the till for us pilgrims.

Finisterre is the cape on the Galician coast that the Romans called Finis Terrae, the end of the world. Many pilgrims walk the roughly 90 kilometres on from Santiago to reach it and finish the trip by the sea. At the lighthouse you watch the sun set into the Atlantic, and by tradition you mark the end of the journey here.

We walked all the way out to Finisterre and sat by the lighthouse as the sun sank into the sea.

The flecha amarilla is the yellow arrow that shows the way along the whole Camino. The idea came from the priest Elías Valiña in O Cebreiro, who began painting arrows in yellow paint to guide pilgrims. Today they are painted on stones, walls, pavements and trees, and after a few days you look for them automatically.

Whenever we were unsure of the way, a flecha amarilla always turned up on a wall or a pavement.

Foot care is everything you do to keep your feet whole all the way. It covers clean, dry socks, airing your feet at breaks, keeping your nails short and taping sore spots before they turn into blisters. On the Camino your feet are your most important gear, so the daily routine pays off.

Every evening the feet were washed, dried and checked. That foot care saved the whole trip.

A fuente is a drinking water fountain or a public tap, found in towns and at many hostels. The water is usually drinkable unless a sign says agua no potable, meaning not drinking water. A fuente is worth its weight in gold on hot stages, where you can fill the bottle without buying water.

We planned the hot stages around where the next fuente was, so the bottles never ran fully dry.

Galicia is the green region in the northwest of Spain, where Santiago lies and where all the routes end. The landscape is lush and hilly with eucalyptus forests and mist, precisely because it rains a fair bit. The region has its own language, Galician, and a cuisine known for octopus, pulpo, and fresh fish.

The final days through Galicia's green hills were lush, damp and quite their own in mood.

A headlamp is a small light on a headband, hard to do without on the early morning starts when you set off in the dark. Many pilgrims start before dawn to arrive ahead of the heat and the full hostels, and a headlamp keeps your hands free for poles and map. In Spanish it is called a frontal.

We walked the first hours in starlit darkness with the headlamp on, following the yellow arrows.

Hiking socks are socks made to walk far in, often in wool or a wool blend that wicks sweat and reduces rubbing. Some pilgrims wear a thin liner sock underneath, so the friction happens between the two layers instead of against the skin. Good socks are cheap insurance against blisters.

We switched to dry hiking socks midway through the day, and the feet stayed fresh.

A hospitalero is the person who runs a hostel and welcomes the pilgrims. Many are volunteers, often former pilgrims giving something back to the way. They stamp your credencial, show you around and often know the best tips for the next stage.

Our hospitalero cooked a shared dinner for everyone in the hostel that evening.

Kilómetro cero, kilometre zero, is the zero point on the square in front of the cathedral in Santiago. It is where the countdown of the waymarkers ends, and for many it is the finish line itself. A marking in the paving shows the spot where the journey formally ends.

We sat down at kilómetro cero on Obradoiro square and felt that now we had really arrived.

Layering is the principle of dressing in several thin layers instead of one thick one. A moisture-wicking base layer, an insulating mid layer and a wind- and waterproof outer layer let you regulate your temperature just by taking layers off and on. It is the simplest way to handle changing weather.

In the morning we walked with all three layers on, and by midday we were down to just the base layer.

Menú del día is the menu of the day, a fixed three-course meal at a fixed price that Spanish restaurants serve at lunchtime. It resembles the pilgrim menu but is often a little better and cheaper, because it is made for locals. A good, filling meal with bread and a drink included.

In the middle of the day we found a menú del día for locals and ate better than at any pilgrim menu.

Merino wool is a fine, soft wool from merino sheep that has become the pilgrim's favourite material. It holds warmth even when damp, regulates temperature and, most importantly, does not smell, even after several days. That lets you get away with fewer changes and pack lighter.

We could wear a merino wool top three days in a row without it smelling.

The meseta is the large, flat high plateau in the middle of Spain that the Camino Francés crosses between Burgos and León. It is known for open skies, grain fields to the horizon and long, shadeless stretches. Some skip it, but many end up loving the meditative, quiet days here.

On the meseta we could see the day's stage lie straight ahead all the way to the horizon.

Misa del peregrino is the pilgrim mass held every day in the cathedral in Santiago, usually at noon. Pilgrims from all over the world gather, and at some masses the great Botafumeiro is swung. You do not have to be a believer to sit in. Many go for the atmosphere and to mark that the journey is over.

