Porto to Santiago

[vasque]

Hi all. Would appreciate help. Planning on a 2024 Porto to Santiago venture. I have walked the Camino Frances a few times and am totally ignorant about the Portuguese route. I am 77 years old and in pretty good shape and have used pack transit service in the past. Here are my questions:
1. If you have walked the Frances route, how do the grades compare?
2. Is there a backpack transit service available?
3. What time of year is best?
4. How are the Way markings?
5. How available are hostels / hotels? (usually stay in private rooms)
6. Is English widely spoken?
7. What city would I fly into?
Any other comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Robert

 

[trecile]

Peruse the Camino Portuguese section of the forum, and you will find that most of your questions have been answered.

But I'll go ahead and answer a few.

Yes, there are several luggage transport services.

English is widely spoken in the large cities, bit less so in small villages.

There are hotels, pensions, and albergues with private rooms. Gronze is a good source for this information.

Camino Portugués Central | Gronze.com

www.gronze.com

I would buy a round trip ticket to Porto. No need to take a bus or train to your starting point, and it's easy to return to Porto from Santiago.

 

[vasque]

Thank you for the info. Much appreciated

 

[lovelyshell]

I did the CP last April and downloaded Wisr Pilgrim. I was glad I did because I did not find it to be waymarked as much as I saw on the Frances.

 

[FLEUR]

The John Brierley guide / map book is worth studying and taking with you.

 

[CalDevere]

I walked the CP in September '23, beginning on the 5th, finishing the 13th. Weather was great throughout. I took the Senda Litoral out of Porto, inland above Labruge, then the Central to the Variante Espiritual, which was fantastic. There was plenty of lodging on the whole way, in hotels and smaller venues. There were plenty of pilgrims, but not overwhelming, not crowded at all, just pleasant accompaniment. Communication was easy enough with enough Portuguese and Spanish on my part to get by. Flew to Porto from Lisbon (after flying from NYC), and took the bus back from Santiago to Porto (nice ride) and then train to Lisbon for flight home.

 

[BRSmith13]

Hi all. Would appreciate help. Planning on a 2024 Porto to Santiago venture. I have walked the Camino Frances a few times and am totally ignorant about the Portuguese route. I am 77 years old and in pretty good shape and have used pack transit service in the past. Here are my questions:
1. If you have walked the Frances route, how do the grades compare?
2. Is there a backpack transit service available?
3. What time of year is best?
4. How are the Way markings?
5. How available are hostels / hotels? (usually stay in private rooms)
6. Is English widely spoken?
7. What city would I fly into?
Any other comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Robert

There are a ton of sites specific to the Portuguese camino. We also are going this spring. Decided end of April to avoid the summer heat and the tourist season. Also noticed the airfare skyrocketed from the US after mid May. We also learned the coast was no different to fly to Porto thru Madrid then flying to Madrid and taking the train to Porto.
The most helpful guide has been the 2024 Beirley guide for the Portuguese route - purchased from this site from Ivar.
There are two routes the Coastal and central. Plus you can take the espiritual varient that veers off at Pontevedra heading west and eventually links back up near Padron.
Two of us are both over 65 (67 & 77) and are taking it slow - actually taking the train to Vigo and walking the coastal route and spiritual varient from there. Taking our time - walking 10–18km per day, having our bags transported and are staying in locales where we have private bathroom.
Throughout my planning, there seem to be lots of albergues if that is what you want as well as other types of lodging.
Buen camino!

 

[KayfromUK]

