From 1 November to 31 March 2027, the Route Napoléon over the Pyrenees on the first day of the Camino Francés is closed, and everyone must take the Valcarlos route instead. Many albergues also close in winter, so check your accommodation before you set off.
From November to March, the first day of the Camino Francés follows a different route, and many albergues along the way are closed.
The Route Napoléon is closed until 31 March 2027
There are two routes from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Roncesvalles. The high one, the Route Napoléon (via Orisson and the Col de Lepoeder), closes every winter. This season it is closed from 1 November to 31 March 2027, and everyone must take the Valcarlos route instead. The closure is set by the Government of Navarre, and anyone who ignores it may face a penalty.
The route climbs from Saint-Jean at 154 m to the Col de Lepoeder at 1,432 m, and in winter it is often in thick fog or snow. By the time it enters Navarre it is already at 1,288 m, and for the next 5 km or so there is no way off the mountain. Firefighters used to be called out to rescue pilgrims every winter, which is why the route has been closed every winter since 2015.
The Valcarlos route: a similar distance, with a high point almost 400 m lower
The Valcarlos route passes through Arnéguy, the village of Valcarlos and the Ibañeta pass. At about 23.6 km it is roughly the same length as the Route Napoléon (about 24 km), and its highest point, the Ibañeta pass, is at about 1,057 m. It mostly follows the road, so the views are less open, but in bad weather help is easier to reach. Valcarlos has a municipal albergue that is open all year, so you can also split the walk over two days.
The pilgrim albergue in Roncesvalles, at the end of the stage, is open all year. Back around 1127, at the request of King Alfonso I, the Bishop of Pamplona founded a hospice here to take in pilgrims crossing the Pyrenees.
Many albergues close in winter
Going by the opening periods listed on Gronze, of the 430 albergues on the Camino Francés with this information, 93% are open in mid-August but only 30% in mid-January. Up in the mountains, the albergue at Orisson closed on 17 October and won't reopen until early April.
Public albergues are more reliable: more than half are still open in mid-January, and in Galicia every public albergue is listed as open all year, apart from those closed for renovation. But "open all year" doesn't mean open every day; some close for a few days around Christmas. In winter, it's best to phone the day before to confirm where you'll sleep.
Only 9 hours of daylight
Around the winter solstice, the sun rises at about 8:30 am in Roncesvalles and it's dark by about 5:30 pm, more than six hours less daylight than in summer. In Santiago it doesn't get light until around 9 am, because Spain uses Central European Time even though Santiago is in the far north-west of the country. In winter, plan shorter days so you aren't still on a mountain path after dark.
The Route Napoléon is due to reopen on 1 April. If you're setting off before the end of March, remember to plan the Valcarlos route for your first day.
Buen Camino!
The CaminoGO team