Coastal or inland

[Dan Plunkett]

We are planning on walking the Camino from Lisbon to Santiago next spring and we're trying to decide coastal or inland route, what's the difference and why would you pick one over the other?
Right now we are leaning towards the coastal.
Thanks for your help,
Dan Plunkett

 

[gerardcarey]

We are planning on walking the Camino from Lisbon to Santiago next spring and we're trying to decide coastal or inland route, what's the difference and why would you pick one over the other?
Dan Plunkett

If there ever happens to be a choice I'll take a coastal route. I just love the seaside.
April 2017 I left Lisbon and walked up the Tejo River valley and on to Porto as per Brierley's guide. People sometimes walk up the coast but there does not appear to be a 'recognised' guide. Reports say accommodation is not too hard to find if you are not constrained by your budget to albergues.
From Porto I walked out to the coast and just wandered my way up, sometimes off the Camino, staying in albergues, camping grounds and small hotels.
A most enjoyable trip. I think I got the best of both country and coast walking.
Regards and good travelling,
Gerard

 

[Dan Plunkett]

Great information, thanks for taking the time to share your experience with me.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

There's a new guide just come out which includes the coastal route from Porto -
the Wise Pilgrim Guide for the Portuguese route is on sale
https://www.santiagodecompostela.me...ts/a-wise-pilgrim-guides-the-camino-portugues
I bought it from Ivar's store.
My plans are to tackle the route next April/May after my 79th birthday .
Buen camino!

 

[Dan Plunkett]

Thanks for the information, I will order the book.
Wow 79 and still walking the Camino, you are an inspiration.
Thanks again,
Dan Plunkett

 

[scruffy1]

Combine them! After Porto walk Coastal until Viana do Castelo then cut inland to Ponte de Lima, a personal favorite. True, you miss the ferry boat but you also miss Vigo, not a personal favorite.

 

[Dan Plunkett]

Thank you for help, sounds like a good plan.

 

[Deleted member 56069]

Combine them! After Porto walk Coastal until Viana do Castelo then cut inland to Ponte de Lima, a personal favorite. True, you miss the ferry boat but you also miss Vigo, not a personal favorite.

I would recommend this as well. My wife and I walked the central route from Porto this April. Especially day one out of Porto involves a lot of walking busy roads with very narrow shoulders. When not on the roads, the trails are cobble stones or granite setts. Knowing what I know now, I would have started on the coastal route and then cut inland as scruffy1 suggests or even after day one, head inland from Vila do Conde and rejoin the central route at Arcos as from that point the central trail is very interesting.
That said, having done the central route, a future walk in Portugal would be the coastal route as we loved Portugal and will be back for a future Camino for sure.

 

[Dan Plunkett]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us, all this great information will help make this another incredible adventure.

Thanks again,

Dan Plunkett

 

[David St Augustine]

We are walking the new route from Lisbon to Porto via the coast next month. It is not well documented, and we're prepared to make changes as needed if rooms are not available as we move north in October.
Cascais-Nazare: https://goo.gl/maps/rGfYRaAQUV42
Nazare-Porto: https://goo.gl/maps/6vhiVgcNj882
We take a 30 minute train from Lisbon to Estoril to begin our Caminho but you don't have to. Really looking forward to the less-travelled route to Porto. We will report the new route details as we go.

 

[Kanga]

@Stephen Nicholls so glad to hear you are planning another - buen camino (or bom caminho)!

 

[Ajrk]

We are planning on walking the Camino from Lisbon to Santiago next spring and we're trying to decide coastal or inland route, what's the difference and why would you pick one over the other?
Right now we are leaning towards the coastal.
Thanks for your help,
Dan Plunkett

Hi Dan
I faced a similar dilemma while choosing my Portuguese Camino . Costal or interior I spent some time in Porto earlier this year on holiday ( May ) and decided to do a trial run, so done the first two stages Matosinhos and Vila do Conde ( taking the train back to Porto both days ) it is a Beautiful walk even if a bit windy . My dilemma is after doing the Frances last year I realise I love being in the countryside crossing rivers and streams and emerging from a forest to see little hamlets and towns were curious chickens and dogs run out to greet you from what I saw on the two days that is not the case on the coastal.So my compromise is to do my September Camino along the cost as far as Caminha then cut in to Valenca and across the bridge to Spain entering Tui . I know whichever youChoise you will have an amazing time Buin Camino Alan

 

[Dan Plunkett]

Thanks Alan for the great research and information. I think we will do exactly what you suggest, we too enjoyed the country side of the Frances but we also love the ocean.
Thanks again for all your help,
Dan

 

[stevov]

We are planning on walking the Camino from Lisbon to Santiago next spring and we're trying to decide coastal or inland route, what's the difference and why would you pick one over the other?
Right now we are leaning towards the coastal.
Thanks for your help,
Dan Plunkett

I have just done the coastal/senda from porto and it was amazing. The weather was hot and I experienced only one day of rain so this no doubt helped make the experience. I followed the coast line route/senda but also the route took me on beautiful routes a little inland especially the stretch from esposende through marinhas. The camino coast up all the way from porto to panxon / portino is especially beautiful and provides you with a sea side experience which balances out the mostly inland route to sdc after redondela in spain. I haven't done the portuguese inland route and I understand one advantage is that it is the traditional route and is much better way marked. The coastal senda can be more challenging ...it was not always well signed and you can at times be exposed to strong coastal wind and sea fog, seas can be too high for bathing safetly, (I swam on rest days in sabaris/Baiona, and sanxenxo nr pontevedra...took a bus) and if taking the ferry at caminha bear in mind it doesnt run on a monday.

