Getting from Porto to Tui

[LeBlancGA]

A friend and I are planning the Camino Portugues beginning in Tui on 21 April 2014. This is our first time on the Camino. We have been having difficulty in our schedule from Porto to either Tui or Valenca on the 20th of April. Our plan was to travel from Lisbon to Fatima and then get a train from Fatima to Porto, then a train from Porto to Valenca/Tui. We are having problems because our travel from Fatima to Porto, then on to Valenca/Tui is on a Sunday (Easter Sunday, at that!). We find that we can get from Fatima to Porto by train, but we are having trouble finding a train (or bus) schedule from Porto to Valenca/Tui on a Sunday afternoon. We would rent a car but cannot because is no drop-off location in Valenca or Tui.
Anyone out there with experience or suggestions?

 

[Deleted member 3000]

 

[Diogo92]

A friend and I are planning the Camino Portugues beginning in Tui on 21 April 2014. This is our first time on the Camino. We have been having difficulty in our schedule from Porto to either Tui or Valenca on the 20th of April. Our plan was to travel from Lisbon to Fatima and then get a train from Fatima to Porto, then a train from Porto to Valenca/Tui. We are having problems because our travel from Fatima to Porto, then on to Valenca/Tui is on a Sunday (Easter Sunday, at that!). We find that we can get from Fatima to Porto by train, but we are having trouble finding a train (or bus) schedule from Porto to Valenca/Tui on a Sunday afternoon. We would rent a car but cannot because is no drop-off location in Valenca or Tui.
Anyone out there with experience or suggestions?

Hello Leblanc, and welcome to the Forum.

I think that your main question was already answered by @falcon269 . Besides that, I think that you should know one thing or two about your plan: train from Fatima to Lisboa it's possible, and from Fatima to Porto too, BUT the Fatima train station, it's not near the sanctuary. Well, actually, the sanctuary it's not located in Fatima, it's placed in a village called Cova da Iria. So, you are not really in Fatima. Train station stays far as 23km!

For you to reach Fatima from Lisbon, and to go to Porto from Fatima, you should take an Express Bus. You can check the schedules in http://www.rede-expressos.pt/

From there, you can also see schedules from buses from Porto to Valença. You can always do the crossing from Valença do Minho to Tui by foot.

Best Regards
Diogo

 

[travellover]

Sorry to get into the topic, but these two busses from Tui is the only way to get there? Looking at the schedule the very first bus will get us there at 3pm. It is too late to start the walk that day... Is there a way to get to Valenca in the morning?

 

[Diogo92]

Sorry to get into the topic, but these two busses from Tui is the only way to get there? Looking at the schedule the very first bus will get us there at 3pm. It is too late to start the walk that day... Is there a way to get to Valenca in the morning?

Try to see Rede Expressos website. Or AVIC. But for what I've seen, you won't have any chance of arriving in there early to start walking, unless you spend the night in there.

Best Regards
Diogo

 

[Diogo92]

@travellover , I've checked also the train schedule, and it appears that you might have some luck.

I've attached the image file to this post. For more information, visit cp.pt

Best Regards
Diogo

 

[travellover]

Thank you so much! That's great! 6am train, 8 am in Valenca ready to go!

 

[HermanTheGerman]

A friend and I are planning the Camino Portugues beginning in Tui on 21 April 2014. This is our first time on the Camino. We have been having difficulty in our schedule from Porto to either Tui or Valenca on the 20th of April. Our plan was to travel from Lisbon to Fatima and then get a train from Fatima to Porto, then a train from Porto to Valenca/Tui. We are having problems because our travel from Fatima to Porto, then on to Valenca/Tui is on a Sunday (Easter Sunday, at that!). We find that we can get from Fatima to Porto by train, but we are having trouble finding a train (or bus) schedule from Porto to Valenca/Tui on a Sunday afternoon. We would rent a car but cannot because is no drop-off location in Valenca or Tui.
Anyone out there with experience or suggestions?

Try walking, otherwise you'll be missing the best part!

