Pack Transfer, Variant Espiritual, off the beaten path accomodations

[Theresa Brandon]

Any recommendations for Pack transfer on the Portuguese including the Variant Espiritual and some accomodations between stages or slightly off the Camino. I have sent my itinerary to CaminoFacil, Pilbeo and Tuitrans but haven't gotten replies. The drop down menus on the various sites don't always have options for drop off points even somewhat near my accommodations.

 

[Josep Montserrat]

Any recommendations for Pack transfer on the Portuguese including the Variant Espiritual and some accomodations between stages or slightly off the Camino. I have sent my itinerary to CaminoFacil, Pilbeo and Tuitrans but haven't gotten replies. The drop down menus on the various sites don't always have options for drop off points even somewhat near my accommodations.

Hi Theresa,


I walked Portuguese Coastal Camino and Variante Espiritual on June. I booked my bagage transfer with Caminofacil.

All worked very well. The only thing you have to do is type a email explaing where you want to stop and and asking for the fare.

Their email works quickly.

https://caminofacil.net/en/

contacto@caminofacil.net

 

[Theresa Brandon]

Thank you. I finally did get a reply from them this morning but it took a week to hear back from them.

 

[jungleboy]

Any recommendations for Pack transfer on the Portuguese including the Variant Espiritual and some accomodations between stages or slightly off the Camino. I have sent my itinerary to CaminoFacil, Pilbeo and Tuitrans but haven't gotten replies. The drop down menus on the various sites don't always have options for drop off points even somewhat near my accommodations.

I liked staying in Vila Chã on the first night. It's a low-key fishing village, which was a nice change of pace after the touristy feel of Matosinhos. There's not much there in the way of accommodation and restaurants, but there's enough. I stayed at Café Sandra, which also has a restaurant.

 

[MaxHelado]

Any recommendations for Pack transfer on the Portuguese including the Variant Espiritual and some accomodations between stages or slightly off the Camino. I have sent my itinerary to CaminoFacil, Pilbeo and Tuitrans but haven't gotten replies. The drop down menus on the various sites don't always have options for drop off points even somewhat near my accommodations.

Where are you wanting to stay on the Varainte?

 

[Traveller44]

You could use TopSantiago

 

[Theresa Brandon]

Tuitrans told me they will only deliver to hostels and hotels. Top Santiago is looking over my itinerary now. Pilbeo apparently doesn't do the Variant Espiritual. Camino Facil has asked me to check with each accommodation that isn't a hotel to see if their driver would have a safe place to drop off packs, so I am waiting to hear back from most of the places we are staying.

 

[trecile]

You might have to reconsider either having your pack transported or the places where you stay.

 

[MaxHelado]

If you're not staying in hotels or hostels then I have to guess that you are planning to stay in AirBnbs. If that's the case I doubt very much that you will find any carrier who will deliver to your door. The advice to contact each accommodation makes total sense to me as they should know where the nearest collection point is or indeed if there isn't one!

 

[Theresa Brandon]

There are five of us traveling together so we have a variety of accommodations: hotels, casa rurales and apartments. In the past I have had pack transfer drop off bags at local bars/cafes if we were staying in private housing. I have done Caminos with and enjoy pack transfer, and I do prefer the latter, if possible.

 

[MaxHelado]

Yes, the drop off at local bars & cafes should work fine and the owners of the accommodation are the ones who can best tell you where those are.
Another thought......if there are 5 of you it might not break the bank to simply book a cab, stick all the bags in the bag and split the cost five ways. That way you can use a mix of carriers and cabs.

 

[trecile]

Another thought......if there are 5 of you it might not break the bank to simply book a cab, stick all the bags in the bag and split the cost five ways. That way you can use a mix of carriers and cabs.

The cab driver still has to have a place to drop off the bags. If it's the type of Airbnb with no owner in attendance that will be difficult.

 

[MaxHelado]

The cab driver still has to have a place to drop off the bags. If it's the type of Airbnb with no owner in attendance that will be difficult.

Good point. If you are going from one unattended Airbnb to another then you will need a drop-off point. But if travelling to or from hotels or casa rurales it should work. You can pick a time when you know you will be there to receive your bags.

 

[phildimashq]

Hi Theresa,

I walked the spiritual variant in June of this year and I would highly recommend it.

I booked the albergue in armenteira via Víctor on +34 619 53 40 87

He works for (or runs) a taxi service that appears to offer a baggage transfer service on the variante

https://www.serviturarousa.es/index.php/servicios/taxi-24-horas

I haven't used it, so know nothing more, but it might be worth a try?

A tip - if you have plenty of time take three nights for the variante and sleep Combarro, then Armenteira, then Arousa.

I didn't have the time to stay in Combarro but wished I had.. it's a really beautiful seaside village.

buen camino

Phil

 

[Traveller44]

On the odd occasion, we sent a few backpacks ahead by Uber delivery. Worked fine .

 

[Theresa Brandon]

I must say that Top Santiago went above and beyond to try to work with our itinerary but in the end we had too many private housing bookings that had no secure place for pack delivery.

 

[Theresa Brandon]

I ended up contacting each accommodation separately to verify if they had a safe drop off point for packs, then worked with Top Santiago on individual bookings to do pack transfer to those points. It was nice having pack transfer at least part of the time, and they were, indeed, able to provide pack transfer along the Variant Espiritual.

 

[GypsyMe]

You could use TopSantiago

They stop operating Oct.31

 

[JabbaPapa]

What I saw on the slightly less travelled Caminho routes this year is that some local taxi companies provide this sort of service.