From UK, I flu to Port and caught the return flight from Santiago. 2 completely different trips. You don't need to go back to Porto depending on where you start.
More people in Portugal seemed to speak English than the Spanish did. I was helped by Google translation. some restaurant didn't have a menu in English.
Signanage was fine if you are on Camino. If you haven't seen the sign a while, it normally means you've missed it. I (and also other people) had a problem finding the connecting route between Villa do Condé to Arcos as I switched from the Coastal route to the Central. John Brierley didn't help very much. He tells me, 'you will find the church...' but he didn't say, in 5 mins or 2 hours! Google is only good if you want to find the driving route. When I finally approached Arcos, signs started appearing every few minutes.
The local authorities often change the routes. Unlike what we do in UK- stick to the public footpaths marked on OS map, you need to keep your eyes peeled to follow the local signs.
I booked all accom. in advance to submit to Tui transfer. It was cheaper to book the luggage transfer all at once. But it meant, there was no flexibility.
When I was planning, I thought it would be a walk in the park. Average mileage was 12miles, which I often do at home. It wasn't a trekking holiday like I normally go. How wrong I was! I couldn't have done it without the luggage transfer. Maybe because it was so hot - from the end of Sep to the beginning of Oct, it was unusually hot- over 30 degrees everyday, or because of my ill fitting boots..when I tried them at home I didn't notice, but after several days, my toes were getting pushed to the front on downhills and caused so much pains. ...or because of the hard surface on the roads and cobbled streets, or because I had hay fever... I think everybody's experience is different depending on all sorts of condition.

 

[Ernie Fraser]

Hi all. Would appreciate help. Planning on a 2024 Porto to Santiago venture. I have walked the Camino Frances a few times and am totally ignorant about the Portuguese route. I am 77 years old and in pretty good shape and have used pack transit service in the past. Here are my questions:
1. If you have walked the Frances route, how do the grades compare?
2. Is there a backpack transit service available?
3. What time of year is best?
4. How are the Way markings?
5. How available are hostels / hotels? (usually stay in private rooms)
6. Is English widely spoken?
7. What city would I fly into?
Any other comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Robert

I walked that route last fall at 75 years of age. The weather was great and on only one day did I wear my GoreTek jacket.

There is not a lot of ascent and I found none of it especially challenging compared to some sections of the Frances.

I did not use a bag transfer service, but many people do. I’m sure there is information on this Forum that will help.

You can fly into Porto. I flew into Lisbon because I wanted to explore there for a couple of days prior to walking. There is good train/bus service between Porto and Lisbon.

I booked all my lodging ahead of time. There is a substantial supply of lodging options, but it takes a bit of planning. I booked places 3-4 months ahead. Planning that far ahead meant availability was good.

The route is well marked with yellow arrows and signs.

English is widely spoken especially by young people and in the larger towns. Less English in small places but I never encountered any difficulties with my limited Portuguese.

If I were to walk this route again I’d take a break/rest day in Barcelos.

Prior to Porto I had already walked from Coimbra so took a couple of break days in Porto. When leaving Porto I took the Metro out of the city as recommended in the Brierley guide. I expect there’s information about this on the Forum.

I hope this helps.

 

[ElCee]

I walked that route last fall at 75 years of age. The weather was great and on only one day did I wear my GoreTek jacket.

There is not a lot of ascent and I found none of it especially challenging compared to some sections of the Frances.

I did not use a bag transfer service, but many people do. I’m sure there is information on this Forum that will help.

You can fly into Porto. I flew into Lisbon because I wanted to explore there for a couple of days prior to walking. There is good train/bus service between Porto and Lisbon.

I booked all my lodging ahead of time. There is a substantial supply of lodging options, but it takes a bit of planning. I booked places 3-4 months ahead. Planning that far ahead meant availability was good.

The route is well marked with yellow arrows and signs.

English is widely spoken especially by young people and in the larger towns. Less English in small places but I never encountered any difficulties with my limited Portuguese.

If I were to walk this route again I’d take a break/rest day in Barcelos.

Prior to Porto I had already walked from Coimbra so took a couple of break days in Porto. When leaving Porto I took the Metro out of the city as recommended in the Brierley guide. I expect there’s information about this on the Forum.

I hope this helps.

We only booked a few special places that far in advance. Most days we booked our luggage transfer and accommodation 1-2 days ahead. Accommodations were all fine to great and IMMACULATELY clean. They just don’t have the scary, dirty, infested, cheap motels we have in North America. Read the reviews from fellow pilgrims on booking.com. If they’re happy you’ll be happy. One note: many places do not have full time staff so you have to call when you get there so someone can let you in. Also, if you book on booking.com, hosts will likely only communicate with you through booking.com so check your messages.

 

[BennyB]

I know this was not on your list of questions, but a suggestion from a 75 year old that walked the Portuguese Central last May. Allow a couple of days to enjoy Porto and Tui. We found those two treasures to be most enchanting; full of history and architecture, making it well worth the time. Bon Cominho.

