Camino Portuguese Coastal Route - Starting in Porto 26 June 2014

[Feghali]

Hello,

Anyone leaving from Porto next Thursday, 26 June? Will be walking with my husband and 3 teens; we walked from Leon to Santiago in 2012. We're not sure whether to walk the Coastal Route or the more traveled inland route.

How well marked is the Coastal Route? Are more people walking it? Will there be places to stay, or will it be crowded with locals enjoying the coast?

We're looking at this route:

Porto - Vila do Conde
Vila do Conde - Esposende
Esposende - Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo - Caminha

A Guarda-Baiona
Baiona - to the central route and so on to Santiago

Any comments would be highly appreciated!
Ellen

 

[anniethenurse]

Welcome to the Forum!
I walked the coastal in May.
You can get your first stamp and start walking from the Sè Cathedral.
Walk down to the river - and follow the river to the Atlantic Ocean. Some city traffic the first kms and then you will be walking on the board walks by the ocean. Gorgeous feeling.
In Matosinhos over the brigde and on your left you will see your first yellow arrow. Then walk to the west and walk on the board walks the first couple of days.
I followed the arrows from the village of Agucadoura through agricultural countryside. The ocean always on my left and the sun on my right or behind me.
Only two other pilgrims walking the same pace than me.
Stayed mostly in the albergues, booked a hotel room a couple of times.

The ferry in Caminha over to the Spanish side is out of function. Options are taking a transport (boat, taxi) to the Spanish side and continue walking from A Guarda. Or you can walk from Caminha to Valenca, Portugal or Tui, Spain (not a bad option at all).

I will be walking again in September and ''walk'' from Caminha to A Guarda - Oia - Baiona- Nigran- Vigo - Redondela - SDC.

I have not walked the Central route so I cannot compare - most pilgrims walk the Central.

http://www.caminador.es/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/BROCHURA-2013.pdf

Anything else?
Bom caminho.

 

[wayfarer]

Welcome to the forum Feghali, this Camino is on my wish list so I am looking forward to reading your posts. Wishing you and your family a great Camino.
Bom Caminho.

 

[elephantsaluter]

Do you know where I can find a water taxi over to Spain since the ferry is closed? Will it just be at the harbor somewhere? Walking to Caminha today...

 

[anniethenurse]

Further to my last post, I spoke to my great friend Luis Freixo the expert Blogger on the Portuguese Way, and he has spoken to the Port of Caminha and there are maritime operators that are authorized to carry out tourist crossings of the river Minho :

Mario Gonçalves 963416259 maximum 5 people on boat 10 € per person, with boarding where the ferry is in Caminha.
Portnautic advance notice of 30 minutes,catamaran with capacity for 12 people 031741 967 still don't have price.
Emidio Sebastian Nunes 965836998.

Maybe this helps you. I cannot say anything about the service because I have not used them.
Buen camino!

PS. Luis Freixo - perhaps the same man who wrote the online guide?

 

[Feghali]

Annie, thank you very much! I had read about taking a train a bit north of Porto to start walking, but didn't like that idea. Prefer to start at the Cathedral. Also heard that the ferry to Spain from Caminha was out; someone has posted phone numbers of operators who can take pilgrims over.

Hoping more people will take the coastal route, so that our kids don't get bored. They had a ball last Camino (Frances) with the people we met on the way, and we're still in touch with them.

Buen Camino - Bom Caminho

 

[Feghali]

We're so looking forward to spending time as a family on another Camino. Life is too fast, too loud, and too crowded. Thanks for your kind wishes, Wayfarer!

 

[Feghali]

ElephantSaluter,

Can you recommend any good albergue the first few days out of Porto?

Thanks...

 

[Camembert]

You will find places to sleep anywhere. Hostals,albergues,hotels
You can go on from Baiona up to Vigo and Redondela and pick up there the original interior way to Pontevedra,Caldas de Reyes,Padrón and up to Santiago .
Some people go from Caminha to Valença and Tui and go on to Porriño and Redondela and so on.

 

[Oztrekker]

I walked the coastal route absolutely hated it. Went back onto the conventional route. There is no pilgrims no infrastructure. If you want to stay in 35 euro hotels on the beach then thats cool. But to me it was not a religious pilgrimage. It was like walking along a coastal urbanization with a back pack. Not fun for me. But others will find this experience charming and delightful.

I prefer albergues and the company of pilgrims, rather than mcdonalds, urbanised beach and an inconsistently marked way.

Try it by all means but just have enough money to hire a taxi to get back to the conventional way if its not your cup of tea.

 

[Camembert]

Some love the daughter,some love the mother, some love both

 

[Feghali]

Thanks for the comments; I think we'll try the Coastal Route first and, if we don't like it, we'll turn inland.

