Need to skip a section between Tui and Redondela -- Where?

design4life · Feb 23, 2020

Hi everyone,
In order to accommodate my slower walking pace (and total vacation days,) I am planning to skip a night in Porriño and go directly from Tui to Redondela. Can you suggest the prettiest section for me to walk a maximum of 18k/11mi?

I see that the entry to Porriño has a nice detour away from the industrial zone, so I was leaning toward walking Tui to Porriño, maybe stopping at the Xunta right before the city, and getting a taxi to Redondela.

Alternatively, I could ride to Porriño and walk to Redondela.

I appreciate your suggestions, including the best places to catch a taxi, train, or bus.

trecile · Feb 23, 2020

design4life said:
Hi everyone,
In order to accommodate my slower walking pace (and total vacation days,) I am planning to skip a night in Porriño and go directly from Tui to Redondela. Can you suggest the prettiest section for me to walk a maximum of 18k/11mi?

I see that the entry to Porriño has a nice detour away from the industrial zone, so I was leaning toward walking Tui to Porriño, maybe stopping at the Xunta right before the city, and getting a taxi to Redondela.

Alternatively, I could ride to Porriño and walk to Redondela.

I appreciate your suggestions, including the best places to catch a taxi, train, or bus.

Are you wanting to get a Compostela when you arrive in Santiago? If so, you can't skip any sections after Porriño, as you need to walk the last 100 km into Santiago. Where are you planning to start your Camin? If you are that short of time I suggest that you change your starting point, and don't skip anything between there and Santiago.

Pinker to · Feb 23, 2020

I Loved both sections.
Anyway, Tuy-Porriño straightforward and flat hike in the woods, Porriño-Redondela as nice as previous one, up and downhill though.
Quite torn between either option.

design4life · Feb 23, 2020

@Pinker to -- Thanks for the comparison. Maybe it's a matter of whether I wake up wanting to climb or not!
@trecile -- Sorry, was trying not to overload my post with too much info.
I'm walking Barcelos to SDC, along the Central route, with a detour to the Spiritual Variant. For various reasons, I'm committed to most of my stages and overnight stops. I'm trying to make this walk as pastoral an experience as possible -- I've walked the CF and the Kumano Kodo -- so I thought I'd skip the one city, Porriño.

trecile · Feb 24, 2020

design4life said:
@Pinker to -- Thanks for the comparison. Maybe it's a matter of whether I wake up wanting to climb or not!
@trecile -- Sorry, was trying not to overload my post with too much info.
I'm walking Barcelos to SDC, along the Central route, with a detour to the Spiritual Variant. For various reasons, I'm committed to most of my stages and overnight stops. I'm trying to make this walk as pastoral an experience as possible -- I've walked the CF and the Kumano Kodo -- so I thought I'd skip the one city, Porriño.

So, you aren't interested in receiving a Compostela this time? I see that you have already done several Caminos, and maybe already have at least one.😊

design4life · Feb 24, 2020

trecile said:
So, you aren't interested in receiving a Compostela this time? I see that you have already done several Caminos, and maybe already have at least one.😊

Yes, I have a handsome Compostela at home, as well as my "Dual Pilgrim" certificate from Japan. I treasure them -- and the memories, which include an occasional hop onto a bus. I can't imagine anyone begrudging me a Compostela for a 10-mile Uber ride between Porriño and Redondela, but it's not something I plan to sweat about! But thanks for the heads up. I didn't realize that you were reminding me about the 100km rule.

lt56ny · Feb 24, 2020

design4life said:
Yes, I have a handsome Compostela at home, as well as my "Dual Pilgrim" certificate from Japan. I treasure them -- and the memories, which include an occasional hop onto a bus. I can't imagine anyone begrudging me a Compostela for a 10-mile Uber ride between Porriño and Redondela, but it's not something I plan to sweat about! But thanks for the heads up. I didn't realize that you were reminding me about the 100km rule.

If you are not caring about the Compostela and you do not need to walk into Santiago the last stretch from Padron I found to be pretty boring and not to pretty visually either.

design4life · Feb 24, 2020

lt56ny said:
If you are not caring about the Compostela and you do not need to walk into Santiago the last stretch from Padron I found to be pretty boring and not to pretty visually either.

Thank you for articulating what I've been thinking. Walking into Santiago -- celebrating with friends, sitting right underneath the butafumeiro -- was an unforgettable experience. But I'm walking alone this time and unless I connect with a group of trail pals I'm not sure I care about making that final stage. I will have my passport stamped along the way and then see how I feel after the boat ride to Padrón.
I've focused on cutting out Porriño because I'm locked into my dates on the Spiritual Variant. I booked my beds a long time ago, and most accoms are full up. This is, in my mind, the biggest change over the past several years -- the ubiquity of booking.com ties up even albergue beds.

Pinzi · Feb 26, 2020

I would ride to Porriño and walk to Redondela.

design4life · Feb 27, 2020

I'm curious -- why?

Pinzi · Feb 27, 2020

Avoids the walk along the industrial park on the way into Porrino, which was tolerable but not inspirational. The camino from Porrino to Redondela includes walking along the heights and through woods which I enjoyed. The walk up to the heights is a bit steep and will get your heart pumping, so if that's something you want to avoid would take the bus. But walking the heights was a better Camino expierence for me than walking the industrial park. So if I had to skip one, would skip the industrial park between Tui and Porrino.