jack_everett26
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- I am planning on doing the Camino Du Portugues in June 2019
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There are lots of opinions on this topic. Here’s one thread from years ago when there were just a couple of albergues and many fewer people. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/why-start-in-lisbon.29651/
San Fermin runs 6 - 14 July, in Pamplona which is a long, long walk from Lisbon. If you want to walk to San Fermin consider the Catalan / Aragones / Frances combination from Barcelona, or maybe a chunk of the Le Puy and the Frances. Otherwise start in Porto and figure out your public transport options from Santiago to Pamplona for when you're done. This site: https://www.gronze.com/#todos may help with your planning.
If you use Google Chrome as a browser it will provide an auto-translation. Not great but good enough. But Gronze is pretty basic, the information is basic - town to town, village to village routings and the facilities available. You will only need a very limited Spanish vocabulary to understand what it is telling you.
Reading your original post I guessed that you were maybe fancying a month or so of walking and a bit of San Fermin partying to round it off. I therefore suggest that you might reconsider walking one of the Portuguese routes before making your way to Pamplona as there are so many other possibilities. The other site you might find useful is www.Rome2rio.com which will provide you information on public transport links between anywhere & anywhere. For instance the train route here: https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Santiago-de-Compostela/Pamplona might make your original plan deliverable.
And as a footnote: beware of 'entire' caminos. Camino starts from your own front door. The routes that the guidebooks offer, even that the blessed Gronze offers, are only guides from points of convenience. No Spaniard is going to travel to St Jean pied de Porte to start walking the Frances, no Coimbranese will travel to Lisbon to start walking to Santiago. Hiking routes have starting points, Camino doesn't.
Do you mean that the Brierley guide takes you on a different route from the arrows?
I'm trying to be in Spain for the St. Fermin Festival in early July. I am thinking to start walking around May 27th
The pros and cons really depend on whatever floats your boat and how much time you have.
If you like a quiet route, cheap food, friendly locals, flat terrain, towns with a lot of history and don’t mind the heat you’ll have no issues walking from Lisbon. If you want grand vistas, lots of people around you, coffee every 3 miles, pilgrim mass every night and communal meals then the CP probably won't meet your expectations.
Personally, I enjoyed the Lisbon to Porto walk but it was a headphones on kind of walk and I got through a number of audiobooks. I did feel thoroughly cooked in the 40c+ heatwave and needed a day off in Tomar because I couldn’t face walking in the heat. Tomar has an amazing history, as does Coimbra with the Roman ruins and the university/university library. I followed the Brierley guide which takes you off the main roads (lots of dusty gravel roads alongside the railway line) so I think the traffic is less of an issue than it was.
Accomodation isn’t all that hard to manage, my preference was to book a hotel near the Estação do Oriente and for the first couple of days walk long days with a daypack and get the regular commuter train back to my hotel. After that I camped and booked a couple of places like the Santarem Hostel (lovely). I wouldn’t bother with the camping, I think Tomar campsite has closed and some of the other campsites are miles out of town. With some of the local hotels offering rooms for 15 euro it wasn’t worth the effort to camp.
I am assuming you’re a guy so doubt this won't be an issue for you, I felt really safe walking alone on this camino, expect for the area around Sacavem. If I were to go again I would try to hook up with someone in this area.
I walked the CP from Santarem just outside Lisbon in 2016. So I skipped 3 days from Lisbon-Santsarem. I was then a 62 year old female, and it took me 24 days plus 2 rest days; presumably would have been 27 days if I started in Lisbon. I walked to Vila do Conde from Porto, then inland to Barcelos. I thought it was a wonderful camino, with great food, friendly locals and enough pilgrims that I made some friends, although walked alone quite a bit. There are (or were then) some long stages, but always doable. A couple times I knocked those 30 k days in Brierly into two short stages. I would get the newest Brierly book if you like him. The path does seem to change slightly quite regularly, but I was never off-route for long, and always found my way.
I went by train. It was a short trip and didn't cost much. Use Rome2Rio website; it should tell you and it's easy to use.
Start in Lisbon. Although you walk for a while before getting out of the city, it is worth it. We did what you are planning in '17.Hey everyone,
I am planning to do Camino Du Portugues in June of 2019.
My rough plan at the moment is to do the interior route from Lisbon to Porto and then once in Porto take the coastal route to Santiago. Is this a good idea?
I have been researching a bunch of stuff and I've seen a lot of blogs and other pilgrims have different opinions on where to start. I would like to start in Lisbon but I see that a lot start in Porto. What are the pros and cons of starting in Lisbon, from what I understand the main cons are lodging and speedy drivers, is that all?
Hope to hear from some of you!
If you have any other tips/ideas/ suggestions please feel free to share!
Best,
Jack
I did the CP from Lisbon in April/May, 3 females in our late 60's. Did not really notice a lot of road walking just cobble stones after Porto. There are a few days from Lisbon 30km but manageable. We did the coastal after Porto to Caminha then over to central then the Espiritual Variante with the ferry tp Pontescures. Loved every minute. We had Brierly but rarely opened it. Our best friend was definitely the Wise Pilgrim app. GPS works offline if you download tomorrows map the nite before. Prevented us being lost in the forest a couple of times. I am sure you would love the CP.
