Jose Luis Perdomo
New Member
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino del Norte
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Thank you very much. I will take a look.I walked in 2014. I think there are a few more albergues now. I posted to my blog every day from the camino with descriptions of the landscape and accommodation and lots of photos. You are welcome to take a look...
https://magwood.me/my-caminos/camino-portuguese/
I walked from Porto to Santiago three years ago. It was lovely and the albergues were really good. On the occasions you have to walk alongside a road it can feel quite dangerous but most of the time it's off-road.I would like to walk from Lisbon to Santiago. this fall However, the descriptions and information I have found about the Lisbon to Spain border segment are discouraging both in terms of beauty of the Camino and available resources such as places to stay and eat.
Has anyone walked this segment recently and could you offer some fresh perspectives?
Thanks,
I'd just reiterate what I said earlier that practically all of Lisbon to Porto (central route) is on roads. The two sections Lisbon to Porto and Porto to Santiago are very different. The latter is very similar to CF. You're only in Portugal for 3 or 4 days before you're in Spain. Lisbon to Porto has even fewer pilgrims and a unique flavor all it's own.
If the concern is traffic, most of the secondary road is very quiet, without much or any road traffic. On the other hand, if the concern is hard surface, about 70% is on some sort of hard surface. If that's a big problem, then another walk might be better. In 3 weeks I'm leaving for the Arles Way, I'll let you know how that compares!
Sept 2016 - Started in Lisbon - Central Route. My comments are for the Lisbon to Porto section only.
Not my favorite but, overall, I'm glad I did it because it was so different from Frances and Le Puy. If interested, here's the obligatory blog.
- Very, very hot
- Practically all of it is on roads - asphalt or stone, which made it feel even hotter. Many sections without any shoulders.
- Drivers. I found Portuguese to be lovely, caring, hospitable people. Except when driving. I was hit twice. Luckily, in those instances they weren't going fast and once it was really my trekking poles getting hit, which I happened to be holding rather than using. Neither stopped.
- Dogs. There are loose dogs on the Le Puy and Frances but not to the same extent and these were much more aggressive. I had several encounters with packs of 4-6 dogs. I think the issue with drivers and dogs is due to a lack of familiarity with pilgrims trudging thru their territory.
- A lot of walking thru industrial sections.
- Very few pilgrims. Running into 2 or 3 was a big day. I met several people who had started in Lisbon but because of the heat, roads, industrial had decided to skip ahead, taking a taxi/train to Coimbra or Porto.
- I did not think there was any issue with finding accommodations or places to eat. I've been on trails (non-camino) where this was an issue. And this wasn't bad at all. As long as you are not limiting yourself to albergues. Plenty of hotels. I was more vigilant in checking my options for the next day, which I didn't do on the Frances and did on limited sections on Le Puy.
- Food is much cheaper. Cheaper than even Spain. Hotels I think are about the same but wide disparity in quality at the same price. Many give pilgrim discounts.
thanksMany thanks for this... that's an interesting breakdown. I don't mind the hard surfaces... but I do dislike the cadence of the road. I'm ok if I can walk on the 'wrong' side with my right leg on the down slope of the cadence... but not the other way around... or I'm happy a little away from the edge.
The Arles is another walk on my wish list... which is a very long list now!
I've been walking from Lisbon over the past week or so. Particularly before Santerem I thought there was a lot of road walking - some of it, frankly, on such narrow busy roads that I felt like crying when I saw the yellow arrows pointing that way! After Tomar the walk is beautiful....but by the time I reached Coimbra I was pretty shattered....
So today I've taken the train to Porto and I'm having a 'holiday' here until Wednesday when I'll start walking again...
I've been walking from Lisbon over the past week or so. Particularly before Santerem I thought there was a lot of road walking - some of it, frankly, on such narrow busy roads that I felt like crying when I saw the yellow arrows pointing that way! After Tomar the walk is beautiful....but by the time I reached Coimbra I was pretty shattered....
So today I've taken the train to Porto and I'm having a 'holiday' here until Wednesday when I'll start walking again...
I've been walking from Lisbon over the past week or so. Particularly before Santerem I thought there was a lot of road walking - some of it, frankly, on such narrow busy roads that I felt like crying when I saw the yellow arrows pointing that way! After Tomar the walk is beautiful....but by the time I reached Coimbra I was pretty shattered....
So today I've taken the train to Porto and I'm having a 'holiday' here until Wednesday when I'll start walking again...
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