Starting in Lisbon on the 29th of December is this Crazy?

[Dre]

HI All.

I think I have made a bit of a mistake. I have booked return flights to Lisbon on the 29th of December to the 6th of Jan. I am not fussy about which part I will do. I would like to start in Lisbon but I am not sure if any of the Albergues are open. Do you have any idea if they are? I am also a solo traveler and I have heard that the signage isn't great in Portugal. Should I just take a train to Porto and start from there? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Andrea

 

[AlexCiccio]

HI All.

I think I have made a bit of a mistake. I have booked return flights to Lisbon on the 29th of December to the 6th of Jan. I am not fussy about which part I will do. I would like to start in Lisbon but I am not sure if any of the Albergues are open. Do you have any idea if they are? I am also a solo traveler and I have heard that the signage isn't great in Portugal. Should I just take a train to Porto and start from there? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Andrea

Hello Andrea, I really envy you!
Keep safe and buon camino!
Alex

 

[KinkyOne]

HI All.

I think I have made a bit of a mistake. I have booked return flights to Lisbon on the 29th of December to the 6th of Jan. I am not fussy about which part I will do. I would like to start in Lisbon but I am not sure if any of the Albergues are open. Do you have any idea if they are? I am also a solo traveler and I have heard that the signage isn't great in Portugal. Should I just take a train to Porto and start from there? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Andrea

Hi, Andrea,

I haven't walked Portugues at all but you can find lists of albergues from Lisbon here:
http://www.vialusitana.org/en/albergues_eng/
http://caminhocentralasantiago.blogspot.si/p/albergues-e-pernoita.html

There is also updated guidebook in resources section of this forum. Maybe it mentions openings during winter on Portugues.

Anyway Bom Caminho!

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Dre,

With such a short time to walk, if it were me I'd start from Lisbon, but it is likely to be less crowded (probably very empty) than from Porto.

I don't know about the other alberguess, but I know that the new Via LUsitana albergue in Alpriate will be closed till March. It's about 20 km from the Lisbon cathedral and breaks up what will now be for you a longer day. Kinky's links should help you out. If you are able to walk longer distances and have enough money for private places (usually around 20-30 for a single), I think you will be fine, so long as you are ok with walking alone. I walked from Lisbon alone in 2008 and never saw another pilgrim. Signage was spotty, and is MUCH improved now.

Have you seen the forum guides? There is one for LIsbon-Porto and one for Porto-Santiago, just click on the resources button. Good luck and Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Camembert]

Hi, Dre,

With such a short time to walk, if it were me I'd start from Lisbon, but it is likely to be less crowded (probably very empty) than from Porto.

I don't know about the other alberguess, but I know that the new Via LUsitana albergue in Alpriate will be closed till March. It's about 20 km from the Lisbon cathedral and breaks up what will now be for you a longer day. Kinky's links should help you out. If you are able to walk longer distances and have enough money for private places (usually around 20-30 for a single), I think you will be fine, so long as you are ok with walking alone. I walked from Lisbon alone in 2008 and never saw another pilgrim. Signage was spotty, and is MUCH improved now.

Have you seen the forum guides? There is one for LIsbon-Porto and one for Porto-Santiago, just click on the resources button. Good luck and Buen camino, Laurie

I agree with you Laurie that starting in Lisbon is a good thing.

My wife Nel and I stayed from December 24th 2015 to 8th of January at Casa da Fernanda and there we met several pilgrims who were walking from Porto and they stayed at albergues. A couple from Brazil, some Czech ladies .
Yesterday I received an email from a German pilgrim ,we met at Fernanda's at new year's eve and he joined us to family of Fernanda to celebrate the new year.
He told me he is starting again just before Christmas this year and going to Fernanda and from there jump over to he coastal caminho.

So another idea for Andrea is to take the train to Porto and walk to Fernanda or 14 kms further to Ponte de Lima and from there return to Porto and Lisbon.

 

[Dre]

Hi, Andrea,

I haven't walked Portugues at all but you can find lists of albergues from Lisbon here:
http://www.vialusitana.org/en/albergues_eng/
http://caminhocentralasantiago.blogspot.si/p/albergues-e-pernoita.html

There is also updated guidebook in resources section of this forum. Maybe it mentions openings during winter on Portugues.

Anyway Bom Caminho!

Thanks Kinky, that is really helpful

 

[Dre]

Hi, Dre,

With such a short time to walk, if it were me I'd start from Lisbon, but it is likely to be less crowded (probably very empty) than from Porto.

I don't know about the other alberguess, but I know that the new Via LUsitana albergue in Alpriate will be closed till March. It's about 20 km from the Lisbon cathedral and breaks up what will now be for you a longer day. Kinky's links should help you out. If you are able to walk longer distances and have enough money for private places (usually around 20-30 for a single), I think you will be fine, so long as you are ok with walking alone. I walked from Lisbon alone in 2008 and never saw another pilgrim. Signage was spotty, and is MUCH improved now.

Have you seen the forum guides? There is one for LIsbon-Porto and one for Porto-Santiago, just click on the resources button. Good luck and Buen camino, Laurie

Laurie, you're a star. Thank you so much. You have put my mind at ease knowing that the signage has improved. Thank you

 

[Dre]

I agree with you Laurie that starting in Lisbon is a good thing.