We just made it in time for the misa del peregrino and watched the Botafumeiro swing high up towards the vaults.

Mochila is the Spanish word for backpack. You meet it often, for example in transporte de mochilas, the service that drives your backpack on to the next hostel so you can walk the day light.

We sent our mochila ahead on the hardest mountain stage and walked with only a small day pack.

Muxía is a small coastal town by the wind-blown cliffs north of Finisterre. Many pilgrims add it as an extra variant after Santiago, making the trip out to the coast about 116 kilometres in all. The sanctuary by the sea and the raw cliffs make it a beautiful, quiet finish.

We walked on from Finisterre to Muxía and had an even quieter finish by the cliffs.

O Cebreiro is the small mountain village where the Camino Francés climbs into Galicia. The town is known for its round, thatched Celtic houses called pallozas and for the mist that often sits over the valleys. It was the priest here, Elías Valiña, who began painting the yellow arrows that guide the whole route.

We reached O Cebreiro in mist and felt for the first time that Santiago was close.

Peregrinación means pilgrimage. It is the big word for the whole journey, the inner one as much as the many kilometres. Whether you walk out of faith, curiosity or simply to clear your head, your trip to Santiago is a peregrinación.

For some it is a peregrinación in the religious sense, for others just a long, clear walk away from everyday life.

Peregrino is the Spanish word for pilgrim, meaning someone walking the Camino. Peregrina is the feminine form. The word turns up everywhere, from menus to signs, and it is the name you carry yourself the moment you set off.

The pilgrim menu is called menú del peregrino, the pilgrim's menu.

The pilgrim menu, menú del peregrino in Spanish, is a set meal at a set price in restaurants along the route. It usually has three courses with bread, wine or water included, and it is good and filling for little money. It is the easy, cheap option when the legs are tired in the evening.

After a long stage the pilgrim menu's three courses and a glass of house red tasted heavenly.

The Pilgrim's Office, Oficina del Peregrino in Spanish, is the office in Santiago where you finish your Camino and get your Compostela. Here you show your stamped credencial, and they check that you have walked at least 100 kilometres. In high season there can be a queue, so come early in the day.

We queued at the Pilgrim's Office with our full credencial and finally got our Compostela.

Pulpo a la gallega is Galicia's famous octopus dish, boiled tender and seasoned with olive oil, coarse salt and red paprika. It is served classically on a wooden plate and is one of the first things to taste when you reach Galicia. Many towns have a pulpería that specialises in exactly this dish.

In Melide we stopped at a pulpería and shared a plate of pulpo a la gallega as a celebration.

A rain poncho is a light piece of rain protection that covers both you and the backpack at once. Especially in green, damp Galicia and on the northern routes, proper rain gear is impossible to avoid. A poncho takes up a little room but does not fall apart when it gets its heaviest use.

When the rain set in at O Cebreiro, we were glad of the poncho over both body and backpack.

Refugio is an older term for a pilgrim hostel and really means place of refuge. The word is used loosely alongside albergue, and you still see it on signs, especially at the more remote hostels. The meaning is the same: a place to get a roof over your head after a long day.

The little refugio in the mountains had only ten beds, but the warmest atmosphere on the whole route.

Roncesvalles is the Spanish monastery site on the far side of the Pyrenees where many finish the first stage of the Camino Francés. The large pilgrim hostel in the monastery takes in hundreds of pilgrims, and from here the journey begins down through Navarra towards Pamplona.

After the long climb from France, beds in the monastery at Roncesvalles were a blessing.

Saint James, Santiago in Spanish, is the saint the whole Camino leads to. By tradition his grave lies in the cathedral in Santiago de Compostela, and it is that grave pilgrims have walked towards since the Middle Ages. You need be neither Christian nor a believer to walk the route.

The name Santiago is a contraction of Sant Iago, Saint James himself.

Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port is the small French town where most people start the Camino Francés. From here the first stage crosses the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles, a hard but beautiful beginning. Come the day before if you can, so you can pick up your credencial and start rested early in the morning.

We arrived in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port the evening before and crossed the Pyrenees at dawn.

Santiago de Compostela is the city in Galicia where all the Camino routes meet. The goal is the great cathedral, where the apostle James's grave lies by tradition. Walking onto the Obradoiro square in front of the cathedral after weeks on the trail is, for most people, the biggest moment of the trip.

We set the backpacks down, sat in the middle of Obradoiro square and just looked up at the cathedral.

