coastal way from Porto to Valenca

[artsasia]

I am walking from Porto to Santiago in 3 weeks time. I am very tempted to follow the coast but can find very little information about this, especially as to how much is on roads (which I hate!). If anyone has walked all or part of the way from Porto to Valenca following the coast and then the river Minho can they please get in touch? My e-mail: mail@artasia.u-net.com Any replies most gratefully received. Alan

 

[Peter Robins]

There's a brief overview of the route in Portugal at http://www.caminhoportugues.org/index2.htm but according to them there is no waymarking, just 'sporadic references to the Caminho de Santiago'. I have not walked this, but there is a beach for quite a lot of the way, so if the tides are right you might be able to walk along that (though the road might be easier going ;-) ).

If you take the ferry at Caminha, there is supposed to be a route along the Galician coast to Baiona, and on to Vigo and Redondela. I have seen references to people walking along this, but I've not been able to find any details. According to the Spanish Federacion http://www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegri ... tugues.asp
the Galician section is marked from A Guarda to Redondela.

 

[ivar]

My wife and I drove down to Caminha today (and a bit further south as well). Fantastic weather and not too many tourists.

The ferry at Caminha goes across the bay (a 5-10 minute trip I would guess) and it looked like it was going continuously since I always saw the ferry on the move (at least when we passed by).

I did see a "Camino de Santiago" sign once on my drive along the main costal road. This main road was quite busy and did not seem like a good place to walk.

On the other hand, a beautiful mix of sea and forest landscape makes for a great walk if you can find other paths to walk on. I was surprised to find several camping’s on the stretch as well.

We had a great meal at a restaurant in Caminha... ahhh.. to die for.. might go back just for the food. I have some pictures; will try to post some of them when I have some time...

Obrigado,
Ivar