Camino From Porto 7 Days

[Martin87]

Hello,
We are planning Camino from Porto and could you use some tips on which part(s) would be the best for us.
- We have 7 days for walking + 1 day till 16:00 to catch a plane in Porto
- We don't have to end in Santiago
- We are travelling the end of September
- We would like to avoid the most crowded parts
- No preferences on coastal or regular way (although a combination would be great)
- It doesn't matter if the trip would be in one piece or separated into more smaller trips and we would travel between them with bus/train.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

 

[stevov]

Hello,
We are planning Camino from Porto and could you use some tips on which part(s) would be the best for us.
- We have 7 days for walking + 1 day till 16:00 to catch a plane in Porto
- We don't have to end in Santiago
- We are travelling the end of September
- We would like to avoid the most crowded parts
- No preferences on coastal or regular way (although a combination would be great)
- It doesn't matter if the trip would be in one piece or separated into more smaller trips and we would travel between them with bus/train.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Hello,
We are planning Camino from Porto and could you use some tips on which part(s) would be the best for us.
- We have 7 days for walking + 1 day till 16:00 to catch a plane in Porto
- We don't have to end in Santiago
- We are travelling the end of September
- We would like to avoid the most crowded parts
- No preferences on coastal or regular way (although a combination would be great)
- It doesn't matter if the trip would be in one piece or separated into more smaller trips and we would travel between them with bus/train.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

If you don't want crowds then the senda/coastal had few pilgrims when I walked it in June. There are a couple of stretches I especially enjoyed on this route. The two I suggest here would provide nice contrasts between sea and inland beauty, and are contiguous so you can do them together without extra journeys.
Esposende / Marinhas to Viana do Costelo takes you slightly inland off the coast through hilltop portuguese villages and woodland (although some of the woodland trail is hard walking) and then out and down to Viana...which is a great town for a stop over. You can then continue from Viana to Caminha which is (intermittent) boardwalk sea side walking but with a lovely hillside stetch close by, before back down to the coast, where you can stop at Ancora for lunch on the sea front and then walk the coast to Caminha with stunning views (on a clear day...I was lucky with great weather) of Spain (hill framing A Guarda) in the distance. On the coast to Caminha be prepared for strong winds...and boardwalks that are incomplete..so keep your guide books handy prior to Ancora (see pick below)...after Ancora its a much easier path.
However you go ...take care and Bom Caminho!

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Ypu would be hard presses to findanycrowed bits in portugal, starting in Porto. I would start in Porto and walk to the Spanish border.

 

[Martin87]

If you don't want crowds then the senda/coastal had few pilgrims when I walked it in June. There are a couple of stretches I especially enjoyed on this route. The two I suggest here would provide nice contrasts between sea and inland beauty, and are contiguous so you can do them together without extra journeys.
Esposende / Marinhas to Viana do Costelo takes you slightly inland off the coast through hilltop portuguese villages and woodland (although some of the woodland trail is hard walking) and then out and down to Viana...which is a great town for a stop over. You can then continue from Viana to Caminha which is (intermittent) boardwalk sea side walking but with a lovely hillside stetch close by, before back down to the coast, where you can stop at Ancora for lunch on the sea front and then walk the coast to Caminha with stunning views (on a clear day...I was lucky with great weather) of Spain (hill framing A Guarda) in the distance. On the coast to Caminha be prepared for strong winds...and boardwalks that are incomplete..so keep your guide books handy prior to Ancora (see pick below)...after Ancora its a much easier path.
However you go ...take care and Bom Caminho!

Thank you. This looks great.
We would definitely like to go these stretches.

I'm now wondering whould would be the best starting point, taking in the account that we arrive to Porto airport at 9:30 am. Esposende,
Póvoa de Varzim or go straight from Porto? And what would be the best way of reachinch the starting point from Porto Airport?

Cheers,
Martin

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Where are you flying in from? Will you have to take jetlag into account?

The walk on the beach is very special. Where else does on get to walk 20km+ along the ocean?

Assuming you may be interested in seing some of Porto, you could spend a night in Matosinhos (metro from airport). Get there, drop off your bags, take bus, metro or old tram to old Porto and visit a bit. You can come back to Mastosinhos by walking 10km on the other side of the river and take the shuttle across. Have a good night sleep and be on the beach ready to walk the following morning.

You do not want to walkmout of Porto through the burbs. Take the Coastal route until Vila do Conde.

 

[Martin87]

Where are you flying in from? Will you have to take jetlag into account?

