Rain possibly abating.... Coastal/Litoral walk starting in late November?

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It looks like weather may be clearing up in Northern Portugal and Spain after weeks of daily rain. I am considering walking the Coastal/Litoral route from Porto to Santiago starting next week. A few questions come to mind and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Can I expect to encounter many pilgrims along the route? I don’t mind walking alone but it’s always nice to meet pilgrims in towns and albergues.

Given off-season, can I generally expect to find open albergues or would I likely have to book private accommodations? I see some closed albergues on Gronze (e.g. Vila Cha, Labruge) and am hoping that Gronze is mostly up-to-date.

Any ideas on what trail conditions can I expect, particularly due to the significant rain recently, i.e. mud, flooded trails, washed out boardwalks, sand, etc?

I am wondering if it be better to take official coastal route or the Litoral route, as far as conditions are concerned. I expect to walk a bit of both depending on conditions, weather, scenery, etc. Any particular places where one route would be preferred over the other? For example, from Porto to Vila do Conde, the Litoral seems to be universally preferred (I agree and have walked that route in the past before switching to the Central route).

Coastal/Litoral route divergences:
Porto to Vila do Conde
Povoa de Varzim to Fao
Esposende to Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo to Vila Praia de Ancora
A Ramallosa to Vigo

Thanks for any input.

 

[NYSE]

It looks like weather may be clearing up in Northern Portugal and Spain after weeks of daily rain. I am considering walking the Coastal/Litoral route from Porto to Santiago starting next week. A few questions come to mind and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Can I expect to encounter many pilgrims along the route? I don’t mind walking alone but it’s always nice to meet pilgrims in towns and albergues.

Given off-season, can I generally expect to find open albergues or would I likely have to book private accommodations? I see some closed albergues on Gronze (e.g. Vila Cha, Labruge) and am hoping that Gronze is mostly up-to-date.

Any ideas on what trail conditions can I expect, particularly due to the significant rain recently, i.e. mud, flooded trails, washed out boardwalks, sand, etc?

I am wondering if it be better to take official coastal route or the Litoral route, as far as conditions are concerned. I expect to walk a bit of both depending on conditions, weather, scenery, etc. Any particular places where one route would be preferred over the other? For example, from Porto to Vila do Conde, the Litoral seems to be universally preferred (I agree and have walked that route in the past before switching to the Central route).

Coastal/Litoral route divergences:
Porto to Vila do Conde
Povoa de Varzim to Fao
Esposende to Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo to Vila Praia de Ancora
A Ramallosa to Vigo

Thanks for any input.

 

[NYSE]

It looks like weather may be clearing up in Northern Portugal and Spain after weeks of daily rain. I am considering walking the Coastal/Litoral route from Porto to Santiago starting next week. A few questions come to mind and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Can I expect to encounter many pilgrims along the route? I don’t mind walking alone but it’s always nice to meet pilgrims in towns and albergues.

Given off-season, can I generally expect to find open albergues or would I likely have to book private accommodations? I see some closed albergues on Gronze (e.g. Vila Cha, Labruge) and am hoping that Gronze is mostly up-to-date.

Any ideas on what trail conditions can I expect, particularly due to the significant rain recently, i.e. mud, flooded trails, washed out boardwalks, sand, etc?

I am wondering if it be better to take official coastal route or the Litoral route, as far as conditions are concerned. I expect to walk a bit of both depending on conditions, weather, scenery, etc. Any particular places where one route would be preferred over the other? For example, from Porto to Vila do Conde, the Litoral seems to be universally preferred (I agree and have walked that route in the past before switching to the Central route).

Coastal/Litoral route divergences:
Porto to Vila do Conde
Povoa de Varzim to Fao
Esposende to Viana do Castelo
Viana do Castelo to Vila Praia de Ancora
A Ramallosa to Vigo

Thanks for any input.

When it rains like this the pathways turn to streams, the roadways rivers and the farm fields ponds. This was late October and fortunately I was inside for this deluge. And fortunately, or unfortunately, I walked many times is such rain. Mud? It really didn’t matter because I couldn’t get wetter. Still happy I did it.

 

[Kev&Kath]

That just about says it all.

 

[ddowney]

also very happy to have walked my first Portuguese Camino on mainly the Coastal route, with a few jinks onto the Littoral route in northern Portugal. Never seen so much rain and wind, and I live in Seattle. But very temperate, serene, and, of course, we fellow pilgrims made it ruefully fun and holy. Will be doing it again next Fall, probably a couple weeks earlier to maybe dodge some of the big Atlantic coastal storms, however magificent they were. I'd like a few more days of dry shoes, please!

 

[RachelK]

I walked Porto to SdC early December last year, first 2 days along the coast then crossed over to central. Saw a pilgrim or 2 each day, more after last 100kms. Later I met some who did Coastal, seemed slightly quieter than the central from what I could tell but the feedback on coastal is there was always somewhere open to stay.