peregrina nicole
RIP 2016
Hello Everyone! After having finished the Camino Portuguese (starting in Porto) we decided to return to Porto and fly back from Portugal. Canuck very helpfully suggested going by bus rather than by train.
By Bus: ALSA (http://www.alsa.es) goes from Santiago bus station to Porto taking you to the International Norte station (I can't remember the exact name of the station, but this is what I think it is called). There are buses every day at 10am (arriving at 12:45 Portuguese time) and at 17:15 (arriving at 20:00 Portuguese time). On Fridays and Sundays, there is also a 22:00 bus that gets you in at 00:45 Portuguese time. This bus stops at a few places like Vigo, Viana do Castello and Porto Airport (at least the 17:15 one we took did). It costs 29 euros. The timetable says that it is valid until 31-03-2010 (however, I would still recheck this).
By Train: You have to change at Vigo. There are many trains from Santiago to Vigo (check the RENEFE site). The important think is the onward connection to Porto (http://www.cp.pt). There is a train leaving Vigo at 7:40 which arrives at 9:55 Portuguse time and one leaving Vigo at 19:42 and arriving at 21:55. Both cost 14.15 euros. To connect with the 19: 42 train from Vigo you need to take the 16:21 train from Santiago which gets you to Vigo at 18:05.
We took the bus. We took the first bus back from Fisterre. This takes you to the Santiago bus station. We bought our Porto tickets from the Alsa office (next to the toilets), left our bags in left luggage (3 euros, self service lockers) and then had a nice long lunch in Santiago before getting the bus. By the way, bus number 5 takes you to and from the station to the city centre (where you pick up the airport bus).
By Bus: ALSA (http://www.alsa.es) goes from Santiago bus station to Porto taking you to the International Norte station (I can't remember the exact name of the station, but this is what I think it is called). There are buses every day at 10am (arriving at 12:45 Portuguese time) and at 17:15 (arriving at 20:00 Portuguese time). On Fridays and Sundays, there is also a 22:00 bus that gets you in at 00:45 Portuguese time. This bus stops at a few places like Vigo, Viana do Castello and Porto Airport (at least the 17:15 one we took did). It costs 29 euros. The timetable says that it is valid until 31-03-2010 (however, I would still recheck this).
By Train: You have to change at Vigo. There are many trains from Santiago to Vigo (check the RENEFE site). The important think is the onward connection to Porto (http://www.cp.pt). There is a train leaving Vigo at 7:40 which arrives at 9:55 Portuguse time and one leaving Vigo at 19:42 and arriving at 21:55. Both cost 14.15 euros. To connect with the 19: 42 train from Vigo you need to take the 16:21 train from Santiago which gets you to Vigo at 18:05.
We took the bus. We took the first bus back from Fisterre. This takes you to the Santiago bus station. We bought our Porto tickets from the Alsa office (next to the toilets), left our bags in left luggage (3 euros, self service lockers) and then had a nice long lunch in Santiago before getting the bus. By the way, bus number 5 takes you to and from the station to the city centre (where you pick up the airport bus).