Portuguese Way starting in Lisbon

truthi · Mar 5, 2018

Hi all!
I want to cycle from Lisbon to Santiago via the Portuguese Camino. Does anyone have a link or suggestion for a self-guided book and maps to do this? Also, if you have done this, did you use a touring bike? How did it feel? My preference is to use my touring bike... Kona Sutra 2017...which is a pretty solid model.

This will be my first camino with a total of 19 days to ride. I see that there are routes mainly from Porto to Santiago listed and not Lisbon to Santiago. Why is that? Is there a route from Lisbon to Santiago?

Thanks for you help!
Ruth

peregrina2000 · Mar 5, 2018

truthi said:
Hi all!
I want to cycle from Lisbon to Santiago via the Portuguese Camino. Does anyone have a link or suggestion for a self-guided book and maps to do this? Also, if you have done this, did you use a touring bike? How did it feel? My preference is to use my touring bike... Kona Sutra 2017...which is a pretty solid model.

This will be my first camino with a total of 19 days to ride. I see that there are routes mainly from Porto to Santiago listed and not Lisbon to Santiago. Why is that? Is there a route from Lisbon to Santiago?

Thanks for you help!
Ruth

Hi, Ruth,
Welcome to the forum. If you go to the Resources section, you will see the Forum guide for Lisbon to Porto. It is a couple of years out of date but should be pretty accurate. The main changes will be more accommodation, I bet. I am not a cyclist, but my memory is that Lisbon-Porto would be a good cyclist route. John Brierley also has a printed guide to the Camino Portugués that starts in Lisbon, readily available on Amazon.

truthi · Mar 6, 2018

peregrina2000 said:
Hi, Ruth,
Welcome to the forum. If you go to the Resources section, you will see the Forum guide for Lisbon to Porto. It is a couple of years out of date but should be pretty accurate. The main changes will be more accommodation, I bet. I am not a cyclist, but my memory is that Lisbon-Porto would be a good cyclist route. John Brierley also has a printed guide to the Camino Portugués that starts in Lisbon, readily available on Amazon.

Thank you for this! I will take a look.

Best,
Ruth

Camino Addict · Mar 6, 2018

Hi Ruth,

I've never biked any of the Caminos, but being a former bike tech at REI, it will only be a matter of time before I bike instead of walk the Caminos I have completed. Some of my racing cyclist friends will balk at me for saying this, but I think a touring bike is the way to go as they were designed for these long distance treks. A road bike will most likely get you to Santiago faster, but the aggressive position you're in when on a road bike, it can take a toll on your lower back, and it's much harder to look up and around to appreciate the scenery.

The Portugues is great for cycling because of the more flat terrain and paved roads, but there is still a fair amount of incline, muddy farm roads, and even flooding that you may have deal with.

truthi · Mar 7, 2018

Hi there,
Thanks for the message and for the tips. I also think a touring bike is a good idea, and I can put a bit knobbier of tires on it. That should do just fine. And exactly, an aggressive position won't work for me. I've had a road/commuter bike for years, and that's why I've switched up recently to the touring bike. My back was beginning to get aggravated, and I also learned my previous bike (getting the Sutra today!) was just a bit off with the fit.

Thanks again!
Ruth

truthi · Mar 7, 2018

peregrina2000 said:
Hi, Ruth,
Welcome to the forum. If you go to the Resources section, you will see the Forum guide for Lisbon to Porto. It is a couple of years out of date but should be pretty accurate. The main changes will be more accommodation, I bet. I am not a cyclist, but my memory is that Lisbon-Porto would be a good cyclist route. John Brierley also has a printed guide to the Camino Portugués that starts in Lisbon, readily available on Amazon.

Hi again!
I did some searching on the forum, and I wanted to check back to see if this was the Lisbon to Porto guide you were talking about. It's under the forum headed "Short Stages from Lisbon to Porto" It's a walking specific one, but has some good info.

I'm quite new to this, and it seems to be my understanding that cyclists often follow the route that the walking pilgrims take with some slight variations depending on size of path and difficulty of trail.
Many thanks!
Ruth

peregrina2000 · Mar 7, 2018

truthi said:
Hi again!
I did some searching on the forum, and I wanted to check back to see if this was the Lisbon to Porto guide you were talking about. It's under the forum headed "Short Stages from Lisbon to Porto" It's a walking specific one, but has some good info.

I'm quite new to this, and it seems to be my understanding that cyclists often follow the route that the walking pilgrims take with some slight variations depending on size of path and difficulty of trail.
Many thanks!
Ruth

Hi Ruth, Here is what I was talking about. It's a full "guide" of sorts, done by forum members. The Porto to Santiago segment of the guide is available at the CSJ bookshop for sale. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/camino-portugués-lisbon-porto-2017.517/.

truthi · Mar 7, 2018

truthi said:
Hi again!
I did some searching on the forum, and I wanted to check back to see if this was the Lisbon to Porto guide you were talking about. It's under the forum headed "Short Stages from Lisbon to Porto" It's a walking specific one, but has some good info.

I'm quite new to this, and it seems to be my understanding that cyclists often follow the route that the walking pilgrims take with some slight variations depending on size of path and difficulty of trail.
Many thanks!
Ruth

And hello yet again! I found another link from the Confraternity of St. James, as well.
I suppose I'm wanting a biker specific route, and I think that the walking route is pretty much the same.

Best,
Ruth

truthi · Mar 7, 2018

peregrina2000 said:
Hi Ruth, Here is what I was talking about. It's a full "guide" of sorts, done by forum members. The Porto to Santiago segment of the guide is available at the CSJ bookshop for sale. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/resources/camino-portugués-lisbon-porto-2017.517/.

Thank you!!
Just seeing this.
Ruth

Camino Addict · Mar 7, 2018

Hi again Ruth,

I'm glad we are in agreement about the touring bike, but I believe you should pass on the knobby tires and stick to smooth road tires. There is very little rough terrain you'll be biking over, and if by some chance I'm wrong, there are plenty of bike shops in the major cities.

Dedicated cycling guidebooks are still hard to come by. I hope they do come out soon because there are alternative cycling routes on many of the Caminos now, and some (but not much) of the terrain that the foot/horse/donkey that the various Camino routes go through aren't the easiest for cyclists. Thankfully, the Camino Portugues is very bike friendly, and when you do come across the rare foot path that you may feel uncomfortable walking your bike over, a road is always near by that you can make an easy detour.

truthi · Mar 7, 2018

Camino Addict said:
Hi again Ruth,

I'm glad we are in agreement about the touring bike, but I believe you should pass on the knobby tires and stick to smooth road tires. There is very little rough terrain you'll be biking over, and if by some chance I'm wrong, there are plenty of bike shops in the major cities.

Dedicated cycling guidebooks are still hard to come by. I hope they do come out soon because there are alternative cycling routes on many of the Caminos now, and some (but not much) of the terrain that the foot/horse/donkey that the various Camino routes go through aren't the easiest for cyclists. Thankfully, the Camino Portugues is very bike friendly, and when you do come across the rare foot path that you may feel uncomfortable walking your bike over, a road is always near by that you can make an easy detour.

Hi! Thanks for sharing your thoughts on that. I do think the bike I have should be good. It’s got fairly thick tires and I’m glad to hear that I shouldn’t need to change them out. Trying to cut back on costs!

Thanks!
Ruth

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