Hello!
I am seeking advice about the Camino Portugues - I will be doing the CP from Porto in June this year.
I have had trouble determining if I should bring a sleeping bag, or just a liner.
I am also wondering if anyone who has done the variante espiritual has any advice - days it took from Porto to SDC, how this route compares to the central route, or any advice you may have.
Thank you in advance!
I walked the CP (Porto-Santiago) in June/July last year.
I only took a silk liner. I found it sufficient. There was one night at Casa Fernanda that i froze my bum off and wished i had a sleeping bag but that was only one night. The rest were fine and I would prefer to have one night of cold than to carry a (mostly) un-used sleeping bad the entire way.
As for Variante Espiritual - basically 3 days but it really depends on the boat schedule which you don't find out about until you arrive in Villanova de Arousa.
Pontevedra-Armenteira took one day. I would have liked to have spent more time in Combarro - a really interesting seaside village - perhaps break that stage into 2 if you have time.
Armenteira - VdA is generally the second day. You may arrive in time to get the boat from VdA to Pontecesures in the afternoon or you may have to wait until the next day. And on the third day you can either walk VdA-Padron (36ish kms) or catch the boat (1-1.5 hours).
So minimum would be 2 days Pontevedra-Pontecesures/Padron or it could be 3-4 days - all depending on the boat schedule.
I walked Pontevedra-Armenteira one day, then planned (haha!) to break the next day into 2, slowly savour the Route of Rock and Water and stay over night in Barrantes. I got to Barrantes, checked in, ate a leisurely lunch, chilled out with the idea of a slow walk the next day to VdA hoping to arrive the next morning, lay on the beach then catch the boat in the afternoon (in Armenteira, the hospitalero has rung the boat service who had indicated the boat would leave in the afternoon in 2 days time). All afternoon the owners of the hotel i had checked in to (Os Castaños) had been ringing the boat service to confirm the departure time for the following day. At about 5pm the boat service reported it would be leaving at 6am the next morning! Very kindly, the son of the owner drove me to VdA immediately so i could catch the boat in the morning.
So....you can play for 2 or 3 days but....