French Way

French Way
Native name Spanish: Camino Francés
The four branches of the Way of St. James
Type	Pilgrims' way
Location	From Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostella
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Type	Cultural
Criteria	ii, iv, vi
Designated	1993 (17th session)
Part of	Routes of Santiago de Compostela: Camino Francés and Routes of Northern Spain
Reference no.	669bis-003
Region	Europe and North America

The French Way (Galician: Camiño francés, Spanish: Camino francés, Basque: Frantses bidea) follows the GR 65 and is the most popular of the routes of the Way of St. James (Spanish: Camino de Santiago), the ancient pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. It runs from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port on the French side of the Pyrenees to Roncesvalles on the Spanish side and then another 780 km on to Santiago de Compostela through the major cities of Pamplona, Logroño, Burgos and León. A typical walk on the Camino francés takes at least four weeks, allowing for one or two rest days on the way. Some travel the Camino on bicycle or on horseback.

Paths from the cities of Tours, Vézelay, and Le Puy-en-Velay meet at Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port. A fourth French route originates in Arles, in Provence, and crosses the French–Spanish frontier at a different point, between the Pyrenees towns of Somport and Canfranc. This fourth route follows the Aragonese Way and joins the French Way at Puente la Reina, south of Pamplona, in Navarre, about 700 kilometres from Santiago de Compostela.

In 2017 roughly 60% of pilgrims travelled to Santiago de Compostela via the French Way according to statistics gathered by the Pilgrim's Office in Santiago.^[1] In 1993, the French Way, along with the Spanish route of the Camino de Santiago was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List for its historical importance in Christianity as a major pilgrimage route and its testimony to the exchange of ideas and cultures across its length. ^[2]