Similarities to the Frances

[efdoucette]

Hello, I walked the Frances last October and am considering walking the Portuguese route next month, June. I was wondering if those that have walked both could share some thoughts.

Is the Portuguese way supported similar to the Frances in terms of Peregrino meals, supermercados, ATM's, water quality and fountains. Also, will an english only speaking person survive in Portugal especially Porto (my starting point).

Thanks for your help, much appreciated.

 

[Anniesantiago]

The answer to your question in one word is "no."

The Portuguese route is not as well supported.
There are not as many albergues.
There were places the albergue was closed and we went to a hotel.
There are not pilgrim meals in every village, although you can often find affordable food.
It is (in my opinion) a beautiful route but a LOT of walking on VERY dangerous, narrow winding roads where there is no shoulder to walk on and cars whizzing by dangerously close. We tied orange bandanas on our walking sticks and held them up in the air, hoping cars would see them and not hit us.
We did not find fountains all along the way, as on the Frances.
And nobody speaks English.

Otherwise, it's a nice route :lol:

 

[Davroos]

My experience of Portugal was different

There was some roads to walk on, on the first day which were a little dangerous but the cars gave us plenty of room

Not all towns have albergues but there are cheap hotels

I never had a menu del dia in Portugal, and only had one when I crossed over to Spain, and personally, it was disappointing after the food in Portugal

Having been to Portugal many times, I find on a percentage, more people speak English than in Spain. I attempted to learn but they wanted to speak English to me

As for banks, it is like the il Primitivo and de la Plata, unless you are in a big place, carry your money with you

It is a beautiful walk and you won't regret doing it

 

[Anniesantiago]

I've written this three times, because I don't want to sound crazy or rude, but Whoah!
Where in the heck did you walk?
I want to walk there!
Maybe I wasn't on the right Camino!?

On the days we walked, the cars were absolutely CRAZY.
There was literally no shoulder and the roads are very narrow.
A two way road is the same width there as one lane in the US.
With a wall on both sides and no gutter to walk in, we were walking IN the road and oncoming cars couldn't see us until the last minute. There were many sections like this.

Not to say there weren't beautiful sections.. there were, and the Portuguese route is definitely worth doing.
I love Portugal!


But the question was if it was similar to the Frances.
I stand by my answer that you should not expect it to be like the Frances, because it is not.

You will not find the same access to fountains although the water quality is excellent when you do find them.

There are markets along the way, though often off the beaten path. It's helpful if you know enough Portuguese to ask where they are.

There are albergues, but not as regularly as you find on the Frances, and there'a big difference between a 5 Euro albergue and a cheap 35 Euro hotel when you are on a tight budget.

I do agree about the food.
It's fantastic!
But then I'm Portuguese, and so it's like home cooking.
My family lives in the Azore Islands.

I personally have not found many people willing to speak English, although it's more likely in large cities like Lisboa. Many times they may understand you but will not admit it.
When you ask, they just shake their head. And don't even think about asking the Portuguese for directions. They will send you on a goose chase to avoid saying, "I don't know."
You can survive without knowing Portuguese, but you'd do better to know the basic travel language.

Maybe it just depends on the day you are walking.
Perhaps it was a Friday at rush hour when we walked and people were anxious to get home lol

I'm glad you had a great experience!

 

[Davroos]

Yes there was walking beside the road out of Porto, then we hit countryside and there was one section of a road but the cars gave us a wide berth, this was before Sao Something de Rates.

Day 2, you are taken off road and then you walk a little on the road before you head up a hill to a lookout, looking over Barcelos. No problems into Barcelos

Day 3, onto the tracks heading towards Pont de Lima. There was a bit of road, no problems

Day 4, headed towards Valenca, which there was a lot of track, remember Napoleon's cross? After you leave Portugal, the route gets uglier

Funny that about Portugal, in the Azores, had no problem with English either, and I have been all over Portugal with no problems at all

I walked at Easter during the holy year, maybe it was quiet. I was blessed in hotels and albergues and even when I walked. I found it strange as I have Jewish blood and asking to kiss the Christ, well, it is a little bit weird for me !!!