 

[mspath]

If you do turn inland you will be crossing into Tui, Spain, from Valenca do Minho, Portugal on the 19th century international bridge designed by Eiffel of Paris tower fame; views from the bridge are especially splendid at dusk as the lights come on.

Bom Caminho,

MM

 

[anniethenurse]

True you won´t meet many other pilgrims. Religious pilgrimage or other - make your own choice.

But there are quite many albergues. If you leave Porto there are about 10 albergues along the 180 km walking to Redondela.

 

[Thornley]

Very good albergue in Caminha

 

[rickster]

I believe that if one is looking for pilgrim camaraderie, then the coastal route may not be for you. Also believe that if you walk alone and easily get lonely, then the coastal route may not be for you, therefore suggest that you walk it with companion(s). If you are looking for an abundance of conveniently located albergues, then the coastal route may not be for you. If you are looking for infrastructure similar to the CF, then the coastal route may not be for you. I can't really agree with those who say that it is well marked, unless you are satisfied with the markings that continue to throw you on to main highways or you are following a gps with the way markings programmed in. If, however, you want to experience a beautiful coastal route, meet beautiful people who live off the land and sea in sometimes a very primitive way and are willing to accept the challenge of trying to find way markers in five foot high grass marked on a stone laying on the ground in order to hug the sea and hang in there for a few short days until you get to Redondela where the going gets easy, then the coastal route is right up your alley. I've only walked the CF, LePuy and Coastal Portuguese caminos and plan to walk the Camino del Norte in September, but I've found that they are all different and throw something different at you to deal with, kind of like life. I'm glad that there is no stereotyped camino and as for the camino Portuguese, it tested me in different ways from the others and for that I loved it and learned from it.

 

[Feghali]

MendiWalker, thanks for that advice. We will give the teens the choice of a more solitary Camino along the ocean or a more social one inland. Will post what we do!

 

[Feghali]

Rickster, thanks. We thought the Coastal Way would offer a very different experience than our first Camino (CF 2012), even if it means fewer pilgrims and infrastructure. The first Camino was so amazing, life-changing even, that we still talk about it every day as a family. We made very good friends on the CF. This time, we're also open to what just happens along the way.

 

[rickster]

Feghali, with your attitude and a crowd to share laughs, you won't be disappointed. Look forward to following your posts.

 

[Charliemag]

The costal route is fantastic. There are groups of locals all along this route who are continuously improving it and making it better for pilgrims. We had a great walk there three years ago. It was isolated which was even better than the main route. We always got an albergue and it was usually only inhabited by ourselves! The route was 90% tracks and country lanes. Go on this route before everyone else does. And enjoy.

 

[Thornley]

Rickster, thanks. We thought the Coastal Way would offer a very different experience than our first Camino (CF 2012), even if it means fewer pilgrims and infrastructure. The first Camino was so amazing, life-changing even, that we still talk about it every day as a family. We made very good friends on the CF. This time, we're also open to what just happens along the way.

The teens will also love the Norte
Wonderful towns, scenery and people.

 

[Rumtreiber]

Hello,

Anyone leaving from Porto next Thursday, 26 June? Will be walking with my husband and 3 teens; we walked from Leon to Santiago in 2012. We're not sure whether to walk the Coastal Route or the more traveled inland route.

How well marked is the Coastal Route? Are more people walking it? Will there be places to stay, or will it be crowded with locals enjoying the coast?

We're looking at this route:

Porto - Vila do Conde
Vila do Conde - Esposende
Esposende - Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo - Caminha

A Guarda-Baiona
Baiona - to the central route and so on to Santiago

Any comments would be highly appreciated!
Ellen

Hi Ellen, we hope to do this route next week, do you have any suggestions? Did you ever find some maps to download? was the way well marked? Where did you stray?
Thanks

 

[rowdygirl]

Hello,

Anyone leaving from Porto next Thursday, 26 June? Will be walking with my husband and 3 teens; we walked from Leon to Santiago in 2012. We're not sure whether to walk the Coastal Route or the more traveled inland route.

How well marked is the Coastal Route? Are more people walking it? Will there be places to stay, or will it be crowded with locals enjoying the coast?

We're looking at this route:

Porto - Vila do Conde
Vila do Conde - Esposende
Esposende - Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo - Caminha

A Guarda-Baiona
Baiona - to the central route and so on to Santiago

Any comments would be highly appreciated!
Ellen

Just returned from walking the coastal route. We saw other walkers, but was not crowded. Thst said, when we arrived in Santiago there were 1400 pilgrims arriving that day. The camino has become more popular! We used booking.com and booked the night before for the next day. No problem finding accommodations. We saw few locals at the beaches, but it is really not an issue. Buen camino!