Portuguese Camino... concrete all the way?

[AllanHG]

We are planning to walk the Portuguese route from Porto to Santiago next fall but I've just heard that the Portuguese route is primarily on roads/highways? I am just starting to do some reading on this route but wonder if anyone can share their experience?
Thanks,

 

[Albertinho]

We are planning to walk the Portuguese route from Porto to Santiago next fall but I've just heard that the Portuguese route is primarily on roads/highways? I am just starting to do some reading on this route but wonder if anyone can share their experience?
Thanks,

It is a lot of roadwalking but not on highways,
Most of the time on local roads especially from Porto.
To avoid the busy infrastructure north of Porto walk to Matosinhos and Vila do Conde along the Atlantic ocean and then head inland to São Pedro de Rates.
It is a nice caminho.
Do not forget to stay at Casa Fernanda, 18 kms north of Barcelos between Barcelos and Ponte de Lima, the best caminho experience on the caminho Português central.
Bom caminho

 

[SabsP]

No not at all... Upto Barcelos lots of cobblestones ( hard on the feet ) but lots of unpaved roads too. Walking into Santiago on the Portugues is much nicer than walking into the city on the Frances.

It is a lovely Camino!

 

[Deleted member 36903]

Lots of walking through woodland and alongside streams and rivers. Totally agree with comments by Albertinho abd SabineP. Bom Caminho!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

While I don't remember a lot of woodland or walking along streams except in a few occasions(1?), what it does not have is km after km of walking in uneven tractor tracks, and that is a great thing in my eyes. I also do not recall having to cross a fast moving road, amd did not see a single highway. Yes, there are some bits of roadway here and there with little to no room to move away from trafic to, but nothing dramatic.

 

[ashleygf]

Well Day 1 completed. Caught the Metro to the Mercado stop and then started walking. Urban beach environment for much of it. Mostly wooden boardwalks to Vila Do Condo .
Not quite woodland walking, more like the Northern Beaches of Sydney .. (with sardines and fishing nets. )
Quite nice watching the waves and the weekend families. First day aches of course .
Grateful for not too many cobblestones for the intro !
Onwards to Esposende today.

 

[jefferyonthecamino]

We are planning to walk the Portuguese route from Porto to Santiago next fall but I've just heard that the Portuguese route is primarily on roads/highways? I am just starting to do some reading on this route but wonder if anyone can share their experience?
Thanks,

the Spanish/Galician section runs mostly along small (quiet) roads with patches of dirt trails. Still a wonderful walk.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

We are planning to walk the Portuguese route from Porto to Santiago next fall but I've just heard that the Portuguese route is primarily on roads/highways? I am just starting to do some reading on this route but wonder if anyone can share their experience?
Thanks,

Allan - check my web site. Diary of the Portuguese [inland] and loads of photos. It is NOT primarily on roads/highways. In fact, I loved Porto to Santiago so much it's in my diary as my last camino in 2018!!!
Bom caminho, Allan!

 

[AllanHG]

Thanks so much for your replies. This is really helpful and reinforces our plan to walk the Camino Portuguese next year!

 

[ashleygf]

Ok. Day 2 completed. Coastal urban walking again till just south of Apulia. At the Ubitor campsite it started getting a little bit greener and less sand and Water views. Quite shady as well .
Lunch at the small cafe near the petrol station East of the main route. Possibly the only thing open. ?
Then after lunch - which was quite late at 2.30 , we started walking again. Country roads mixed with urban till the bridge at Fao . We walked along the river bank at Fao , which has a great paved path. The pilgrim route was one block west of the river , on cobblestones..

Esposende quite a cute town . Long days walk today , about 27 K's . Can feel the feet , and the cobblestones will make themselves felt , I'm sure.

Actual walking time was 5 hrs 9 mins. REMEMBER , we are all carrying day packs. My experience is that today would have been much longer and more difficult , if we were carrying our prior pilgrim packs , particularly as it is day 2. Getting into the stride , but will limit our day to 3 hours tomorrow as the aches will start to reveal themselves within our little group of 6.