Personally, it is a good walk, and I have great memories, but yes, there are no fountains but water was available and so was food

Eat Nata !!!

 

[Davroos]

Oh, I forgot this bit

Also, will an english only speaking person survive in Portugal especially Porto

Yes

 

[peregrina2000]

Maybe the wide divergence of opinion has to do with which part of the Camino Portugues each person is referring to. I think there are three typical starting points -- Lisbon, Porto, and the Spanish border (Tui). The camino experience, IMO, changes radically from Lisbon to Porto, Porto to Spain, and Tui into Santiago.

The most popular is Tui to Santiago. Albergues are well established, everyone knows about the Camino. On that section, at least according to one recent rant/commentary, the massification is such that it resembles the moving sidewalk of the Frances. http://mesadepedra.wordpress.com/2012/0 ... portugues/ Though this is in Spanish, the complaints are identical to those that many have about the way in which the crowds have affected the Camino -- huge groups, litter, support vans, "cheating," etc.

From Porto to Santiago, there is good pilgrim infrastructure, but probably it lags behind the growing crowds. Scroll down on the facebook page of the albergue de Ponte de Lima and you will see evidence of huge crowds. With its 60 beds fully occupied on a day in April, something that would have been unheard as recently as last year, I think, the camino between Porto and Santiago is experience a crush. http://www.facebook.com/#!/albergue.per ... te.de.lima

Still relatively untraveled is the segment from Lisbon to Porto. But if you look at the facebook page of the albergue in Mealhada, youºll see daily postings of pilgrims staying there. http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php? ... 2645184689 I walked from Lisbon to Porto about two or three years ago, and I didn´t meet one single pilgrim. They were few and far between. So things are definitely changing.

My experience on the traffic is that though from Lisbon to Porto there is a lot of road walking, it is only VERY rarely on the side of major roads. And when it is on the side of major roads, the shoulder is very ample. From Porto there is a fear-inducing walk out of the city, but in general my experience was like Davroos´ but day and time of day could be huge factors as well.

Would love to hear about more recent experiences from Lisbon northward, bom caminho everyone. Laurie

 

[efdoucette]

Thanks all for the discussion and helpful advice.

I've decided instead of leaving from Porto in June I will start from Lisbon in September. This gives me more time in Portugal and will give me more time to prepare both physically and mentally.

I understand and expect the experience to be different from that of the Frances. I love the old world feel of Europe and can't wait to see Portugal. I sense that the albergues may be a little more basic and that's okay, it's all about expectations. It's good to know some English will be possible and I will study some travel Portuguese although even after 5 weeks in Spain my Espanol sucks.

Thanks again,
Eric

 

[Finisterre]

I like the portugues better than the french.
apart from the horrid redondela sardine can alberque.
the people were nicer.
more woodland
better food
quieter

I think you will enjoy it.
PS the french route is pretty damn good.

 

[mikevasey]

North of Porto there are quite a few albergues and pilgrims, so if you dont find the extensive road walking too much for you, it should be all right. There is also some very beautiful stretches on trails.

Lisbon to to Porto is getting there, but at the moment you will have to be prepared to walk long distances and go into private accommodation quite a lot, give it 2 or 3 years and it might be comparable to the infrastructure of the Norte. There is a lot of road walking, however I read a blog recently where the route into Tomar had been altered to take off road, so changes keep happening.

Mike

 

[Pieces]

I walked Porto SdC last year

the albergues are not lesser in quality (they are the same as France but cheaper)
they ARE however further in between
bars are open earlier and mostly all day
everything is cheaper than spain (quite cheaper)
they speak better english (which doesn't say much really)
the natives are generally nicer
the fellowpilgrims are mostly non-english speakers
the signing is better (a lot)
there are not many fountains, but you never walk really far for a bar or a shop

as for the roadwalking, I didn't think it was as bad as has been described, yes you walk on the sholder at stretches, but then I am used to roadwalking and they are used to roadwalkers...

over all, I have no doubt I will go back to portugal as a tourist some day and just explore, I do not have that feeling about spain even if I do like the french experience and am starting in SJPdP this year. I am doing this for the camino and the pilgrims not for spain, with Portugal it would be opposite...