 

[jlamont808]

Hi all. Would appreciate help. Planning on a 2024 Porto to Santiago venture. I have walked the Camino Frances a few times and am totally ignorant about the Portuguese route. I am 77 years old and in pretty good shape and have used pack transit service in the past. Here are my questions:
1. If you have walked the Frances route, how do the grades compare?
2. Is there a backpack transit service available?
3. What time of year is best?
4. How are the Way markings?
5. How available are hostels / hotels? (usually stay in private rooms)
6. Is English widely spoken?
7. What city would I fly into?
Any other comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Robert

Which route are you planning, coastal or central?? I did the coastal in 2022, found the way markings lacking in some areas, you really had to look for the correct marking. English is widely spoken but not always, especially in the smaller towns, especially when checking into a hotel. There are some steep grades but not like the Frances route, I found walking on large rocks tricky in some areas; I thought the food was better than the Frances. Yes, fly in and out of Porto, it's also worth spending a few extra days there. Easy bus ride there from Santiago. Bom Camino

 

[DenWhite]

There are a ton of sites specific to the Portuguese camino. We also are going this spring. Decided end of April to avoid the summer heat and the tourist season. Also noticed the airfare skyrocketed from the US after mid May. We also learned the coast was no different to fly to Porto thru Madrid then flying to Madrid and taking the train to Porto.
The most helpful guide has been the 2024 Beirley guide for the Portuguese route - purchased from this site from Ivar.
There are two routes the Coastal and central. Plus you can take the espiritual varient that veers off at Pontevedra heading west and eventually links back up near Padron.
Two of us are both over 65 (67 & 77) and are taking it slow - actually taking the train to Vigo and walking the coastal route and spiritual varient from there. Taking our time - walking 10–18km per day, having our bags transported and are staying in locales where we have private bathroom.
Throughout my planning, there seem to be lots of albergues if that is what you want as well as other types of lodging.
Buen camino!

There are a ton of sites specific to the Portuguese camino. We also are going this spring. Decided end of April to avoid the summer heat and the tourist season. Also noticed the airfare skyrocketed from the US after mid May. We also learned the coast was no different to fly to Porto thru Madrid then flying to Madrid and taking the train to Porto.
The most helpful guide has been the 2024 Beirley guide for the Portuguese route - purchased from this site from Ivar.
There are two routes the Coastal and central. Plus you can take the espiritual varient that veers off at Pontevedra heading west and eventually links back up near Padron.
Two of us are both over 65 (67 & 77) and are taking it slow - actually taking the train to Vigo and walking the coastal route and spiritual varient from there. Taking our time - walking 10–18km per day, having our bags transported and are staying in locales where we have private bathroom.
Throughout my planning, there seem to be lots of albergues if that is what you want as well as other types of lodging.
Buen camino!

Also planning late April CP. Depart Aus. April 22 to Lisbon, train Porto and April 27 start with 2 days along coast then Rates,SdC,Muxia/Finisterre & bus to SdC May 22. Our 3rd Camino, 1st CP. May cross paths with you.

 

[Planet Janet]

Hello Vasque: I walked the CP from Porto to Santiago this past May/June with a friend over 13 days, using mostly private lodging and the TuiTrans luggage transport service. Did the Senda Littoral out of Porto, then over to the Central Route for the rest. I have walked the full Camino Frances and also really enjoyed the CP. There's alot of good info above- I also love the Brierly books & found the waymarking to be very good in most parts. I have written a very detailed blog post about my CP experience (with lots of photos), in case it might be helpful. https://www.planetjanettravels.com/walking-the-camino-portuguese-highlights-of-my-pilgrim-journey/

 

[hikentravel1234]

Peruse the Camino Portuguese section of the forum, and you will find that most of your questions have been answered.

But I'll go ahead and answer a few.

Yes, there are several luggage transport services.

English is widely spoken in the large cities, bit less so in small villages.

There are hotels, pensions, and albergues with private rooms. Gronze is a good source for this information.

Camino Portugués Central | Gronze.com

www.gronze.com

I would buy a round trip ticket to Porto. No need to take a bus or train to your starting point, and it's easy to return to Porto from Santiago.