 

[whariwharangi]

Autna bus
http://www.autna.com/

CP ... click the 'travelling in Portugal' tab to see network map.
http://www.cp.pt/cp/displayPage.do?vgnextoid=87cbd5abe2a74010VgnVCM1000007b01a8c0RCRD

 

[judydaisy]

Hi. we are having a similar problem arriving into Santiago and starting to walk in Tui (we are travelling on a Sunday though). we arrive too late for public transport and so we are hiring a car at Santiago airport, driving to Vigo airport, dropping off the car and getting a taxi to Tui from there. Seems by far the cheapest way to do it. I'm told its about 20km from Vigo to Tui. Does this help?
Buen camino.

 

[travellover]

I just tried to price a car, it gave me 735$ for a day?!!!!! I could not believe it, sounds unreasonable... We can theoretically fly to Vigo directly, the ticket is about 150$ more then Porto. But we would like to see A little bit of Portugal even it is just a day...

 

[LeBlancGA]

Hi. we are having a similar problem arriving into Santiago and starting to walk in Tui (we are travelling on a Sunday though). we arrive too late for public transport and so we are hiring a car at Santiago airport, driving to Vigo airport, dropping off the car and getting a taxi to Tui from there. Seems by far the cheapest way to do it. I'm told its about 20km from Vigo to Tui. Does this help?
Buen camino.

Thanks, Judy, but it seems that the cost to drive from Portugal to Vigo is prohibitive because of the drop-off charges in Spain for a Portugal rental car. So that won't work.

 

[LeBlancGA]

Try walking, otherwise you'll be missing the best part!

Thanks, Herman, but we are part of a schedule which requires that we be in Tui on Sunday night in order to start our walk on Monday morning. And, the approximate 115k between Porto and Tui is a bit much for these old bones to handle walking in an afternoon!

 

[LeBlancGA]

View attachment 8506

Thanks, Falcon269. this might be a solution to our problem. Can you tell me if that schedule indicates that those buses are active on Sundays? (I apologize, but my Portugese is non-existent.) Thank you for your help.

 

[LeBlancGA]

Hello Leblanc, and welcome to the Forum.

I think that your main question was already answered by @falcon269 . Besides that, I think that you should know one thing or two about your plan: train from Fatima to Lisboa it's possible, and from Fatima to Porto too, BUT the Fatima train station, it's not near the sanctuary. Well, actually, the sanctuary it's not located in Fatima, it's placed in a village called Cova da Iria. So, you are not really in Fatima. Train station stays far as 23km!

For you to reach Fatima from Lisbon, and to go to Porto from Fatima, you should take an Express Bus. You can check the schedules in http://www.rede-expressos.pt/

From there, you can also see schedules from buses from Porto to Valença. You can always do the crossing from Valença do Minho to Tui by foot.

Best Regards
Diogo

Thanks very much, Diogo. We had read about the 23 mile distance from the train station to the town at Fatima, but we were under the impression that there exists a shuttle service from town to the train station - do you know if this is correct? We have been planning to take the express bus from Lisbon to Fatima as you suggest and then take the train to Porto from Fatima. Do you think that we will be better to take the bus from Fatima to Porto? Would it not take a great deal more time to travel to Porto by bus? We have a concern about the travel time by bus, because of the apparent few opportunities to get to Tui (or Valenca) on a Sunday afternoon from Porto.

 

[Diogo92]

Thanks very much, Diogo. We had read about the 23 mile distance from the train station to the town at Fatima, but we were under the impression that there exists a shuttle service from town to the train station - do you know if this is correct? We have been planning to take the express bus from Lisbon to Fatima as you suggest and then take the train to Porto from Fatima. Do you think that we will be better to take the bus from Fatima to Porto? Would it not take a great deal more time to travel to Porto by bus? We have a concern about the travel time by bus, because of the apparent few opportunities to get to Tui (or Valenca) on a Sunday afternoon from Porto.

No shuttle service for what I know. Only taxi, at a very expensive cost. Take the bus to Porto. It will take you the same time to reach Porto either by bus or train.

Best Regards
Diogo

 

[Deleted member 3000]

Thanks, Falcon269. this might be a solution to our problem. Can you tell me if that schedule indicates that those buses are active on Sundays? (I apologize, but my Portugese is non-existent.) Thank you for your help.

Seven days a week.

 

[miguel_gp]

Hi. we are having a similar problem arriving into Santiago and starting to walk in Tui (we are travelling on a Sunday though). we arrive too late for public transport and so we are hiring a car at Santiago airport, driving to Vigo airport, dropping off the car and getting a taxi to Tui from there. Seems by far the cheapest way to do it. I'm told its about 20km from Vigo to Tui. Does this help?
Buen camino.

