10/11 days - Caminho Senda Litoral etapas

[Lorenzzz]

Hi everyone,

I planning the best etapas to do in 10/11 days in the Atlantic coast.

Do you think these etapas sounds reasonable? Starting from Matosinhos.

1. Matosinhos - Vila do Conde/Povoa de Varzim (30km)
2. Vila do Conde/Povoa de Varzim - Marinhas/Esposende (25km)
3. Marinhas/Esposende - Viana do Castelo (25km)
4. Viana do Castelo - Caminha/A Guarda (30km)
5. Caminha/A Guarda - Mougas/Baiona (32km)
6. Mougas/Baiona - Vigo (25km)
7. Vigo-Redondela (20km)
8. Rendodela - Pontevedra (20km)
9. Pontevedra - Caldas (22km)
10. Caldas - Padron (18 km)
11. Padron - Santiago (25 km)

Any suggestion in regards of which one to choose to sleep the night between these?

• Vila do Conde/Povoa de Varzim
• Marinhas/Esposende
• Caminha/A Guarda
• Mougas/Baiona

Any other suggestion or advise is more than welcome!

Thank you in advance

 

[Mike Savage]

(From my notes to family last September)
Caminha to Ramalhosa
What a long day. Caught the ferry boat across the Minho River to A Guarda Spain where we started walking. Absolutely beautiful coast but a long day walking. No towns for 14 miles and no fountains for water.
Ramalhosa to Freixo A Galicia
Another long day and rough steep trails. Again today there was no place to eat or drink or buy food.
Freixo A Galicia to Redondela
What a long day but at least we were able to find food. After two days of only eating dinner it was great to find a place for coffee and a sandwich today. Twice there were a couple miles through Vigo with no arrows and most of the locals only have a vague idea about the Camino. After leaving Vigo there was a very long very steep climb, it felt like I would rub my nose off on the road! Once we made it to the top the view of the coast was spectacular the rest of the day. Many albergues we full but we finally got beds about 8pm. Much different than last night when we were the only two people in the albergue.

Your experience may be different but this is what I had in my notes. The rest of the walk was not as difficult as this section and the rest of my stages were the same as yours.

Mike

 

[Mike Savage]

I enjoyed staying in Caminha and would pick it over A Guarda unless you want an early start the next morning. I enjoyed the morning trip on the Ferry across the Minho River but would have started walking earlier if I did not have to wait to catch the boat.

 

[Lorenzzz]

Thank you, Mike!

 

[Walker-Brother]

Any suggestion in regards of which one to choose to sleep the night between these?

• Vila do Conde/Povoa de Varzim
• Marinhas/Esposende
• Caminha/A Guarda
• Mougas/Baiona

Did this route in 2013, I think Vila do Conde and Povoa de Varzim are pretty much of a muchness just a typical coastal strip.

If you're stopping in Albergues, I'd do Marinhas over Esposende as the albergue there looked ok and there's a decent bar directly opposite for r & r.
We stayed in Esposende and it was nice enough though our Hotel was a bit dingy.

A Guarda seemed a bigger town with more facilities than Caminha (where we stayed) in hindsight I would get the ferry over and stay on the Spanish side.

We stopped in Oia which was very pretty and the place we stayed (the Casa Puertas) was the nicest stopover of our entire Camino.
We did pop into the Mougas albergue for a sello and it seemed ok. Baiona is pretty and has lots more in the way of facilities (huge Carrefour supermarket there) so I'd probably plump for that.

 

[Migueldc]

Bom dia Lorenz

In May 2016 we walked from Porto to Matosinhos on day 1 & returned to Porto on the Metro from the Mercado stop.
On day 2 we walked from Matosinhos to Vila do Conde & again returned by Metro. (Be sure to cross the river in Matosinhos on the R. Congosta do Abade near the Mercado. We missed the signs. The extra 5km hurt by day's end!)

Some recommendations for accommodation.

Esposende, Hotel Soave Mar.

A Guarda, Hotel Convento de San Benito.

Oia, Casa Puertas.

Redondela (4km out of town) Hotel Antolin, Cesantes

Pontevedra, Hotel Restaurante Rúas.

Padrón, Pension Jardín.

Santiago, Hospederia San Martin Pinario or Hotel Costa Vella.

There are no cafés or shops between A Guarda & Oia - stock up before you leave! Also - there's nowhere to eat in Oia on Mondays (other than Casa Puertas).
Our walk into Vigo was endless, passing through industrial zones and dockyards for more than an hour. If you can find a way, it would be better to approach Vigo other than by the coastal roads.

Bom caminho.

Michael.