Is it Safe to Hike the Camino de Santiago as a Solo Female? Everything You Need to Know

When I decided to hike the Camino de Santiago, I was just getting out of a 6-year relationship, so it had been a long time since I had traveled solo. And as much as I love hiking, I never hike alone, at least in the U.S., where it doesn’t feel safe to go solo. So naturally, I started looking into solo female safety on the Camino de Santiago after deciding to finally hike it.

Now that I’ve completed the Camino, I can absolutely say I felt incredibly safe the whole time. That being said, it’s important to note that I hiked the Camino Francés, which is one of the most popular routes. In 2023, 219,785 pilgrims hiked the Camino Francés. I also hiked in June, which is quite a popular month.

If you’re hiking another route, I recommend looking into safety information specific to that route as it could be very different. You can also check out Follow the Yellow Shell for a helpful breakdown on most popular routes and months.

There are always other Camino pilgrims around.

Even when I was hiking, there were always people around. While sometimes I didn’t see anyone ahead or behind me, they weren’t far away. I felt very secure in that.

In every albergue, I felt safe as well. Most that I stayed in had massive rooms fitting at least a dozen, if not many more, people, all of whom were pilgrims like me.

Most albergues require you to be a pilgrim to stay there, so there won’t be random people there trying to take advantage of tired pilgrims. That being said, the doors are pretty open during the day, so don’t leave anything valuable in your pack or out, especially if you’ll be stepping out or taking a nap.

If you’d prefer not to hike alone, there are always people looking to make friends.

It can be easy to make friends on the Camino since you tend to see many of the same people day after day and are hiking for long distances. Most people I bumped into were solo travelers as well, including many other solo female hikers.

While I enjoyed hiking solo, I don’t think there was ever a day where I hiked solo the entire time. Towards the end, I stuck with my friends, Jana from Germany and Jake from Texas, almost all day every day.

In general, Spain is an incredibly safe country.

I’ve traveled all over Spain and have never felt unsafe as a solo female. Sure, some areas are known for pickpocketing issues (Barcelona in particular), but that’s true for most of Europe.

In general, Spain is one of the safest countries in the world. The Global Peace Index ranks Spain as the 32^nd safest country in the world. In comparison, the U.S. is ranked 131^st.

I’ll also add that throughout my hike, I periodically saw Spain’s Guardia Civil police officers keeping an eye on hikers. Apparently the Guardia Civil even have a stamp!

The biggest risk for any pilgrim is theft.

For that reason, I had a fanny pack that I always kept on me with my phone, wallet, and passport. I kept it in my backpack while hiking, but anytime I stopped for a break, I pulled it out.

When I got to my albergue each day, it pretty much lived with me. I even brought it into the shower and hung it on the stall hook. I recommend bringing an S hook with you for this purpose in case there isn’t a hook in the stall. When I went to sleep each night, I pushed it down deep into my sleeping bag liner so no one could get to it. I had no issues.

Another risk may be dog attacks (but this is rare).

I didn’t personally encounter this… Well, actually, I did get “attacked” by a domestic chihuahua, in a way, but that was my own fault and not a big deal…

In all seriousness, there have been reports in some of the Camino Facebook groups about dog attacks. They can be pretty rare, particularly on the more popular routes, but they do happen. I love the Wanderlusting Lawyer’s YouTube channel, and she has a video talking about how she’s preparing to avoid future dog attacks.

Download the Alertcops app.

The Spanish government has a free app called Alertcops that I recommend downloading before your Camino (or any trip to Spain). The app makes it much easier in case you need to communicate with the police and you don’t know Spanish.

You can chat with the police in English and share photos, videos, and your GPS location with them. There are options to report a number of crimes and an SOS button for emergencies. For peace of mind, you can also set up the app to continually share your location with chosen loved ones.

Don’t stress about solo female safety on the Camino too much. Enjoy the experience!

Overall, solo female safety on the Camino should not be a concern that keeps you from this once-in-a-lifetime experience. You’re much more likely to experience physical ailments (blisters!!!) than encounter any safety issues, but it’s important to stay vigilant and exercise precautions as you would anywhere.