Post Office in Porto

[lennoc]

Hi All,

I'm planning to arrive in Porto about 10am on a Saturday (flying in). I'm hoping to post off extra stuff to Santiago so that I can begin walking on Sunday. I'll be travelling/volunteering for a few weeks before this so I'll have a few extra clothes.

My questions basically relate to whether it is realistic to plan to do this.

1. Is the post office in Porto open Saturdays? Looking online I saw that many post offices are open Saturday morning.

2. If it is open is it realistic to assume I can (if my flight is on time) get to the post office from the airport before it closes.

3. Will a post office in Portugal sell me some kind of package to post the stuff in (a small box or similar)?

4. Am I going to struggle to take care of all of this without speaking a word of Portuguese?

Any tips on how workable this is would be great. I don't have the time to post it before I fly and I don't have time to wait around until Monday to start walking.

 

[Beverley]

Hi there, it is about 40 minutes by the train from the airport in Porto to downtown. You can buy a package to mail your things in and if you prepare a few words on paper for the clerk you could have a successful endeavour. Is it so much that you can't walk with it for a day if you have to? Also, do you know about leaving Porto? You are better off taking the train to the last stop Matosinhos and start your walk there otherwise you are walking through miles and miles of city - not nice at all.

Good luck to you, you are headed for a beautiful journey. The Camino Portuguese is lovely.
Check out my blog for some photos from that trip about 3 or 4 posts ago.
Bev

 

[Via Lusitana]

Hi Lennoc
1 - There is a post office in the airport, open in saturdays from 9:00 to 12:30 and 14:00 to 17:00
2 - In Porto, on a saturday, there's the one at Praça General Humberto Delgado, open from 9:00 to 18:00
3 - Yes. Even special ones for bottles...
4 - Of course. Keep smiling and it will be the first of many pleasant surprises.

My advice is to take care of everything at the airport.
Beverley advice about leaving Porto (hi Beverley) is a good one, but I think she is callings train to what people in Porto calls Metro. You have a Metro station at the airport. And a site in english with maps and a lot more here : http://www.metrodoporto.pt/en/
I think is better to take the Metro to Maia instead, i'll check and be back with more info later.

Bom Caminho

 

[lennoc]

Thanks to both of you for your replies. Sounds like it won't be a problem - if there is a post office at the Porto airport I'll definitely use that.

Beverly I've already enjoyed looking at your blog - thanks. To answer your question I could walk with the extra stuff if I had to but it would be a pain and I assume that post offices aren't open Sundays so I'd be walking all day Sunday and then part of Monday until I found somewhere to post it. But, should I not make the post office in Porto that will be my back up plan.

I am leaning towards taking the metro on the first day. I haven't quite decided yet but I'm thinking I'll probably skip the first bit and then start walking, both to avoid walking through the city and also to save a bit of time.

 

[GillianF]

Re: Post Office in Porto,

I am planning to walk from Porto from August first. Can I assume then that I can safely send my backpack to Barcelona (from where I fly home to Australia on the tenth) and that they will hold it there? I have been traveling for some ti e so it will be too heavy for me to walk with. Is it expensive?
And will I have enough time to walk from Porto then get back to Barcelona by the morning of the tenth? Am I asking too much?
What is the best way from Santiago to Barcelona?
Thanks all...

 

[Francescalignumvitae]

Hello All,

Have noticed that the last posting on this thread was in 2011! Am heading out to Oporto on the 24th of April (2013) and looking forward to having a couple of days in the city before starting to walk. Want to post some things to Santiago (am having a holiday in Spain/Portugal after Santiago).

Walked SJPP to Santiago last year and posted things from Pamplona to Burgos and Burgos to Santiago--went like clockwork--GREAT SERVICE.

Anyone use the post from Porto to Santiago recently?? Like the Spanish post offices as they sold different sized boxes. Do the Portuguese do the same? Any updates on this would be great.

Thanks!

Many Blessings to All,

Francesca

 

[broussma]

Hi noticed your heading out April 24... Myself I am heading May 1st... I too walked Camino Francis from St Jean... Looking forward to this walk as well... Stay happy!! Mark Anthony

Hello All,

Have noticed that the last posting on this thread was in 2011! Am heading out to Oporto on the 24th of April (2013) and looking forward to having a couple of days in the city before starting to walk. Want to post some things to Santiago (am having a holiday in Spain/Portugal after Santiago).

Walked SJPP to Santiago last year and posted things from Pamplona to Burgos and Burgos to Santiago--went like clockwork--GREAT SERVICE.

Anyone use the post from Porto to Santiago recently?? Like the Spanish post offices as they sold different sized boxes. Do the Portuguese do the same? Any updates on this would be great.

Thanks!

Many Blessings to All,

Francesca

 

[Francescalignumvitae]

Hi Mark Antony,

The Camino last year (for me) was truly epic, a marvellous outer and inner adventure.

Not bitten by any bedbugs, but definitely bitten by the 'Camino' bug and now addicted.... the thought of heading out again makes me feel like a four year old with Christmas just days away . . .

From others I met last year, the Portuguese Camino is more gentle and of course less km but a feast nonetheless.

Good Roads and maybe see you 'on the way' !

Blessings to All,

Francesca