Accommodations on Camino Portuguese Coastal Route

[ColletteMa]

Hello all!
I'm so grateful for this forum.
I am doing my first Camino with my adult children in the last two weeks of August from Porto to Santiago. I'm guessing that I will need to make reservations because it is August. I'm just not sure how this would work. What happens if we have a rough day and don't get as far as the place we have reservations at? And if the albergues don't take reservations is there a chance that we wouldn't be able to find accommodations?
Thank you so much. Collette

 

[Johnnyjenga]

Hello Colette,

It can be a bit daunting. How many are in your party?

The first thing that I would suggest, is to get a good assessment of everyone’s fitness. Ideally you could do some trial hikes with packs and see how far your least fit person can go in 4 or six hours. Then you have somewhere to begin your planning.

It could be that 20km a day is not reasonable, because it’s either too far or too short.

You should definitely have reservations for your starting point and your next day, too.

As for the rest of the trip, you know after the first few days what’s realistic. Then you well have a better idea what you can plan.

Buen Camino.

 

[Mike Molloy]

Hi, if you can't make it to your accommodation, just get a taxi there and the next day back to where you were and continue.

 

[Telelama]

Hi, if you can't make it to your accommodation, just get a taxi there and the next day back to where you were and continue.

Once we learned this, the pressure came off. We no longer cared nor worried about a bed at night. So what if you have to taxi back to where you stopped? No one cares, do your own Camino.

 

[marlenegehl]

Hello all!
I'm so grateful for this forum.
I am doing my first Camino with my adult children in the last two weeks of August from Porto to Santiago. I'm guessing that I will need to make reservations because it is August. I'm just not sure how this would work. What happens if we have a rough day and don't get as far as the place we have reservations at? And if the albergues don't take reservations is there a chance that we wouldn't be able to find accommodations?
Thank you so much. Collette

Whatever you do, be SURE to stay at Casa Fernanda in Lugar do Corgo (between Barcelos and Ponte de Lima). I have made 3 caminos, and this sweet albergue is by far the best! Wonderful sleeping beds with real sheets , generous farm to table dinner and breakfast. And a host that will make the whole group feel like family. It is all donation, and will show your family the true camino spirit.
Also, be sure to mention to all your accommodations that you are a family. You seem to get more private units or areas. Many "fancier" places offer pilgrim rates so be sure to ask.
Get ready to be blessed! And enjoy the journey!!

 

[ColletteMa]

Thank you all for your responses!
There will be three of us in our party and I think that is a good idea to see how far I can go as I am the least fit person!
I like the idea of taking a taxi if need be and going back the next day to that spot. I wouldn't have thought of that.
So, do most albergues take reservations?
Thanks for the heads up about Casa Fernanda.
Collette

 

[RESOMERS]

I walked the last 100 km of the Portuguese Central Camino last May. I don't know your financial constraints, but look into hotel accommodations as well as albergues. You won't have to worry about arriving late, and you won't have to leave by 8:30AM. But you will need reservations. Look into a company called Portuguese Green Walks. I have recommended them before on the forum, and I don't get any kickbacks. On two days we had to taxi back and forth to our hotel because the distance was too far. All that was figured about beforehand. They just made our Camino (husband and myself, age 72) worry free.

 

[Cjtay]

Whatever you do, be SURE to stay at Casa Fernanda in Lugar do Corgo (between Barcelos and Ponte de Lima). I have made 3 caminos, and this sweet albergue is by far the best! Wonderful sleeping beds with real sheets , generous farm to table dinner and breakfast. And a host that will make the whole group feel like family. It is all donation, and will show your family the true camino spirit.
Also, be sure to mention to all your accommodations that you are a family. You seem to get more private units or areas. Many "fancier" places offer pilgrim rates so be sure to ask.
Get ready to be blessed! And enjoy the journey!!

Hello, I’m trying to make at Casa Fernanda but can’t find any way other than to call, and I don’t speak a bit of Portuguese. do you know if anyone at the albergue speaks English? Thank you.

 

[DennisJ]

Hello all!
I'm so grateful for this forum.
I am doing my first Camino with my adult children in the last two weeks of August from Porto to Santiago. I'm guessing that I will need to make reservations because it is August. I'm just not sure how this would work. What happens if we have a rough day and don't get as far as the place we have reservations at? And if the albergues don't take reservations is there a chance that we wouldn't be able to find accommodations?
Thank you so much. Collette

I walked the Portuguese Coastal from Porto to Santiago during May 2023. I only made a reservation in advance for my first night near Porto. After that I booked either the night before or same day. I stayed in a mix of hostels, rooms in private houses, and small hotels. Never had a problem getting accommodation at short notice.

I liked the flexibility. For example, when I was having a late lunch in Guarda, Spain I decided I was too tired to walk further, went on Booking.com and found a room in the town. And the hotel owner gave me a packed lunch for the next day!

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

Hello all!
I'm so grateful for this forum.
I am doing my first Camino with my adult children in the last two weeks of August from Porto to Santiago. I'm guessing that I will need to make reservations because it is August.

Keep in mind that August is the holiday month for most of the locals, and going "to the beach" is quite a standard holiday for the Portuguese.

So the coastal route north of Porto may have more local demand for accommodation than would be typical for the rest of the year, and plan accordingly.

Bom caminho!

 

[jungleboy]

Whatever you do, be SURE to stay at Casa Fernanda in Lugar do Corgo (between Barcelos and Ponte de Lima).

The OP is walking the coastal route and won’t pass by Fernanda’s.

 

[jungleboy]

Hello, I’m trying to make at Casa Fernanda but can’t find any way other than to call, and I don’t speak a bit of Portuguese. do you know if anyone at the albergue speaks English? Thank you.

Fernanda speaks English.

 

[Albertinho]

Whatever you do, be SURE to stay at Casa Fernanda in Lugar do Corgo (between Barcelos and Ponte de Lima). I have made 3 caminos, and this sweet albergue is by far the best! Wonderful sleeping beds with real sheets , generous farm to table dinner and breakfast. And a host that will make the whole group feel like family. It is all donation, and will show your family the true camino spirit.
Also, be sure to mention to all your accommodations that you are a family. You seem to get more private units or areas. Many "fancier" places offer pilgrim rates so be sure to ask.
Get ready to be blessed! And enjoy the journey!!

You may reserve Casa da Fernanda on beforhand. She has a max of 20 beds and it will be fully booked in August every day.
The place where Casa da Fernanda is situated is not Lugar do Corgo ( that is the name of their house like mine is Sea View as I live at the coast )
Fernanda, Jacinto and their daughter Mariana live in the village of Vitorino de Piaēs ,18 kms from Barcelos and 14 kms from Ponte de Lima.

By the way : I checked out what “Lugar do Corgo “ means :
O Lugar means place. Corgo is a dialectical word ,derived from the Portugese/ Gallego word corregar what means streaming. A brook or river streams .
So it is the place where a brook streams.
In the 11 years I regularly visited Fernanda and Jacinto , I never have seen a brook nor waterstream around their home , not more than a well more up the street at the main road N204 . But maybe in the past there would have been something like a waterstream.

 

[Albertinho]

The OP is walking the coastal route and won’t pass by Fernanda’s.

If you walk the Coastal you could change from the Coastal to the Central route at Viana do Castelo and take the train from Viana in the direction of Porto untill the village of Tamel. A journey of about 20 minutes.
Leaving the Tamel station you are directly on the waymarked Central Caminho and from there is a 6 km walk to Fernanda in the direction of Balugaēs and Ponte de Lima.