To elaborate a little:
Some Luggage transport services include Pilbeo, Camino Facile, Tui Trans
Apps that include places to stay, and info on accommodations are Wise Pilgrim, Camino Ninja
To travel from Santiago to Porto, you can use Rome to Rio, flixbus
If you get the John Brierley book, it will show the elevation gains and losses for each stage.

 

[Casserole]

I am sure everyone has given similar answers to what I would so all I want to say is that it is imperative that you do the Spiritual Variant. The climb up to the monastery is a doozy, but it is soooo worth it. And they the hike back down is one of the most beautiful parts of any Camino I have ever done.

 

[BRSmith13]

Also planning late April CP. Depart Aus. April 22 to Lisbon, train Porto and April 27 start with 2 days along coast then Rates,SdC,Muxia/Finisterre & bus to SdC May 22. Our 3rd Camino, 1st CP. May cross paths with you.

We will be in Porto Apr 25-28 - playing tourists. Then train to Vigo to start. Maybe we can get together for a meal! Staying near the San Bento train station.

 

[BRSmith13]

I am sure everyone has given similar answers to what I would so all I want to say is that it is imperative that you do the Spiritual Variant. The climb up to the monastery is a doozy, but it is soooo worth it. And they the hike back down is one of the most beautiful parts of any Camino I have ever done.

So looking forward to it! If we have an extra day to stay between the monastery and Santiago, where do you suggest?

 

[Bill905]

I have done both the CF (2019} and the CP (2022) in my late 60's. I found the CP much less taxing that parts of the CF and we carried our packs. We walked the coastal from Porto but did not take the Espiritual. Also took the subway out of the Porto downtown to Matosinhos due to lots of street construction, and started the Camino on the beach there. In northern Portugal many locals also speak French, so maybe that will be helpful for you. We also found that the albergue owners were very helpful in arranging a place for our next night's stay. They know each other. I liked the CP so much that I will be returning in April 2024. I find spring Caminos are good times for walking. Bom Caminho.

 

[FLEUR]

Walk from Porto to
Matosinhos follow the river to the sea. Stay the night there. Lovely fish grill restaurants . Fao is a dear little town.
Staying with Fernanda is a joy. Ponte de Lima is a great place.
The Espiritual is great, take your time there and enjoy the boat ride.
Padron is full of important pilgrimage history. Ponferrada is a lovely place.
Rather than taking whole rest days I'd choose to walk a few shorter distance days..
Enjoy

 

[Baldie Git]

Walked the Central way 2021 and really enjoyed it. My only recommendation would be to split the Barcelos to Ponte De Lima stage as this was very long and tough on a warm day. Also it meant that we arrived into Ponte De Lima late so we did not see much of it.

​

 

[Casserole]

So looking forward to it! If we have an extra day to stay between the monastery and Santiago, where do you suggest?

Yes! I stayed at Casa do Cruceiro the day before I walked into Santiago. It's a beautiful property and I highly recommend paying the extra for meals. The breakfast spread was the best I had seen but the real winner was dinner. I think it was 5 courses of the most delicious food. I felt like I was at a Michelin restaurant.

Now, I stayed there in the spring of 2022 and it was about $60 a night (not including the food). When you look online now it is absurdly priced, so I would reach out to them. It looks like it's priced to rent out the entire property.

casadocruceiro.com

 

[CA_Pilgrim]

Hi all. Would appreciate help. Planning on a 2024 Porto to Santiago venture. I have walked the Camino Frances a few times and am totally ignorant about the Portuguese route. I am 77 years old and in pretty good shape and have used pack transit service in the past. Here are my questions:
1. If you have walked the Frances route, how do the grades compare?
2. Is there a backpack transit service available?
3. What time of year is best?
4. How are the Way markings?
5. How available are hostels / hotels? (usually stay in private rooms)
6. Is English widely spoken?
7. What city would I fly into?
Any other comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Robert

Great questions but no answers from me, but I'll be following this thread. I'm in the same boat and just starting to plan my May 2024 Camino Portuguese. I did CF route in 2022.

 

[DenWhite]

We will be in Porto Apr 25-28 - playing tourists. Then train to Vigo to start. Maybe we can get together for a meal! Staying near the San Bento train station.

