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You will not like the walk from Porto to Vilarinho. It leads to the very busy infrastructure at the outskirts north of Porto and lots of cobblestoned lanes. Besides you walk partly on the hardshoulder of a very busy motorway with heavy traffic.Due to a 'mixup', I have been booked into accommodation in Vila do Conde, rather than Fajozes for Thursday night. The people who made the mixup have advised me to walk to Vilarinho and take a taxi to VdC, which is about 4km, and then back to the main route in the morning. It's my first camino, and my first day walking, so I'm a little disappointed to take a taxi, but my options are either:
a) take the coastal route from Matosinhos
b) add an additional 4km to the 26km to Vilarinho (which is already 4 more than the planned 22km)
c) take the taxi
I'm not sure I want to try sand and wind in February, and I have read the other thread about it. I've also read in the guidebook that the coastal route is not marked (although pics in the coastal thread seem to show otherwise), and it is poorly marked from VdC back to the main inland route.
Has anyone done the coastal route this time of year?
You will not like the walk from Porto to Vilarinho. It leads to the very busy infrastructure at the outskirts north of Porto and lots of cobblestoned lanes. Besides you walk partly on the hardshoulder of a very busy motorway with heavy traffic.
Alternative is take the metro to station Fórum Maia and walk from there into a more rural area. ! The first albergue then you will encounter is Monasteiro do Vairão in an old monastery . Very nice !
The coastal is well waymarked. And so is the stage Vila do Conde to São Pedro de Rates. I do not know in which book is written that it isn't so ?
From Vairão it is 2 kms to Vilarinho and another 12 or so to the next albergue in São Pedro de Rates and you are on the central route.
I should cancel the accomodation in Vila do Conde if I were you .
The weather in the north of Portugal is unpredictable.
We were there from last Xmas till the 7th of January past and it rained ,rained and rained. We had two nice days on 26 th of december at the coast in Vila Praia de Âncora and on january 2nd, playing golf in Ponte de Lima .
The landscape is very green because of so much rain !
Bom caminho
As Walli Walker said. No beachwalking allthough we did a couple of hundreds meters around Vila Châ where is an kind of obelisk on a dune . You can avoid this part by staying on the boardwalkUnfortunately cancelling the accommodation is not an option because it's all been booked through an agency.
I don't actually know what book this is, because my pilgrim pack did not arrive by the time it was supposed to, all I have are loose sheets of paper that the agency sent to my hotel in Porto of pages 106-198 of whatever book it is.
What you mention about all the infrastructure doesn't sound very good. If I should do the coastal, how much beach do I have to walk? The thought of getting sand everywhere on the first day doesn't really appeal either.
As far as rain, well, I just have to hope that a bit of luck shines down on me, and if it doesn't, then that my waterproofs and my akubra hat will see me through.
We only used one pair of hikers during all our 3 caminhos.and so we will do during our next caminho in May comingThank you very much both @Albertinho and @Walli Walker !
I have two pairs of shoes with me, since it's all boardwalk, would you recommend my trainers or hiking shoes for this?
That's great but if I were walking in February I would walk in midweight boots.CukaUJ, I walked from Porto to V de C in Teva sandals, trainers will be fine.
You felt comfortable during climbing the Alto da Portela mountain between Ponte de Lima and Rubiães on your trainers /sandals ?CukaUJ, I walked from Porto to V de C in Teva sandals, trainers will be fine.
My guess if the agency has given you copies of Brierly. Were they supposed to give you a book or are they cheating copy rights?
Sorry to hear about how all this is going for you and all the runnuing around you are ending up having to do, and in a crunch, in unfamiliar territory. I am curious to find out, when you finish your walk, what your assessment of using one of these tour companies is. Good luck in the rest of your journey.
We did this route 2 yrs ago in September. Most of the way to Vila do Conde is on a Broadway. Lovely ocean views. We spent the night in Vila do Conde then caught up with the inland route. Didn't have any problems finding our way that day. On the coastal route there was a section that wasn't marked too well but as we keep the ocean in our view and walked on the sand we had no problems.Due to a 'mixup', I have been booked into accommodation in Vila do Conde, rather than Fajozes for Thursday night. The people who made the mixup have advised me to walk to Vilarinho and take a taxi to VdC, which is about 4km, and then back to the main route in the morning. It's my first camino, and my first day walking, so I'm a little disappointed to take a taxi, but my options are either:
a) take the coastal route from Matosinhos
b) add an additional 4km to the 26km to Vilarinho (which is already 4 more than the planned 22km)
c) take the taxi
I'm not sure I want to try sand and wind in February, and I have read the other thread about it. I've also read in the guidebook that the coastal route is not marked (although pics in the coastal thread seem to show otherwise), and it is poorly marked from VdC back to the main inland route.
