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Into Baiona - Litoral or Coastal?

GlennJ

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
Planned Camino: Portuguese (April-May 2024)
There are 2 routes into Baiona from As Marinas (about 6km from Baiona) - (1) Litoral (shown in red in pic), and (2) Coastal (shown in dark blue).

What are the plus and minus points of either route if you have taken one or the other (or even both)?

IMG_7366.jpeg
 
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If you take the Litoral (red), you will pass right by a sea glass beach!! Praia dos Cristais, in that upper left corner of your map. It was a highlight of the route for me!

IMG_7147.jpg
 
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I did the (red) beach walk in March 2023. Bars and restaurants were plentiful along the coast. It was beautiful and few pilgrims. It felt more like a beach walk than a pilgrimage but very enjoyable and scenic. I recommend the Espiritual variant and second the notion that Baiona is a nice city to spend a day or two playing tourist.
 
There are 2 routes into Baiona from As Marinas (about 6km from Baiona) - (1) Litoral (shown in red in pic), and (2) Coastal (shown in dark blue).

What are the plus and minus points of either route if you have taken one or the other (or even both)?

View attachment 163677
There are 2 routes into Baiona from As Marinas (about 6km from Baiona) - (1) Litoral (shown in red in pic), and (2) Coastal (shown in dark blue).

What are the plus and minus points of either route if you have taken one or the other (or even both)?

View attachment 163677
I took the blue...up a mountain. And down a mountain. It was a beautiful view, but wish I had stayed on the litoral route.
 
There are 2 routes into Baiona from As Marinas (about 6km from Baiona) - (1) Litoral (shown in red in pic), and (2) Coastal (shown in dark blue).

What are the plus and minus points of either route if you have taken one or the other (or even both)?

View attachment 163677
I’ve walked both. The beauty of the blue up-and-over route is that you walk along Roman roads with the grooves carved by the chariot wheels. So much history, and you can, if you stand still and close your eyes, ‘feel’ the energy and presence of those who have passed this way for centuries before you. Magical. You KNOW this is the real ‘Way’. Absolutely worth every second of the climb and the descent.
 
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I’ve walked both. The beauty of the blue up-and-over route is that you walk along Roman roads with the grooves carved by the chariot wheels. So much history, and you can, if you stand still and close your eyes, ‘feel’ the energy and presence of those who have passed this way for centuries before you. Magical. You KNOW this is the real ‘Way’. Absolutely worth every second of the climb and the descent.
That is true. The grooves from the carts were pretty cool.
 
I took the blue route, going up (and down) after several days of walking by the ocean.IMG_2812.JPG
 
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It all depends in what you like. The blue route is definitely more physically challenging! But the old Roman Roads are indeed special (same is true from Baiona to A Ramallosa if you walk the interior blue route along the historic Camino Real, Old Roman Road where you will see historic crosses, wells, bridges and feel like a real pilgrim). But the sea glass beach is special too, on the orange route. And walking by the Castelo de Monterreal in Baiona on the orange route. As for the views, for me it's a toss up. Views down by the water overlooking waves crashing? Or high pleateau views of the whole bay and castle? Both have their appeal. To see my photos of the Senda Litoral and the Costal Route through these sections, click on the links. Happy discerning! Or maybe do both??
 
This is very interesting to me. No one has mentioned the “bike path”. We took the overland route because I was so sick and tired of walking on that “bicycle path” which was really a painted yellow lane on a very busy road (busiest road of the entire Camino). Wise Pilgrim said the coastal route would be more of the same. I was literally ecstatic to climb a hill, that’s how badly I needed to get off that bike lane. And we’d been walking along the coast with gorgeous views of crashing waves for 8 days by this point so I wasnt concerned about missing anything. Honestly, that over land path with the Roman wheel ruts and tremendous views from this hill that you’ve been walking towards all day (“Yippee, we’re going up THAT hill!”) followed by winding streets down the other side with lovely views towards Baiona and the Cies islands, was one of my favourite sections of the Camino. Oh, and there’s a lovely little cafe in this guy’s backyard after the Roman road/path turns into a real street. It’s the first house you come to. Great bathroom.
 
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