We will be in Porto 2 nts 25-26 April, a 2 min walk from Sao Bento station. Will touch base by private conversation on the forum when we arrive in Lisbon.
Cheers

 

[David Tallan]

Walked the Central way 2021 and really enjoyed it. My only recommendation would be to split the Barcelos to Ponte De Lima stage as this was very long and tough on a warm day. Also it meant that we arrived into Ponte De Lima late so we did not see much of it.

​

And Casa da Fernanda is a perfect way to split the stage.

 

[DenWhite]

And Casa da Fernanda is a perfect way to split the stage.

Planning to do exactly that.

 

[Jamieb]

My mom (77 years old) and I walked end of May/June from Porto to Santiago. We are slow walkers took us 16 days. We did the coastal route to Caminha, took a train to Valencia and then walked Central to Santiago - did not do the Spiritual Varient - I thought it would be too much for my mom. Weather was good - not too hot or too cold - only a few days of hard rain.

My mom transported her backpack daily using Top Santiago - very easy, no issues at all. She would log onto their website daily and arrange for pickup/drop off of the backpack. The bag was always at the location when we arrived. She did have to call them a couple of times just to verify things for her own peace of mind - the people that answered the phone spoke English.

The route is well marked - we did not have any trouble finding our way. We did download the Wise pilgrim app and used it often, it was very helpful. I also had the Brierly book - but rarely used it, found it too confusing and not very user friendly.

Ubers and/or taxis for the most part were easy to arrange. There were a few days my mom didn't feel like she would be able to do the distance, tolerate the hills and on the rainy days she was very uneasy about walking on muddy, slippery terrain so she would either walk as far as she felt comfortable or not walk at all on the rainy days and we would call an uber/taxi to transport her to our next lodging for the night.

My mom did not care for the albergues - she preferred private lodging or hotels. I used booking.com to make all our reservations about 1-2 days ahead, no issues at all with making reservations or finding places to stay.

We had no trouble with the language barrier - just about every place we went to someone spoke English. There were only 2-3 times where I had to break out my phone and use Google translate - but even that was easy to do - the people we encountered were familiar with google translate.

As far as what city to fly into - go with what you are comfortable with. We flew from Dallas, Tx into Lisbon, then train to Porto. Made a long day of traveling but the flight was what worked for us time/money wise. Before going home we spent an extra 2.5 weeks traveling all over Portugal as "tourists". After Santiago we took a bus back to Porto to start our "holiday", then returned back to Lisbon to fly home to Texas.

 

[ElCee]

Rather than taking whole rest days I'd choose to walk a few shorter distance days.

This is excellent advice! This is what we ended up doing and I never felt like I was missing anything. Of course, we didn’t see EVERYTHING but I always got to wander the streets for a while in the afternoon, sit in a cafe and people watch, choose somewhere great for dinner. Ah, I miss it so much!

 

[David Tallan]

We did the coastal route to Caminha, took a train to Valencia and then walked Central to Santiago

My recommendation for those planning something similar is to look for a train to Valença rather than a train to Valencia. The latter will leave you with a much greater distance to walk.

Unless you have grown tired of the Camino Portugues and its "crowds" and want a somewhat quieter Camino like the Levante or one of the other Caminos that start in or pass through Valencia.

 

[Damien Reynolds]

Here's my one suggestion for the walk out of Porto. Start on the coastal. You basically walk to the river first and then follow it to the sea. I mean, coffee shops overlooking gorgeous coastlines. You can cross over to the central in numerous locations. I think Villa do Conde is a good place to cross over.

 

[Jamieb]

My recommendation for those planning something similar is to look for a train to Valença rather than a train to Valencia. The latter will leave you with a much greater distance to walk.

Sorry - yes that is what I meant

 

[David Tallan]

Here's my one suggestion for the walk out of Porto. Start on the coastal. You basically walk to the river first and then follow it to the sea. I mean, coffee shops overlooking gorgeous coastlines. You can cross over to the central in numerous locations. I think Villa do Conde is a good place to cross over.

To be somewhat pedantic, I think that is describing the Senda Litoral route rather than the Coastal, which heads north out of the city before wending its way to the coast later (in the vicinity of Vila do Conde).

Yes, the naming of the various routes north of Porto is not exactly intuitive.