Recommendation for nice place to stay north of Porto

[HeidiL]

Hi!

My husband and I are starting in Porto in about 3 weeks, with our teenager joining us after 4 days. We will be celebrating our 25th anniversary while walking, and I would like a recommendations for a really nice place to stay for a night, 1 - 3 days' walk north of Porto.

I've been looking at Google Maps a lot (the regular pilgrim guides rarely include the really good and expensive places), but I haven't really found anything. Can anyone recommend a place? If there isn't anything, what about a nice place for a meal before we retire to our sleeping bags?

Other recommendations on how to celebrate on the Camino are also welcome. At least there will be cava and tapas...

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Heidi,
I know this isn't what you asked, but off the top of my head I think the best celebratory places are going to be in Porto itself. Two places come to mind -- the Pestana Porto, a series of river houses along the Douro turned into a nice hotel, and the Porto Pousada (government owned hotel in an old palace with the rooms in a modern structure next door). I've been in both but never stayed in either, and I think they meet your requirements. There are some more boutique-y options in Porto as well, but these are both very nice.

There are probably some slightly off road options in old historic buildings near the route. Try looking at the Solares de Portugal website to see if you can come up with something. I'll also put my thinking cap on and see if I can identify a good property. Congrats on your anniversary! Buen camino, Laurie

 

[HeidiL]

Thank you, Laurie!

We've already got a place to stay in Porto, and I think a proper hotel would be more appreciated after a couple of days of walking - I still remember when we got to Burgos that time, in the pouring rain, and got a hotel suite right next to the Cathedral (for € 100!) instead of continueing to the albergue...

 

[peregrina2000]

Try this link: it's a listing of pretty much every official hotel/pousada north of Porto.

http://www.maisturismo.pt/?sec=asearch& ... &Type=9999

The towns are alphabetical in red. Then under each town is a listing of places in town, be they hotel, pension, etc, and a special listing for places in the "espaco rural" or rural areas near town. Some of these may also be pretty close to the camino.

And solares de Portugal also has a map that's interactive : http://www.solaresdeportugal.pt/EN/

Ponte de Lima is probably your best bet. It's a bigger town, very beautiful, and a few days out of Porto.

In town you have, for instance: http://www.inlimahotel.com/lang/pt/default.aspx

Out of town (via taxi), for instance: http://www.casadavarzea.eu/

 

[HeidiL]

Thank you very much!

It's fun to plan these things, a strange combination of anticipation (new stretch of the Camino!) and nostalgia (I remember when...).

 

[Diogo92]

You can always search in Booking.com for Hotels. Most of the Hotels in Portugal are registered in that website, so I think that you will not have any problem finding a good Hotel with the conditions that you need