Cycle coastal route Porto to Santiago

[Milton Henry NZ]

I am looking for advice. Help please on cycling the coastal route.

I have 6 days to get from Porto to Santiago- June 3rd - June 8th.

I am looking for advice about an itinerary- 50km per day - what stops are best?

I am happy to read blogs.

Thanks

 

[Kanga]

Welcome to the forum @Milton Henry NZ - wow! 50km per day? Will you be on a bicycle? 26km per day is more usual for walkers.

(Edited) - just saw the heading of the post! Sorry - of course. Hopefully some of our bicyclist members can help.

 

[Milton Henry NZ]

Hi Kanga yes cycling - happy to read blogs of walkers too -

 

[Cookie and Papi]

Milton, I’m also looking for advice concerning cycling the Portuguese Coastal Way. My daughter and I are starting May 15th from Porto. We are planning between 35 to 40km per day. I’ve found a couple of good blogs and maps in the Portuguese room. Looking forward to reading responses from other cycling pilgrims.

Good luck to you!

 

[Mark Francis Auchincloss]

Yes you can use the maps from Luis Freixo's Blog see www.caminador.es
I cycled this route twice, once following the yellow arrows on my mountain bike the other following the country lanes. Both ways are entirely viable to do.
Porto to Esposende
Esposende do A Caminha
A Caminha to Baiona
Baiona to Redondela
Redondela to Caldas de Reis
Caldas de Reis to Santiago de Compostela

 

[Milton Henry NZ]

Milton, I’m also looking for advice concerning cycling the Portuguese Coastal Way. My daughter and I are starting May 15th from Porto. We are planning between 35 to 40km per day. I’ve found a couple of good blogs and maps in the Portuguese room. Looking forward to reading responses from other cycling pilgrims.

Good luck to you!

Thank-you, what are your thoughts on....

Bikes - taking your own or hiring?
Accomodation - booking ahead of time or arriving pilgrim style?

I have looked at a company that arranges the bikes yo be at your hotel in Porto and then they arrange pickup from your hotel in Santiago, today I read a blog that discussed picking the bike up from a store in Santiago - that seemed simpler?

How is your planning going?

Yes you can use the maps from Luis Freixo's Blog see www.caminador.es
I cycled this route twice, once following the yellow arrows on my mountain bike the other following the country lanes. Both ways are entirely viable to do.
Porto to Esposende
Esposende do A Caminha
A Caminha to Baiona
Baiona to Redondela
Redondela to Caldas de Reis
Caldas de Reis to Santiago de Compostela

thank-you those are the towns I identified too - were any days hard? What were the Difficulties? What is your fitness level and how long did it take you each day?

Finally any accomodation tips?

Thanks for the link!

 

[Milton Henry NZ]

Yes you can use the maps from Luis Freixo's Blog see www.caminador.es
I cycled this route twice, once following the yellow arrows on my mountain bike the other following the country lanes. Both ways are entirely viable to do.
Porto to Esposende
Esposende do A Caminha
A Caminha to Baiona
Baiona to Redondela
Redondela to Caldas de Reis
Caldas de Reis to Santiago de Compostela

Those maps are great! Thanks

 

[Mark Francis Auchincloss]

Thank-you, what are your thoughts on....

Bikes - taking your own or hiring?
Accomodation - booking ahead of time or arriving pilgrim style?

I have looked at a company that arranges the bikes yo be at your hotel in Porto and then they arrange pickup from your hotel in Santiago, today I read a blog that discussed picking the bike up from a store in Santiago - that seemed simpler?

How is your planning going?

thank-you those are the towns I identified too - were any days hard? What were the Difficulties? What is your fitness level and how long did it take you each day?

Finally any accomodation tips?

Thanks for the link!

I'm afraid it's difficult to answer your detailed questions. I'm very fit and so things are relative. I don't know how fit you are. Although the Camino is pretty flat until you get to Baiona/Nigran as with any camino there's always a hill or two to test you. I can walk or cycle a certain distance an hour but everyone has their own, different pace. It's not a race either as I like stopping and enjoying the route no matter what the time is! Accommodation the same, I've no idea what your budget is but there's plenty of choice at each stage of the camino.

 

[Helen1]

Thank-you, what are your thoughts on....

Bikes - taking your own or hiring?
Accomodation - booking ahead of time or arriving pilgrim style?

I made a last minute decision to hire a bike in Porto. Rented it from these people: https://www.vieguini.pt/ ready for me the next morning. Really lovely helpful people, you take the bike to an albergue in Santiago and there's a process to ship the bikes back to Porto. The Albergue do this all the time, have all the paperwork ready and it was super easy. You can hire everything you need. The bikes aren't fancy but do the job.

I have flown with a bike in the past but it's so much hassle especially if you have a bike box that you have to work out what to do with, plus you may need to do quite a bit of set up to get everything reassembled and ticking over nicely.

Pilgrim accommodation - if you're on a bike I would arrive pilgrim style because you can always cycle on if a place is full. If you have plenty of money there are some fantastic hotels to stay on route. I don't think the route is that hard, there are some hills but nothing like going over the Pyrenees. Seem to remember the climb into Santiago at the end of the day being one of the toughest!

 

[Milton Henry NZ]

Thank - you, this is helpful! I like the idea of not over organising things. I was thinking about having a bike delivered and organising collection. I also looked at hiring in Santiago and worried about the hassle of transporting it. I like what you did - hiring in Porto. As long as the return is straight forward.

As far as accomodation - yes I am flexible - happy to experience the range of hotel life. Thank- you again

 

[anthonymorris]

I have done it in 5 days (1) https://www.strava.com/activities/1803537210 (2) https://www.strava.com/activities/1805983311 (3) https://www.strava.com/activities/1808089202 (4) https://www.strava.com/activities/1809916190 (5) https://www.strava.com/activities/1811583831 but on the other I am cycle fit and I already cycled 30 days from Paris to Porto and did the coastal Camino on my return journey and slept on the beach 3 out of the 5 days nothing beats the setting sun on the sea horizon