Finished the Camino on Monday March 28

[Catahoula19]

Took the metro to Matosinhos, walked the coast to Vila de Conde then joined the traditional route. 10 days of walking. We took one day off, from Barcelos on Palm Sunday took a bus to Braga (beautiful city!) and made the return bus trip to Barcelos the next day to continue walking. Best albergue experiences were Casa Fernanda and Quinta Romana Estrada. Very few pilgrims until Tui. All in all a great walk but be prepared for lots of cobblestones, which pulverize your feet. We liked the Portuguese part of this Camino better than the walk through Galicia. The walk into SDC is really long - felt like twice as long as entering from the Camino Frances. Porto is a great city - make sure to save 2-3 days for Porto either before or after your Camino. Bom Caminho!

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Well done!! The Camino Portugues was the second most popular route in March (Tui was right after Sarria as the second most popular departure point), and Portuguese pilgrims were the largest group of "foreigners."

 

[Katies Dad]

Congratulations Catahoula.
Is it possible for you to detail the stages that made up your 10 days of walking as I have a similar timescale to complete Porto to SDC. Thanks.

 

[Catahoula19]

Congratulations Catahoula.
Is it possible for you to detail the stages that made up your 10 days of walking as I have a similar timescale to complete Porto to SDC. Thanks.

Day 1- Took the metro to Matosinhos then walked to Vila de Conde. Stayed at Hostel Belamar. Not worth the price we paid for a double room.
Day 2 - VDC to Barcelos. Stayed at the local albergue. Basic bunk beds. The owner also runs the bar two doors down from the albergue. We ordered a beer and they fed us free soup, bread, and pork. Nice people!
Day 3 - Day off, rode the bus to Braga. Highly recommended! Lovely place. Stayed at the local albergue. 3 rooms of 20 beds each. There was one other pilgrim there the night we stayed.
Day 4 - Barcelos to Casa Fernanda. This was the best albergue experience of the Camino. Fernanda and Jacinto are fantastic people.
Day 5 - Casa Fernanda to Ponte de Lima. Stayed at the local albergue. Basic, noisy, plastic beds. There were about 30 other people there the night we stayed.
Day 6 - Ponte de Lima to Paços. Stayed at Quinta Estrada, a really nice, modern albergue restored by Jeff and Leslie. Nice place, nice people!
Day 7 - Paços to O Porriño. Stayed at the local albergue. Two rooms of about 30 beds each, 75% filled when we were there.
Day 8 - O Porriño to Pontevedra. Very long day. Intended to stay in Arcade but walked past all of the available places to sleep and decided to walk on instead of going back. Stayed at Hotel Alameda. Nice room, 35 euro for two.
Day 9 - Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis. Got rained on horizontally for the afternoon. Stayed at Hotel Lotus. Basic accomodation.
Day 10 - Caldas de Reis to Padrón. Stayed at the local albergue. Dead-ended into into the full Semana Santa flea market and carnival rides while walking into town. Kind of fun, definitely memorable.
Day 11 - Padrón to Santiago de Compostela. Long, long walk to the Cathedral from the south but still a great day. Stayed in some unmemorable hotel room. Orujo de hierbas!

Bom Caminho!

 

[Deleted member 36903]

Catahoula19, thank you for providing this information. According to the Brierley guide there are 3 albergues in Barcelos, which one did you stay at?

 

[Catahoula19]

Albergue Cidade de Barcelos

 

[joeboybollo]

Catahoula19, thank you for providing this information. According to the Brierley guide there are 3 albergues in Barcelos, which one did you stay at?

Sounds like a trip I would like to do.Do not fancy the cobblestones though!