 

[Dan Plunkett]

Thanks for all the great information. Would you mind telling me what time of year you walked it. We'll be starting about the 15th of May from Lisbon andwe are hoping for good weather.
Thanks again,
Dan

 

[stevov]

Thanks for all the great information. Would you mind telling me what time of year you walked it. We'll be starting about the 15th of May from Lisbon andwe are hoping for good weather.
Thanks again,
Dan

Hi Dan, having looked at typical temps etc I chose early June expecting pleasant but not high temps ....research indicated mid 20s ...arrived 7th June in porto and within a few days there was a heatwave which lasted until my last day in santiago. Even on the day it rained it was hot. This heat was notably unusual for northern Portugal and Spain and on one or two days there was actual official advice to the population to stay indoors...ie it was at least 35 degrees on some days. Walking on these days was tough going esp going uphill with the backpack and included frequent stops...one on the vigo coast where it was so hot i actually had to head down from the woodland walk to the sea for a swim to cool off ! ...shade becomes looked for and you need to ensure you have a min of 1 litre of water at all times. I did enjoy the sunshine but you do need to be prepared should the temps soar. I eventually adjusted by leaving very early in the am ie no later than 6.30 am (stocked up with some fruit biscuits water etc the night before)...this meant I could walk for 5 or so hrs before the sun got fierce.

 

[jean evans]

I have just done the coastal/senda from porto and it was amazing. The weather was hot and I experienced only one day of rain so this no doubt helped make the experience. I followed the coast line route/senda but also the route took me on beautiful routes a little inland especially the stretch from esposende through marinhas. The camino coast up all the way from porto to panxon / portino is especially beautiful and provides you with a sea side experience which balances out the mostly inland route to sdc after redondela in spain. I haven't done the portuguese inland route and I understand one advantage is that it is the traditional route and is much better way marked. The coastal senda can be more challenging ...it was not always well signed and you can at times be exposed to strong coastal wind and sea fog, seas can be too high for bathing safetly, (I swam on rest days in sabaris/Baiona, and sanxenxo nr pontevedra...took a bus) and if taking the ferry at caminha bear in mind it doesnt run on a monday.

 

[jean evans]

My husband and I have just returned from 5 weeks in Italy and Spain which included 6 wonderful days of walking the Portugese Camino, starting from Vigo on 8 July. There were so many highlights:

Walking the 'Water Path' out of Vigo. I'd read about this on the forum, so knew what to ask about in the Tourist Office in Vigo. Staff there were very helpful and marked it clearly on maps for is. This path is up in the hills overlooking Vigo harbour - gorgeous views and the route is obviously very popular with mountain bikers. A great way to start our walk.

Fantastic albergue at Cesantes - O Recuncho de Peregrino

The anticipated really hot weather happened late June - instead, we were very fortunate that mostly temps were in the mid-high temps.

Walking the river route for the last 5kms or so coming in to Pontevedra

Taking the Spiritual Variante route after we left Pontevedra

Staying at the monastery in Armenteira

Walking the absolutely beautiful Path of Stones and Water as you leave Armenteira

Swimming in the ocean at Vilanova de Arousa after a long day of walking.

Winding your way through little villages.

Of course, there were some times when the yellow arrows/scallops went missing, as on the walking route between Villanova de Arousa and Pontecesurus (for a range of reasons we opted to walk rather than take the boat), and that led to some robust discussions about which route to take! And sometimes there seemed to be a long distance between shops/cafes.

But overall, our first experience of walking on the Camino was amazing, and every bit as we had hoped and planned.

I wrote a blog - happy to share if anyone is interested.

 

[Dan Plunkett]

Thanks Jean for all the great information we will follow much of your advice. We are still waiting to order our guide book since it will be updated in January. So once we get it your directions will make our planning much easier.
We would love to read your blog so please send me your blog address.

Thanks again for all your help,

Dan

 

[jean evans]

Hi Dan

Here's the blog address: https://evansitalyandspain.wordpress.com/

Please note that I started it several weeks before we actually walked our 6 days on the Camino - because prior to the walk, we had time in Queensland with my elderly mother (the blog was mainly started so she could follow our progress), a week in Italy, a cruise on the Mediterranean, and then a few days in Barcelona.

So, quickly scroll down until you come to the 7 July entry, which was the day we flew from Barcelona to Vigo!

Enjoy your Camino - the planning as much as the walking! The comments and advice (especially from Doogman) to my question early on in our planning about walking from Vigo to Redondela was so helpful.

We're now back at work in Melbourne but the memories and photos are still very clear.

Best wishes

Jean

 

[Dan Plunkett]

https://livinggreatfulwildandfree.wordpress.com

Thanks Jean, I'm really enjoying reading your blog, what a trip you got to take thanks for sharing it with us
We hiked the Frances last summer and my wife also blogged about our experience.
The pilgrimage starts with blog "6 through blog "10 just in case you'd like to read about our adventure.
Thanks again for all your help,
Dan

 

[aliwalks]

If there ever happens to be a choice I'll take a coastal route. I just love the seaside.
April 2017 I left Lisbon and walked up the Tejo River valley and on to Porto as per Brierley's guide. People sometimes walk up the coast but there does not appear to be a 'recognised' guide. Reports say accommodation is not too hard to find if you are not constrained by your budget to albergues.
From Porto I walked out to the coast and just wandered my way up, sometimes off the Camino, staying in albergues, camping grounds and small hotels.
A most enjoyable trip. I think I got the best of both country and coast walking.
Regards and good travelling,
Gerard

Hi Gerard how far is it?

 

[gerardcarey]

I presume you mean the route I traveled. Unfortunately I lent my Brierly guide book out and I didn't get it back.
However my Compostela says 675ks.
Regards
Gerard