 

[ashleygf]

Day 3. Grumpy day generally as the aches kick in. This happens with whatever sport we happen to be engaged in. SO we decided to cut it short and the injured support person is to pick us up at Ponte.
Nicely marked on the map. We are realising that Brierly on the coastal track is really a 2 star versus something like MMDO in France. Ponte means bridge, but this is a very nice PEDESTRIAN bridge so the support driver was more than slightly peed off at not being able to find us.
Anyway. First stage after staying at Hotel Suave Mar (so/so) was urban beach stuff again. Which then turned into village walking after about 5 K's. A little bit of uphill with a few nice houses and gardens to look at.
FINALLY a bit of woodland walking , a little bit of Australiana , complete with gum trees - no koalas.
Very quiet , peaceful and ended in aforementioned Ponte. Short, only 1 K or so but the river would be great to picnic by for those with the forethought to have food...
Driver is on the other side of main river trying to get to the spot. Lesson learned and we will use Google Maps to work out where to meet in future.
Trail is very well posted. Getting to en of season tho and a lot of places are closed. Found a LOVELY cafe after crossing the river on the Ponte. It is on Av de Moldes , about 400 metres in OPPOSITE direction of the way were are heading to Viana do Castelo. HUGE sandwiches , English speaking owner. Called it a day at the cafe , headed to the accommodation and will return tomorrow.
Short day . 2 hrs 40 of actual walking , Just on 12 K's.

 

[mspath]

Viana do Castelo is a very nice seaside town with a pilgrim albergue, S. João da Cruz dos Caminhos. However if you are searching for private accommodation, consider the OLarenjeiro, rua Rua Manuel Espregueira, 24. It is a charming newly furnished small place with a very good dining room. Just before Christmas 2014 a double room with private bath and delicious breakfast was 45 euros. Quite a bargain!

 

[ashleygf]

Viana do Castelo is a very nice seaside town with a pilgrim albergue, S. João da Cruz dos Caminhos. However if you are searching for private accommodation, consider the OLarenjeiro, rua Rua Manuel Espregueira, 24. It is a charming newly furnished small place with a very good dining room. Just before Christmas 2014 a double room with private bath and delicious breakfast was 45 euros. Quite a bargain!

Thanks for the tip . We have been booking a few days in advance , so had already made reservations.

Days 4 - 7 .

 

[CW86]

Having just returned from CP last month Ponte de Lima to SDC was not mainly road walking - there was quite a bit of forest and cobbles although there were points when you had to cross a busy main road, which in effect we followed to SDC. In the Brierly book there are alternate routes to avoid some of the less picturesque parts.

 

[Decsop]

Viana do Castelo is a very nice seaside town with a pilgrim albergue, S. João da Cruz dos Caminhos. However if you are searching for private accommodation, consider the OLarenjeiro, rua Rua Manuel Espregueira, 24. It is a charming newly furnished small place with a very good dining room. Just before Christmas 2014 a double room with private bath and delicious breakfast was 45 euros. Quite a bargain!

I stayed there! It was cheap and very cheerful (good food, too).

 

[JoanneK]

We walked along the coastline. It was beautiful and an pleasant change from the roads between Lisbon and Porto. Perhaps not the "official" route but a Camino to Santiago nevertheless. I blogged about it and included where we stayed (Albergues few and far between) with distances (20-25km per day) if you are interested. Click here for the link from Porto .

 

[Carraghadoo]

We are planning to walk the Portuguese route from Porto to Santiago next fall but I've just heard that the Portuguese route is primarily on roads/highways? I am just starting to do some reading on this route but wonder if anyone can share their experience?
Thanks,

I've just come back from walking from Tui to Santiago . Great walking with a mix of woods and small country roads. There are v short parts where you will walk along Or have to cross the national route but it's just to find the next path. Make sure you take the alternative route to Porrino to avoid industrial estate, you can get map in tourist office in Tui

 

[Camwalker2]

We are planning to walk the Portuguese route from Porto to Santiago next fall but I've just heard that the Portuguese route is primarily on roads/highways? I am just starting to do some reading on this route but wonder if anyone can share their experience?
Thanks,

Hi Allen we've just returned from the second stage coastal Portuguese Camino and loved the coastal scenery- you follow the bike paths and off road paths from Baiona to Vigo - there is an ugly bit of road along a main route from Vigo to Redondela but then it joins the normal camino route from Redondela to Santiago and is well marked through lovely little villages, woods and vineyards.

 

[solotraveller]

I'm just back from CaminoPortuguese Interior - 12 days, 10 of them was walking alone... the moment I stepped into Santiago de Compostella's plaza de Obradoiro I felt that I want to be back there in the mountains, well, after 5 days got used thet the path is almost always climbs up, no road walking for days, though quite a bit of cobblestones in numerous small remote villages...yes that wasn't just hard walking(from 30 to 40 km a day) that was an everyday adventure(my personal of course) Portuguse and Spanish part are both fascinating in their unique way