St James' Way

The St James' Way is a newly waymarked long-distance walking trail that retraces the steps of medieval pilgrims from Reading to Southampton. It is an accredited part of the Camino Ingles (English Way), one of the routes of the world-famous Camino de Santiago in north-west Spain. 

Start off in Reading

The start of the St James' Way is offically in front of St James' Church in Reading's Abbey Quarter. However, make sure you visit Reading Museum first, which acts as the official Pilgrims’ Office for the St James’ Way, to get your pilgrim passport stamped. You can also buy the St James' Way guidebook, Harper Collins A-Z map guide to the route and your pilgrim passport in the museum shop. 

Ideally, arrive the day before you start your walk to explore medieval Reading and its pilgrim connections such as the Shrine at St Anne's Church and the Abbey Ruins themselves as well as the new Camino mural "Las Estrellas del Camino" on Friar Street. The Reading for Modern Pilgrims map will guide you. There are lots of walker friendly hotels in the centre of Reading so you can start off bright and early on your first walking day.

These are the 3 places to get your passport stamped at the start of the St James' Way in Reading (the stamps all count towards your Compostela if you are planning to finish in Santiago at any point):-

• St James Church (call ahead if possible, 0118 957 4171)
• Reading Museum (open Tues – Fri, 10am – 4pm; Sat, 10am – 5pm; closed Sun & Mon)
• Carluccio’s, The Forbury, RG1 (open Mon – Fri from 8am; Sat & Sun from 10am, earliest close is 9pm on Sun.)

Accomodation and baggage carrying along the route

There is a new service that will support you along the St  James' Way, book your accommodation or carry your bags. Local walking holiday company Walking.Holiday offer four to seven day self-guided walking itineraries along the St James' Way. Your first night will be spent in Reading and, depending on how many walking days you choose, overnight stays will be in or close to Mortimer, Basingstoke, New Alresford, Winchester and Eastleigh, with the final night in Southampton. 

Their packages include B&B accommodation, daily baggage transfers, transport to and from accommodation (when not close to the route), and a Pilgrims' Pack that includes a map, guide book, pilgrims' passport and a detailed itinerary. Walkers will also have unlimited access to their local team in the event of difficulties.

Resources for walkers

The Confraternity of St James have lots of advice and an online shop to help you prepare for your walk along the St James' Way (and also onto Spain). You can buy their newly updated pocket St James' Way guidebook, the new 32 page A-Z map of the route by A-Z Maps /Harper Collins, a pilgrim passport and much more. They also produce a useful list of accommodation along the route as well as a list of pubs, cafes and other locations that will stamp your passport along the route.  

The Reading for Modern Pilgrims leaflet will guide you round Reading's pilgrimage sites and you can get an idea of the the first few miles in our Reading for Pilgrims short video. 

The St James' Way is 68 miles long and after Reading runs through North Hampshire and on to Winchester before reaching its final destination in Southampton. 

• The St James' Way through Hampshire
• St James' Way in Southampton
• St James's Way in Winchester

Travel writers walk the St James' Way 

A number of travel writers have produced excellent recent articles about their own journeys along the St James' Way.  

The English Camino (August 2024) - Mark Rowe in The Ramblers Magazine, The Walk

St James Way: The return of the UK's medieval highway - Jessica Vincent, BBC Travel

I did the English leg of the Camino de Santiago – starting in Reading - Sarah Baxter, The Guardian

The history of the St. James' Way

Throughout the Middle Ages, Reading was recognised as a centre of pilgrimage. The focus in Reading was Reading Abbey, which possessed over 200 relics including the Hand of St James.  

The St James’s Way follows what is thought to be the route of those pilgrims for 68 miles from Reading Abbey to Southampton. In Spain this route is known as the Camino Ingles/English Way, the network of pilgrimage trails that run as far north in England as Durham to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, where St James is buried.

In the last five years, a volunteer-led project has waymarked the route - you can follow the famous scallop shells along all 68 miles of the route - and the authorities in Spain have accredited it as an official "Camino" route. 

On to Spain

Camino routes  eventually end in Santiago de Compostela in Galica, north west Spain. After the St James' Way you can walk the Camino Ingles (English Way) in Galicia. The Camino Ingles in Spain would have been the route that pilgrims from the British Isles took after they landed at the Galician port cities of A Coruna or Ferrol. This is where the route picks up again and is the shortest camino in Spain to reach Santiagio. The Association of Councils of the Camino Ingles (English Way) have lots of information about how to walk the route in Spain. 

Pilgrims or walkers walking the St James' Way can do so in stages and if they choose to complete the walk to Santiago at some point, can use the stamps in their pilgrim passports to collect their Compostela in Santiago de Compostela.