5 Days on Camino: Choosing Between Portugues or Ingles Route

[mgshanks]

Hello friends! I've been a lurker on here for years after walking the Camino Frances in 2019 and have got loads of wonderful advice. I know there have been similar threads on this topic before but looking for some genuine advice.

I've got about 5 days (7 in total but I'm assuming a day for travel either side) and I'd like to end up in Santiago again.

When I walked the Camino Frances I found averaging 35/40k a day was okay for me, so I'm looking to cover a fair distance if possible. Would trying to complete the full Camino Ingles in 5 days be better than trying to get from say Ponte de Lima on the Camino Portugues?

And a more subjective question - which route is most interesting?!

Flights to Porto or A Coruña are much the same for me so starting point doesn't make much difference.

Thanks in advance!

Michael

 

[Grousedoctor]

Your “subjective” question is most interesting and also difficult to answer. Having walked both routes, I lean slightly toward the Portugués as most interesting only due to places like Ponte de Lima, Pontevedra, and Padron. All great stopping over places if your schedule allows. However, I’m beyond the days when I want to have a 35-40 km hike in front of me. With only 5 days to hike, I would probably choose the Inglés. Towns such as Pontedueme and Betanzos are quite nice. Although a relatively short Camino, the countryside presents enough rolling hills to be a good challenge. More importantly for me, I could walk a more reasonable number of kilometers a day and still smell the spring roses. If you walk during Semsna Santa as we did, there was no particular pre-Easter crowd, but we had so many opportunities to meet Spanish pilgrims heading to Santiago as we were. You can’t really go wrong! Both are great walks.

 

[mgshanks]

Your “subjective” question is most interesting and also difficult to answer. Having walked both routes, I lean slightly toward the Portugués as most interesting only due to places like Ponte de Lima, Pontevedra, and Padron. All great stopping over places if your schedule allows. However, I’m beyond the days when I want to have a 35-40 km hike in front of me. With only 5 days to hike, I would probably choose the Inglés. Towns such as Pontedueme and Betanzos are quite nice. Although a relatively short Camino, the countryside presents enough rolling hills to be a good challenge. More importantly for me, I could walk a more reasonable number of kilometers a day and still smell the spring roses. If you walk during Semsna Santa as we did, there was no particular pre-Easter crowd, but we had so many opportunities to meet Spanish pilgrims heading to Santiago as we were. You can’t really go wrong! Both are great walks.

Thanks very much for the reply - I think your comments on 'interesting' mirror pretty much everything else I have read, and I do like the idea of combining a little bit of Portugal even if it is probably just a day (much like France in the Camino Frances!)

 

[Theresa Brandon]

Check the Semana Santa festival schedule. We saw a fantastic procession in Ferrol last spring.

These thumbnails look a bit out of focus - click through to see the full image

 

[henrythedog]

The Ingles gives the satisfaction; if that’s of any interest ; of being a ‘complete’ Camino from Ferrol. I loved it because it has none of the infrastructure which has developed for the CF’s last 100km. It’s ‘authentic’ in that it passes through rural Galicia; but ‘interesting’? I’m not sure that it is, or even that it ought to be

I cannot compare it with the Portuguese just yet, but I’ll be there in March. I did walk extensively in northern Portugal in the 1990s, and I doubt it’s changed much. It was, at that time, ‘authentic’, but not especially ‘interesting’.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Hi @mgshanks! I have walked the Portuguese route from Porto, but have not yet walked the Ingles.
My suggestion would be to walk the full Ingles in the five days you have alloted, and save the Portuguese for another time when you could enjoy it more by not feeling rushed to finish since it is longer.

 

[JimG59]

The Ingles gives the satisfaction; if that’s of any interest ; of being a ‘complete’ Camino from Ferrol. I loved it because it has none of the infrastructure which has developed for the CF’s last 100km. It’s ‘authentic’ in that it passes through rural Galicia; but ‘interesting’? I’m not sure that it is, or even that it ought to be

I cannot compare it with the Portuguese just yet, but I’ll be there in March. I did walk extensively in northern Portugal in the 1990s, and I doubt it’s changed much. It was, at that time, ‘authentic’, but not especially ‘interesting’.

I would be interested in your definition of a ‘complete’ Camino. Must you start and finish somewhere for it to be ‘complete’ ? Also, what makes a Camino ‘authentic’ ?

 

[henrythedog]

I would be interested in your definition of a ‘complete’ Camino. Must you start and finish somewhere for it to be ‘complete’ ? Also, what makes a Camino ‘authentic’ ?

I put ‘complete’ in inverted commas as it’s an abstract concept, and one to which I don’t subscribe. It is, however, the subject of specific guides, forums, and is a commonly used description.

Aspects of the Camino Frances have, in my opinion, become a circus with facilities there specifically to cater for the Camino. Other routes are less developed and the catering, especially, is there primarily for the local population. That was my experience of the Ingles.