You could also stay in Santiago overnight and catch the Alsa bus the next day at noon to Valenca Do Minho (arrives 13:15 Portuguese time) which allows enough time to walk back, depending on your first overnight stop. If O Porrino, no problem. If Mos or Redondela then it depends on what time of year you are walking and when the sun sets!

 

[LeBlancGA]

Seven days a week.

Thanks, Falcon269...that looks as though it might solve our problem. I appreciate the help.

 

[mel2014]

View attachment 8506

I am also trying to find out how to get to Tui from Oporto. I was happy to see the Alsa schedule, except I had problems with the Alsa app. I will be doing the camino in September from Tui. Where do u get the bus from Oporto. I am staying at Gaia..can I pick up the bus from Gaia? Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

The bus station in Oporto is at the Casa da Musica metro station. You can get there from the Gaia suburb by walking, bus, metro, or taxi.

 

[mel2014]

The bus station in Oporto is at the Casa da Musica metro station. You can get there from the Gaia suburb by walking, bus, metro, or taxi.

View attachment 11616

Thank you so much falcon269.

 

[mel2014]

Thanks falcon269. I tried to log in to Alsa website to get schedules and fares, but it doesn't accept oporto as a valid origin? Attempted many times without success. I hope to leave on a Sunday for a Monday camino start. I did check autna bus schedules, no problems there - only one service on Saturday and Sunday tho.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I tried to log in to Alsa website to get schedules and fares, but it doesn't accept oporto as a valid origin?

Porto is international, so you need to go to the International tab.

 

[Catharina56]

Sorry to get into the topic, but these two busses from Tui is the only way to get there? Looking at the schedule the very first bus will get us there at 3pm. It is too late to start the walk that day... Is there a way to get to Valenca in the morning?

AUTNA has several buses per day straight to Vila Nova de Cerveira, Valença and Vigo from the centre of Porto as well as from the airport of Porto!
See http://www.autna.com/venta/index.php
The Portuguese city of Valença is via a bridge connected to the Spanish city of Tui (in Tui start a lot op pilgrims! Better to find accommodation in Valença)

On your way back from Santiago de Compostela you can take the train to Vigo (station Vigo-Guixar) (there are many connections) and from the bus station in Vigo you can take the AUTNA-bus from there (about 5 buses per day).
The whole way (= train + bus) will cost you about €22.
For the train see http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html
The AUTNA-bus can take you also to Lisbon and to Algarve. You can pick your seat online and they told me that there is a toilet in the AUTNA-bus.
Be aware of a different time zone - one hour difference - between Portugal and Spain while planning your bus schedule. Don't miss your plane =)

 

[Catharina56]

I just tried to price a car, it gave me 735$ for a day?!!!!! I could not believe it, sounds unreasonable... We can theoretically fly to Vigo directly, the ticket is about 150$ more then Porto. But we would like to see A little bit of Portugal even it is just a day...

as I told before in another reply:
AUTNA has several buses per day straight to Vila Nova de Cerveira, Valença and Vigo from the centre of Porto as well as from the airport of Porto!
See http://www.autna.com/venta/index.php
The Portuguese city of Valença is via a bridge connected to the Spanish city of Tui (in Tui start a lot op pilgrims! Better to find accommodation in Valença)
Public transportation in Portugal is well organised and very cheap. Don't use a car in Porto. You need to walk there everything (lovely!) and parking in Porto costs a fortune.
On our family vacation last July (2014) we have stayed three nights in Porto. It is such a delight to be there.
See my pictures only about Porto: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152619122129282.1073741842.761289281&type=1&l=d85328e93a

On your way back from Santiago de Compostela you can take the train to Vigo (station Vigo-Guixar) (there are many connections) and from the bus station in Vigo you can take the AUTNA-bus from there (about 5 buses per day).
The whole way (= train + bus) will cost you about €22.
For the train see http://www.renfe.com/EN/viajeros/index.html
The AUTNA-bus can take you also to Lisbon and to Algarve. You can pick your seat online and they told me that there is a toilet in the AUTNA-bus.
Be aware of a different time zone - one hour difference - between Portugal and Spain while planning your bus schedule. Don't miss your plane =)
By the way the cheapest flight tickets you can find via www.skyscanner.com