Route Advice. Porto to Barcelona

[cletusarus]

Hello!

First time posting and this will be my first Camino. Any advice is very much appreciated.

This March three friends and I will be biking the Camino and we are looking at various routes. We are flying into Porto and flying out of Barcelona. In total we have two weeks to play with and are looking to get the best experience of course. All four of us are experienced cyclist and are in good shape. At the moment we are looking at combining the Camino de Portuguese - Primitivo - Norte route. I am afraid we will not have enough time to complete all the legs. Has anyone done this route before?

I have created a map of our options that is listed below.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1L7D3zdnrf_vQ2mHD3daWYIZB_h82hGT9&usp=sharing

 

[Anamya]

So that it is a bit more clear, you are planning to do the Portuguese, and then cycle the Primitivo and Norte in reverse?

The Portuguese route is quite short and can be done in a handful of days if you are an experience cyclists. i don't know the other routes yet, and really could not have any insight on how to do them in reverse if that's the case.

 

[Helen1]

Hello! It's a fairly easy, mostly flat, ride from Porto to Santiago on the road/boardwalks along the coast. It took me 3 long days at a leisurely pace on a hired sit up and beg bike with my walking rucksack strapped to a rack (impulsive decision to cycle to Santiago rather than end walk in Porto). Not cycled the Primitivo or Norte but have done tunnel route (essentially a straight line between San Sebastian and Burgos) and Leon to Gijon (kind of). As cycle experiences go I think your route looks great but perhaps lacking in pilgrim experiences.

Does your map show potential stages or just the route? If stages, I think some of these are pretty short if you're cycle fit. Bear in mind some of the fitter people on this forum are walking 40+km per day but it's all relative and depends what kind of experience you want.

Just wondering why you're ending in Irun if flying from Barcelona but I might be missing something. Have you got enough time to cycle to Barcelona? https://www.gronze.com/#todos would give you some ideas. The CF has so much infrastructure (accommodation, route marking, super quiet beautiful tarmac roads, food stops, etc.) that you can zip along to Logrono if the weather is good.

 

[cletusarus]

So that it is a bit more clear, you are planning to do the Portuguese, and then cycle the Primitivo and Norte in reverse?

The Portuguese route is quite short and can be done in a handful of days if you are an experience cyclists. i don't know the other routes yet, and really could not have any insight on how to do them in reverse if that's the case.

Yes that is correct! I appreciate your insight!

 

[Flatlander]

This is a useful bike mapping tool https://cycle.travel/map

and this is a rough draft of a possible route https://cycle.travel/map/journey/90022

If it was me, I'd follow the Frances route from Santiago to Pamplona and then on to Barcelona. This would give you time to soak up the Camino experience rather than just grinding out the miles. Of course, if you love hills, your way is better!

Are you planning on using albergues on your "reverse" caminos? Again, there are more on the CF.