Favorite sections from Porto onward.

[Theresa Brandon]

What are your favorite 10 - 12 mile sections of the Portugues starting in Porto? I don't need another Compostela, so I was thinking the first two days on the Senda Litoral from Porto, then two sections (not necessarily consecutive) on the Central or Coastal. Two nights in Vigo, with a trip to the Cies Isles if possible. Then as much of the Espiritual Variant as I can fit in 3 or 4 days, ending in Santiago. Any other suggestions? Favorite towns?

This is for a small group of friends who have done Caminos before. We pre-book accomodations. Time constraint keeps us from walking the complete distance from Porto.

 

[Elle Bieling]

Hi @Theresa Brandon. I also loved the walk along the Douro River out of Porto in the early morning on the Senda Litoral. You can see my photos of this peaceful walk, click here. Perhaps my next favorite on the Coastal is the walk from A Guarda to Oia. The look outs to the coast are wonderful and walking along, coming up on the Monastery of Oia is gorgeous. The photos of this can be seen here. Equally enjoyable, IMHO is the walk up on the old Roman road a bit after Mougás and into Baiona, a lovely tourist town with a castle, and the gorgeous Playa las Americas to walk upon, if you like beaches! You can see my photos here of this day. I didn't take the time to measure actual distances, but you will be able to figure that out.

As for the central, the towns of Valença and Tui should not be missed! The walk from Valença and through its ramparts to the hilltop cathedral, across the international bridge, is absolutely stupendous! This will be less than 10 miles so you can adjust accordingly. I also really enjoyed the walk from Arcade (has a Roman bridge, and Roman road walking) to Pontevedra, with its lovely pilgrim's chapel. This is wonderful too! Click here to see these photos.

So much to choose from! Enjoy your decision-making and Buen Camino!

 

[Colette Z]

Hi @Theresa Brandon. I also loved the walk along the Douro River out of Porto in the early morning on the Senda Litoral. You can see my photos of this peaceful walk, click here. Perhaps my next favorite on the Coastal is the walk from A Guarda to Oia. The look outs to the coast are wonderful and walking along, coming up on the Monastery of Oia is gorgeous. The photos of this can be seen here. Equally enjoyable, IMHO is the walk up on the old Roman road a bit after Mougás and into Baiona, a lovely tourist town with a castle, and the gorgeous Playa las Americas to walk upon, if you like beaches! You can see my photos here of this day. I didn't take the time to measure actual distances, but you will be able to figure that out.

As for the central, the towns of Valença and Tui should not be missed! The walk from Valença and through its ramparts to the hilltop cathedral, across the international bridge, is absolutely stupendous! This will be less than 10 miles so you can adjust accordingly. I also really enjoyed the walk from Arcade (has a Roman bridge, and Roman road walking) to Pontevedra, with its lovely pilgrim's chapel. This is wonderful too! Click here to see these photos.

So much to choose from! Enjoy your decision-making and Buen Camino!

Wow @Elle Bieling I’ve been reading your blog on your portuguese Camino and have it bookmarked for quick reference (ie. to be alert to dangerous road sections ). I didn’t know you were here on Ivar…..great! I’m planning a very relaxed Camino portuguese starting oct 9th from Lisbon-littoral-Espiritual arriving in SDC probably after 40 days, yes slow but staying 3 days at Armenteira, Porto 2 days, Tomar & Coimbra 1 full day. I look forward to this Camino a lot having already “felt” it thru your blog. A huge THANK YOU for your blog.

 

[Elle Bieling]

Wow @Elle Bieling I’ve been reading your blog on your portuguese Camino and have it bookmarked for quick reference (ie. to be alert to dangerous road sections ). I didn’t know you were here on Ivar…..great! I’m planning a very relaxed Camino portuguese starting oct 9th from Lisbon-littoral-Espiritual arriving in SDC probably after 40 days, yes slow but staying 3 days at Armenteira, Porto 2 days, Tomar & Coimbra 1 full day. I look forward to this Camino a lot having already “felt” it thru your blog. A huge THANK YOU for your blog.

Hi @Colette Z, thank-you for your comments! I would love to do this way again, as you say, very slowly! It is in my plan, and I want to also do the Espiritual eventually. Wish I had done that one! And a Buen Camino to you too!

 

[Theresa Brandon]

Thanks, Elle! I use your sites to plan my Caminos and I appreciate you weighing on this thread with your favorites!

 

[BobY333]

Hello Theresa - the credencials with your calligraphy look great here on the CP!

We flew into Porto, spent a day there, and then got our stamps at the Se Cathedral and walked to Matosinhos the first afternoon. It was a nice (short) start to the CP. The next day to Vila do Conde was beautiful (as long as you kept your eyes left), though I would say the first two days didn’t feel Camino-like since they are beach/tourist towns.

We loved staying at Casa Fernanda and then the next two days of walks were beautiful. We first went to Ponte de Lima and stayed, and then walked to O Ninho in Rubiães yesterday. The climb to Alta da Portelo got our hearts pumping, but we loved it.

On to Tui today, but like I said, the last two days have been great and I recommend them.

Bob

 

[miguel_gp]

I also really enjoyed the walk from Arcade (has a Roman bridge, and Roman road walking) to Pontevedra, with its lovely pilgrim's chapel. This is wonderful too!

Be sure to take the River variant on the route between Arcade and Pontevedra and assuming there has not been significant rainfall (because the end of it can be waterlogged). This cuts out a 3km length of tarmac and is a shady, cool and beautiful stretch. It starts at a road junction 300m on from on the tiny Chapel of Santa Marta.

Green marks the tarmac route, the river route and remainder of the official route are marked in red.

 

[Theresa Brandon]

Hello Theresa - the credencials with your calligraphy look great here on the CP!


Bob

Thanks, Bob - sounds like you are having a great trip!

 

[BobY333]

Theresa, the Variente Espiritual is amazing! Pontevedra > Armenteira > Vilanova. So, it's two days of walking (the Ruta de Piedras y de Agua was simply wow!), then on to Padrón by boat. If you get an early boat at 8am, you could choose to get to Santiago that day, though it's about 28k. Due to the tide, our boat was at 12:00pm, so we then walked half way and stayed at Casa Rural Vella da Rivera - highly recommended! We were pleasantly surprised today by the walk from there into Santiago. A lot more of it was wooded or small villages than we expected. Enjoy!