The walk on the beach is very special. Where else does on get to walk 20km+ along the ocean?

Assuming you may be interested in seing some of Porto, you could spend a night in Matosinhos (metro from airport). Get there, drop off your bags, take bus, metro or old tram to old Porto and visit a bit. You can come back to Mastosinhos by walking 10km on the other side of the river and take the shuttle across. Have a good night sleep and be on the beach ready to walk the following morning.

You do not want to walkmout of Porto through the burbs. Take the Coastal route until Vila do Conde.

We are coming from Vienna. So no jetlag, although we have to get up around 2am that day to be on airport in time. But we can hopefully catch some sleep on the way. I think we can do around 20km first day.

We would prefer to see some of Porto on the last day, before the departure, rather than the first day.

Maybe we could get from an airport straight to Porto coast and walk to Vila do Conde. Seems like a proper distance for the first day, after a flight.

 

[jimmcauley]

Hello,
We are planning Camino from Porto and could you use some tips on which part(s) would be the best for us.
- We have 7 days for walking + 1 day till 16:00 to catch a plane in Porto
- We don't have to end in Santiago
- We are travelling the end of September
- We would like to avoid the most crowded parts
- No preferences on coastal or regular way (although a combination would be great)
- It doesn't matter if the trip would be in one piece or separated into more smaller trips and we would travel between them with bus/train.

Any tips would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Hi, just back from my first Portugese. Was there 7 days starting Porto finished in Tui ( first Spanish town across the border ). It's about a 30km hike out of Porto so would advise to go along coast instead of through the city. You won't see many Perigrinos as the overwhelming majority of people hike through Spain. Portugal is unbelievably cheap! If you finish in Tui I'd advise you walk back 2km to Valenca ( the first town inside Portugal ) to the bus station to bus back to Porto ( €8.55 ) There isn't a bus station in Tui and the bus is a bit hit and miss as you have to book it on line. I stayed in the Nice Way Hostel in Porto on my last night. £18 sterling booked on line or €15 if paid for at the hostel. I booked on line to be sure. Great place and that includes breakfast! You will enjoy Portugal. A different experience from my Spanish Camino.
Go n-éirí an bóthar leat

 

[Anemone del Camino]

We are coming from Vienna. I think we can do around 20km first day.

We would prefer to see some of Porto on the last day, before the departure, rather than the first day.
.

Then take the metro to the airport to Matosinhos, Mercado station, cross the metal bridge and head for the beach. There is a strange place to get a bite to eat practically on the beach almost at the start, then a few other fish grilling reataurants, but open later in the day.

Here is a map of the metro system. Super easy.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=metr...8&hl=fr-ca&client=safari#imgrc=R1ql7-yij0-AWM:

 

[stevov]

Thank you. This looks great.
We would definitely like to go these stretches.

I'm now wondering whould would be the best starting point, taking in the account that we arrive to Porto airport at 9:30 am. Esposende,
Póvoa de Varzim or go straight from Porto? And what would be the best way of reachinch the starting point from Porto Airport?

Cheers,
Martin

I'm not clear on transport options from porto airport to esposende but im sure there will be... probably bus..
As you are wanting to head north on the coastal probably the easiest transport link is the metro at the airport...ie to go north from the airport on the metro to either Vila do Conde or Povoa which is the last stop. You can then walk to esposende/marinhas. That's about 20k walk ...5plus hrs ...so if you arrive in Povoa say around 10.30/11am you arrive in esposende or marinhas late afternoon. There are boardwalks on the coast at Vila do Conde and Povoa but about halfway the route tends to go inland on the inland coastal via agricultural and woodland to Fao.
Another option is to take the metro south to Matosinhos and walk to Vila do Conde on the coast ...again around 5hrs walking. I didn't do this myself..(I did a short stretch from Mindelo via metro walking along the coast to Vila do Conde on my first walking day after sightseeing in Porto).

 

[Addicted]

Walked from Porto to Santiago . Took the bus to the airport and stated from there . Met a gentleman a day later that walked from down town Porto and had nothing good to say about that portion of the walk . We walked the coastal for one day and then changed to the inland route. found the markings to be poor but the walk was really great. We went in Sept and met very few people . Had most albergues to ourselves.

Buen camino

 

[Martin87]

Metro sounds great. We will take a Metro to Povoa and then walk to Esposende, the first day. As for the other days we will continue walking the coast and see we would like it. Either walk on the coast as far as we can or take bus/train and spend few days inland.

Thanks everyone for the help with planing. If you could think of any other tips for our first camino, they are very welcome.