Porto to Lisbon in January

[ShareneSoluna]

Hi all! Hope you can help me

I spontaneously decided to walk a part of the portuques camino and i will already leave in 2 weeks. No idea how the weather is and if there are any alberques open this time of the year. So i hope to find some information with you.
And second, i haven't decide which route i'm going to walk. I'll just walk a part of the route for about 11 - 13 days and i have to finish south, because after walking i'll go to Faro by train. So my plan was to walk from Santiago to Porto and then take a train to Faro. But there are no direct flights from the Netherlands in this time of the year. That's why i think about walking from Porto to Lisbon. The only thing is that i can't find so much information about it.

Things i want to know
- how's the nature on the coastal road and in the mainland from porto to lisbon (one of the most important parts, because i don't just want to walk. I want to walk a beautiful path without many highways)
- are there any accomodations this time of the year?
- experiences of other walkers on this route
- accomodation in jan /feb
- weather

Thanks! Denise

PS. maybe there are already posts about this subject, but i couldn't really find it

 

[jsalt]

Walking south from Porto you can follow the blue arrows to Fatima. But instead of starting in Porto, rather get the bus to Sao Joao de Madeira (there is a municipal albergue there) and start from there. (Porto to Sao Joao is very built up and on tar the whole way.) You can check which albergues are open south of there on the Gronze website:

https://www.gronze.com/etapa/sao-joao-da-madeira/grijo

Have fun!

 

[ShareneSoluna]

Thanks Jill for your help!

 

[Camembert]

Walking back from Porto to Lisbon alongside the coast is quite a challenge . It is a beautiful area but you'll meet busy roads because not everywhere you can reach the coastline.
The regular "central route " is doable because you'll find the blue waymarkers to Fátima . On the Lisbon-Porto leg are some albergues but I cannot assure you they are opened in wintertime.But there are cheap boardinghouses, pensions and small hotels which are fairly cheap. Mind the majority of the route is roadwalking on most of the stages. Once arrived at the town of Santarém you will part of the Fátima caminho and you will have to find your own way and soon you will arrive in the busier suburbs of Lisbon. Depending on your pace you probably walk in 11 to 13 days to Tomar and from there you could take the train to Lisbon and on to the Algarve. I am afraid if you meet them, you will meet Portuguese walkers direction Fátima but they will follow the main roads , directly to their goal Fátima. They follow motorways by walking on the hardshoulder . I do not think you like that. Almost all Fatima pilgrims walk on so called tennís, sportshoes and wear a small daypack and a yellow safetyvests (een geel hesje !)
About the weather it may rain ,it may shine.

Bom caminho. Goede reis

 

[jungleboy]

Things i want to know
- weather

Seems OK right now

 

[ShareneSoluna]

Seems OK right now

View attachment 50429

oo i'm so full with information from al over the internet that i totally forgot this simple option haha. Thanks!

 

[ShareneSoluna]

Thnks for all your information! Very helpfull

 

[Terry Callery]

I did the Portuguese Route in February last year (which I just wrote a book about-- listing every stop/accommodations) and I saw just one French couple in three weeks until I got to Porto. I only saw one young guy from Poland waking in the other direction following the Blue arrows to Fatima. It is really desreted in the winter until you get to Porto which is why only 1% of pilgrims start in Lisbon - most doing the Portuguese start in Porto.
Trains are so fast and so convenient that I wouldn't plan my trip on the basis of where you end up. I might suggest doing the Portuguese route (central) from Porto(Stay at the Poet's Inn) to Santiago. It is very uncrowded in Jan-Feb. but the infrastructure vastly improves after Porto. The food is way better on the Portuguese route that the French...and I found the people to be friendlier. . Arriving in Santiago at the end is a big part of the Camino experience which you will miss doing the route backwards.
Go the the website Rome2Rio and enter Santiago to Lisbon and you will find a few buses every day that will take you from Santiago to Lisbon. (and stay at the Poet's Inn in Lisbon in the trendy Baixa-Chiado section of town - yes there is a Poet's Inn in Lisbon and another in Porto run by the same people). The extra bus ride will be well worth a Camino where you share with other pilgrims.
Terence Callery