I’d be interested in your definition of ‘passive aggressive’.

 

[JR9162]

If you want a Compostela, then Camino Ingles is the ticket. It can be done in 3 or 4 days. Just be sure to start at the port, not A Coruna. That's required for your official 100+ km. Gives you some down time in Santiago too.

 

[mgshanks]

Thanks everyone! I think the Camino Ingles sounds like the best bet for this trip, and save Portugal for another time! Now to get travel sorted...

 

[Saidch]

If you want a Compostela, then Camino Ingles is the ticket. It can be done in 3 or 4 days. Just be sure to start at the port, not A Coruna. That's required for your official 100+ km. Gives you some down time in Santiago too.

hello everyone, i am just joining the conversation because i am preparing my first ever cammino, so excited, in May 2023, but only have 4 to 5 days off from work in addition to a weekend; so this Cammino Ingles sounds like a great idea for the time I have,

Just a question, you say it's better start at the port, not A Coruna, could you please indicate to me which port? or city name? thank you so much for the help!

 

[JR9162]

You need to begin at the harbor in Ferrol. There's a Friends of the Camino office there. This is the 1st stamp required on your credential. Then you walk around the harbor and continue on your way.

 

[PProffitt]

hello everyone, i am just joining the conversation because i am preparing my first ever cammino, so excited, in May 2023, but only have 4 to 5 days off from work in addition to a weekend; so this Cammino Ingles sounds like a great idea for the time I have,

Just a question, you say it's better start at the port, not A Coruna, could you please indicate to me which port? or city name? thank you so much for the help!

The port to which he was referring in FERROLL.....The starting port ( a camino travel office) is actually at the Port of Ferroll.......Hope that clarifies that point.

 

[JabbaPapa]

If I had just five days, it would be the Inglés for me.

 

[Iandvt]

Hello friends! I've been a lurker on here for years after walking the Camino Frances in 2019 and have got loads of wonderful advice. I know there have been similar threads on this topic before but looking for some genuine advice.

I've got about 5 days (7 in total but I'm assuming a day for travel either side) and I'd like to end up in Santiago again.

When I walked the Camino Frances I found averaging 35/40k a day was okay for me, so I'm looking to cover a fair distance if possible. Would trying to complete the full Camino Ingles in 5 days be better than trying to get from say Ponte de Lima on the Camino Portugues?

And a more subjective question - which route is most interesting?!

Flights to Porto or A Coruña are much the same for me so starting point doesn't make much difference.

Thanks in advance!

Michael

We just walked the Ingles arriving in Coruña on Christmas Day - we walked from the airport to Santiago over 3 days it was 60 + k - We brought Christmas dinner in the hold baggage to cook in the Airbnb but actually ate our lunchtime turkey sandwiches in a bus shelter in the pouring rain. We have never been happier.

We walked the Portugues in the Summer, coastal route, wonderful trip but they are not really comparable- With a short time frame the Ingles would be my preference.

Any spare time to spend in Santiago eating delicious food in the bars and restaurants around the market. The €50 5 course tasting paired with wine at Lume was the best we have had anywhere in Europe and certainly the best value.

What ever you choose have huge fun
Ian & Debbie

 

[SabsP]

You need to begin at the harbor in Ferrol. There's a Friends of the Camino office there. This is the 1st stamp required on your credential. Then you walk around the harbor and continue on your way.

The first stamp on the Ingles can come from any place in Ferrol.
Not required that it comes from that specific office.

 

[mgshanks]

We just walked the Ingles arriving in Coruña on Christmas Day - we walked from the airport to Santiago over 3 days it was 60 + k - We brought Christmas dinner in the hold baggage to cook in the Airbnb but actually ate our lunchtime turkey sandwiches in a bus shelter in the pouring rain. We have never been happier.

We walked the Portugues in the Summer, coastal route, wonderful trip but they are not really comparable- With a short time frame the Ingles would be my preference.

Any spare time to spend in Santiago eating delicious food in the bars and restaurants around the market. The €50 5 course tasting paired with wine at Lume was the best we have had anywhere in Europe and certainly the best value.

What ever you choose have huge fun
Ian & Debbie

What a wonderful experience! I can only imagine what it would have been like arriving in Santiago at that time of year. I can well remember the rainy days from a few years ago - in fact every day in Galicia rained for us! Thanks for the message.

 

[mgshanks]

I had set my mind on the Camino Ingles after all these posts, however the actual logistics of getting there from Scotland are proving more troublesome than Porto so that might sway me this time. I'll keep Googling until I find a plan!

 

[MarkN]

Having walked both (from Porto twice even) Ingles would be my choice for your length of time too.
It was a bit more tricky getting to a small town on the north cost than to a major city like Porto to be certain, but we did arrange it after some careful online schedule planning.