It is an 817 kilometres (508 mi), five-week coastal route from Irún (Gipuzkoa), near the border with France, following the northern coastline of Spain into Galicia where it heads inland towards Santiago de Compostela joining the French Way at Arzúa (A Coruña).

[a] This route follows the old Roman road, the Via Agrippa –which was used in the Middle Ages by Christian pilgrims when Muslim domination had extended northwards and was making travel along the French Way dangerous – for some of its way.

The route passes through San Sebastián, Guernica (Biscay), Bilbao, Santander, and Gijón (Asturias).

A start in Vilalba (Lugo), 116 km (72 mi) away from Santiago de Compostela, makes the pilgrims eligible for the certificate of accomplishment.

The most popular starting points of the pilgrims who got the certificate were Irun (30%), Vilalba (10.6%), Ribadeo (9.6%), and Bilbao (6.2%).