Has anyone done the coastal route this time of year?
Good for you! Mind you, I remember my nerves before my first Camino. For some reason I felt I was heading into remote areas, not walking from village to village. This being said, I now plan etapas, roughly, which would never had occured to me on C1: I just has a guide andwent along with it, with the added help of the 2 pager from the SJPP Pilgrim Office. But again, I am since developped plantar fasciitis and walk less frequented Caminos, so I need to know I will not have to walk 30km day in and day out.I won't ever use this agency again. If I'd had more time to sit down and do all the research, I'd have planned it myself. Next time I'll book all the hotels myself and just pack the minimum to get by with in my backpack. A big part of this was that I needed to carry a lot of things in my suitcase.
Good for you! Mind you, I remember my nerves before my first Camino. For some reason I felt I was heading into remote areas, not walking from village to village. This being said, I now plan etapas, roughly, which would never had occured to me on C1: I just has a guide andwent along with it, with the added help of the 2 pager from the SJPP Pilgrim Office. But again, I am since developped plantar fasciitis and walk less frequented Caminos, so I need to know I will not have to walk 30km day in and day out.
Enjoy your walk and keep posting about it: I will be in your footsteps in a few months!
On the caminho Portuguese there is no need to book ahead any lodging. Not on the central route, not on the coastal as long as you do not walk during the holiday season.(july,august can be packed at the coast)It's that this particular agency has just made cockup after cockup and they just keep on saying 'everything's fine', when clearly it's not. If someone is about to do it for the first time I'd advocate using an agency, just not the one that I used.
My footsteps are waiting for you!
On the caminho Portuguese there is no need to book ahead any lodging. Not on the central route, not on the coastal as long as you do not walk during the holiday season.(july,august can be packed at the coast)
You allways find a place to sleep. We walked the caminho three times-next Portuguese is ahead in May coming but never booked in advance .just let it happen !
Due to a 'mixup', I have been booked into accommodation in Vila do Conde, rather than Fajozes for Thursday night. The people who made the mixup have advised me to walk to Vilarinho and take a taxi to VdC, which is about 4km, and then back to the main route in the morning. It's my first camino, and my first day walking, so I'm a little disappointed to take a taxi, but my options are either:
a) take the coastal route from Matosinhos
b) add an additional 4km to the 26km to Vilarinho (which is already 4 more than the planned 22km)
c) take the taxi
I'm not sure I want to try sand and wind in February, and I have read the other thread about it. I've also read in the guidebook that the coastal route is not marked (although pics in the coastal thread seem to show otherwise), and it is poorly marked from VdC back to the main inland route.
Has anyone done the coastal route this time of year?
Due to a 'mixup', I have been booked into accommodation in Vila do Conde, rather than Fajozes for Thursday night. The people who made the mixup have advised me to walk to Vilarinho and take a taxi to VdC, which is about 4km, and then back to the main route in the morning. It's my first camino, and my first day walking, so I'm a little disappointed to take a taxi, but my options are either:
a) take the coastal route from Matosinhos
b) add an additional 4km to the 26km to Vilarinho (which is already 4 more than the planned 22km)
c) take the taxi
I'm not sure I want to try sand and wind in February, and I have read the other thread about it. I've also read in the guidebook that the coastal route is not marked (although pics in the coastal thread seem to show otherwise), and it is poorly marked from VdC back to the main inland route.
Has anyone done the coastal route this time of year?[/QUOTE
If you have time, take an extra day in old Porto. Day 1: Check into room in old Porto and leave pack. Walk to the Eiffel Bridge, take the cog-way down to the river, and follow it to the bridge crossing in Matosinhos. Use the tram (a modern one) to return to Old Porto and spend the night. Day 2: Take the same tram back to Matosinhos, get off and cross the bridge and follow the yellow arrows to Vila do Conde, cross the river and spend the night there and the next morning follow the yellow arrows up the river towards Rates and the inland route. If you don't have extra time start at the bridge in Matosinhos. Bom Caminho
Happy Trails
Okay. I was curious about it. Yesterday I tried out new shoes for the next caminho.No, Albertinho, I only walked from Porto to Vila do Conde (the stretch that CukaUJ was asking about) in my Tevas. I wore Salomon boots for the rest of the Camino.
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