Sarria is the Galician town that lies just over 100 kilometres from Santiago on the Camino Francés. Because it is the minimum distance for earning your Compostela, a great many people start right here. That means more company and fuller hostels on the final stages, but also a lively, festive mood towards the goal.

From Sarria the route grew much busier at once, because this is where many begin their Camino.

A sello is a stamp you collect in your credencial along the way. You get them in hostels, churches, bars and cafés, and each stamp is unique to the place. On the final 100 kilometres you need at least two stamps a day to prove you walked the whole way.

Many people keep their stamped credencial as the finest souvenir from the trip.

Siesta is the Spanish midday break, when many shops, pharmacies and offices close for a couple of hours in the middle of the afternoon. It is worth knowing when you need to shop or sort out something practical. Plan errands for the morning or late afternoon, when things open again.

We just made the pharmacy before the siesta shut everything down until later in the afternoon.

A sleeping bag liner is a thin sack of silk, cotton or synthetic that you sleep in, either inside or instead of your sleeping bag. It keeps the bag clean, adds an extra layer of warmth and is a good hygiene barrier on hostel mattresses. It weighs and packs down to almost nothing.

On the warm nights we skipped the sleeping bag and slept in just the liner.

Tapas are small dishes you share or eat several of, and pinchos are the northern Spanish relative, often a single mouthful on a piece of bread held together with a stick. Going from bar to bar and building a meal out of small dishes is a cheap, cheerful way to eat dinner after a long stage.

Instead of a set menu we ate our way through three bars and a run of pinchos that evening.

Tarta de Santiago is the Galician almond cake you find everywhere on the final stages. It is decorated with a cross of Saint James in icing sugar on top and tastes of almonds and lemon. Many pilgrims eat it as a small celebration when they reach Santiago.

We shared a slice of tarta de Santiago on the square in front of the cathedral as a sweet finish.

The Pyrenees are the mountain range between France and Spain that the Camino Francés crosses on its very first stage from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. The climb is hard, but one of the most beautiful on the whole route, with wide views over the mountains. In bad weather the low route through Valcarlos is recommended over the high Napoléon route.

The first day over the Pyrenees was the hardest, but also the most magnificent of the whole trip.

Trekking poles are the light, adjustable walking poles most pilgrims use today. They take the load off knees and hips on descents, add stability on loose ground and set a good rhythm in the legs. Two poles share the work better than one, especially with a full backpack on.

On the steep descents in Galicia our trekking poles were worth their weight in gold for the knees.

Ultralight is an approach to packing where you cut the weight down to the absolute essentials. The idea is that every gram you do not carry is a gram less wear on knees, back and mood over many days. On the Camino it is often the small things that add up, so weigh everything and cut half of it away.

We took an ultralight approach and left behind everything we had not used on our first trip.

Ultreia is an old pilgrim greeting from the Middle Ages that means something like onward and forward. It was often used as encouragement between pilgrims, frequently paired as Ultreia et Suseia, onward and upward. Today you hear it less often than Buen Camino, but it is still alive.

An older pilgrim called out Ultreia as we fought our way up the final climb.

Vía is the Spanish word for way or road. You meet it in the names of several pilgrim routes, for example the Vía de la Plata, the silver way that runs up through western Spain. The word is a reminder that a camino is not a single path but a whole network of roads flowing together towards Santiago.

The word vía turns up on signs and in route names all the way through Spain.

The Vía de la Plata, the silver way, is the long southern route that runs from Seville up through western Spain towards Santiago. At around 1000 kilometres it is one of the longest and most remote routes, with fewer pilgrims and long, open stretches. A route for the experienced walker with plenty of time.

On the Vía de la Plata we could walk a whole morning without meeting a single other pilgrim.

The waymarkers, mojones in Spanish, are the low stone pillars with a scallop shell and a number that count down the kilometres to Santiago on the Galician stages. They appear at regular intervals and become a small ritual as the number falls. Many take photos at the famous marker at 100 kilometres.

We celebrated every waymarker that showed a round number on the way in towards Santiago.

Xacobeo, a Holy Year, is one of the years when the apostle James's feast day on 25 July falls on a Sunday. In a Holy Year the Holy Door of the cathedral in Santiago is opened, and extra pilgrims take to the road. The word is Galician, the second of Galicia's two languages.

In a Xacobeo year the route is busier, but the atmosphere around the cathedral is truly special.