Start in Lisbon. Although you walk for a while before getting out of the city, it is worth it. We did what you are planning in '17.
Allo!Hey everyone,
I am planning to do Camino Du Portugues in June of 2019.
My rough plan at the moment is to do the interior route from Lisbon to Porto and then once in Porto take the coastal route to Santiago. Is this a good idea?
I have been researching a bunch of stuff and I've seen a lot of blogs and other pilgrims have different opinions on where to start. I would like to start in Lisbon but I see that a lot start in Porto. What are the pros and cons of starting in Lisbon, from what I understand the main cons are lodging and speedy drivers, is that all?
Hope to hear from some of you!
If you have any other tips/ideas/ suggestions please feel free to share!
Best,
Jack
I also would encourage you to walk out of Lisbon. I did not find anything industrial about the walk along the river. My info is loaded with many photos to see for yourself! Yes, there is lots of paved roads, lots of cobblestone or "hobblestone" to shake your legs, and long walks through fields in the heat. Even the updated Brierly guide is wrong on the stage from Santarém to Golegã. There is a train that you can use to shuttle yourself if needed. The historic cities are fantastic! If you can stand another interesting story, here is mine. https://www.pilgrimagetraveler.com/camino-portugues.html. I also sell an inexpensive guide, but all my info can be accessed for free on the web - each and every day! If you read no other page of mine, make sure you read day four. It will save you a lot of heartache.
There's a big difference in saying don't rely on the Brierley guide for everything (I agree) and saying you don't need it (I 100% disagree).Yea and tasty. People should stop depending on the brieley guide for everything! The arrows are great, the accommodations are plenty, you don’t need it! and it really annoys me that the Portuguese route keeps being compared to the CF. Totally separate experience
I walked from Porto to Santiago on the Central way Apr-May last year, loved Portugal so much that I came back to walk Santarem to Porto in late Oct. These two ways are quite different but buth were a delight to walk. Both routes have plenty of cobblesones to walk on but other then that they are both easy as no mountains to climb, so no need for walking poles or heavy trekking boots, train runners would do there just fine. Lisbon - Porto: could be more physically challenging if you decide to walk the stages according to the Brierley guidebook, there are many of 30+km, almost all the way untill Coimbra. I did walk them and find them ok. The route is well marked, the local are generous and friendy, but the dogs are not always on the leash and some are agressive. There were pilgrims walking from Lisbon even in late Oct, we had from 2 to 7 at one day on the stage, so could be possible to find company and walk with smn else. Cafes and water fonts are not always frequent, make sure you have enough water on you for at least 2hr walking. The towns I liked most on the way: Santarm, Golega, Tomar, Coimbra, Agueda. From Porto onwards the infrastructure is great and the way is easy, more pilgrims there. It took me 9 days from Santarem to Porto, if you walk from Lisbon then add 3 days more. I would advice to stay in Porto at least a day or two to see the sights and recover. Porto to Lisbon I did in 9 days as well. My spendings: Santarem to Porto - 210 euros, Porto to Santiago - 160-170 euros. Hope that helps! Bom Caminho!My rough plan at the moment is to do the interior route from Lisbon to Porto and then once in Porto take the coastal route to Santiago.
What are the pros and cons of starting in Lisbon?
I walked from Porto to Santiago on the Central way Apr-May last year, loved Portugal so much that I came back to walk Santarem to Porto in late Oct. These two ways are quite different but buth were a delight to walk. Both routes have plenty of cobblesones to walk on but other then that they are both easy as no mountains to climb, so no need for walking poles or heavy trekking boots, train runners would do there just fine. Lisbon - Porto: could be more physically challenging if you decide to walk the stages according to the Brierley guidebook, there are many of 30+km, almost all the way untill Coimbra. I did walk them and find them ok. The route is well marked, the local are generous and friendy, but the dogs are not always on the leash and some are agressive. There were pilgrims walking from Lisbon even in late Oct, we had from 2 to 7 at one day on the stage, so could be possible to find company and walk with smn else. Cafes and water fonts are not always frequent, make sure you have enough water on you for at least 2hr walking. The towns I liked most on the way: Santarm, Golega, Tomar, Coimbra, Agueda. From Porto onwards the infrastructure is great and the way is easy, more pilgrims there. It took me 9 days from Santarem to Porto, if you walk from Lisbon then add 3 days more. I would advice to stay in Porto at least a day or two to see the sights and recover. Porto to Lisbon I did in 9 days as well. My spendings: Santarem to Porto - 210 euros, Porto to Santiago - 160-170 euros. Hope that helps! Bom Caminho!
Oh, I loved walking in Portugal so much that this June I came back to walk the CPI - Camino Portugues Interior from Viseu. That turned the best of it all in the end!
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