My wife Nel and I stayed from December 24th 2015 to 8th of January at Casa da Fernanda and there we met several pilgrims who were walking from Porto and they stayed at albergues. A couple from Brazil, some Czech ladies .
Yesterday I received an email from a German pilgrim ,we met at Fernanda's at new year's eve and he joined us to family of Fernanda to celebrate the new year.
He told me is is starting again just before Christmas this year and going to Fernanda and from there jump over to he coastal caminho.

So another idea for Andrea is to take the train to Porto and walk to Fernanda or 14 kms further to Ponte de Lima and from there return to Porto and Lisbon.

Fantastic. Thank you so much

 

[nzPhreadde]

If it's any consolation, our parish priest (in his mid 60s) walked from Lisbon to Santiago in January 2016. But then he used to spend his (NZ) summers in Antarctica until he got too old for it! I seem t recall he spent a fair amount of the time getting rained on.

His adventures are documented here http://www.stjosephsuh.com/rons-camino-2016/previous/4

 

[Dre]

Thanks nzPhreaddle.
I am still amazed at how helpful people on this forum are. Thank for the links. This is going to give me exactly what I need to make my decision. Thank you ever so much.

 

[AJ]

I walked from Lisbon. I found the walking to be much better from Porto. But there are some very interesting towns between Lisbon and Porto.

 

[Dre]

I walked from Lisbon. I found the walking to be much better from Porto. But there are some very interesting towns between Lisbon and Porto.

Good to know, thank you. I just read a blog from a Priest who walked from Lisbon. I'm still in two minds as I'll be walking on my own in late December. Maybe Porto is a better place to start. Decisions, decisions! Aaaahhh

 

[Dre]

Hi, Dre,

With such a short time to walk, if it were me I'd start from Lisbon, but it is likely to be less crowded (probably very empty) than from Porto.

I don't know about the other alberguess, but I know that the new Via LUsitana albergue in Alpriate will be closed till March. It's about 20 km from the Lisbon cathedral and breaks up what will now be for you a longer day. Kinky's links should help you out. If you are able to walk longer distances and have enough money for private places (usually around 20-30 for a single), I think you will be fine, so long as you are ok with walking alone. I walked from Lisbon alone in 2008 and never saw another pilgrim. Signage was spotty, and is MUCH improved now.

Have you seen the forum guides? There is one for LIsbon-Porto and one for Porto-Santiago, just click on the resources button. Good luck and Buen camino, Laurie

Good to know, thank you. I just read a blog from a Priest who walked from Lisbon. I'm still in two minds as I'll be walking on my own in late December. Maybe Porto is a better place to start. Decisions, decisions! Although, I have found a good few albergues open from Lisbon.

 

[Dre]

I agree with you Laurie that starting in Lisbon is a good thing.

My wife Nel and I stayed from December 24th 2015 to 8th of January at Casa da Fernanda and there we met several pilgrims who were walking from Porto and they stayed at albergues. A couple from Brazil, some Czech ladies .
Yesterday I received an email from a German pilgrim ,we met at Fernanda's at new year's eve and he joined us to family of Fernanda to celebrate the new year.
He told me is is starting again just before Christmas this year and going to Fernanda and from there jump over to he coastal caminho.

So another idea for Andrea is to take the train to Porto and walk to Fernanda or 14 kms further to Ponte de Lima and from there return to Porto and Lisbon.

Thanks for all of your recommendations. I am overwhelmed with the amount of advice that fellow pilgrims are offering. This is such a great community to be apart of.

 

[Dre]

I walked from Lisbon. I found the walking to be much better from Porto. But there are some very interesting towns between Lisbon and Porto.

Thank you. I hope I am thanking all of you. I am new to this forum and I just want you all to know how grateful I am with your advice.

 

[frida1]

I've walked the entire Portuguese route. If I only had a week, I would not start in Lisbon. It takes 2 days (many I met took 3), to get away from the industrial area. You can take a train to Santarem, a beautiful medieval town. It take about one hour. There is a nice albergue there called Santarem. I met people who started in Tomar, and in Coimbra, both south of Porto, and easily reached by train from Lisbon. There are some beautiful towns along the way, including those I've mentioned. In September, I met only a few people on that part of the trip.

The walk from Porto does have less road-walking and you would likely meet more people. The walking is more often on paths. I think I'd recommend it to most people before the southern portion.

 

[Camembert]

I've walked the entire Portuguese route. If I only had a week, I would not start in Lisbon. It takes 2 days (many I met took 3), to get away from the industrial area. You can take a train to Santarem, a beautiful medieval town. It take about one hour. There is a nice albergue there called Santarem. I met people who started in Tomar, and in Coimbra, both south of Porto, and easily reached by train from Lisbon. There are some beautiful towns along the way, including those I've mentioned. In September, I met only a few people on that part of the trip.

The walk from Porto does have less road-walking and you would likely meet more people. The walking is more often on paths. I think I'd recommend it to most people before the southern portion.

I agree with you .one correction. It is not an albergue in Santarèm but the Santarèm hostal. You can reserve there your bed or room on beforehand .Mario the owner is a member of this forum. @santaremhostal. The Santarėm hostal is just behind the Tourist Information.

 

[Dre]

I agree with you .one correction. It is not an albergue in Santarèm but the Santarèm hostal. You can reserve there your bed or room on beforehand .Mario the owner is a member of this forum. @santaremhostal. The Santarėm hostal is just behind the Tourist Information.

Fantastic guys, I didn't even think of getting a train to a point before Porto. I was either going to start in Lisbon or Porto. Silly me for not thinking of other options. Delighted with your suggestions.