Starting Porto 1/2nd Sept

[LouiseEdin]

Hi, flying into Lisbon on the early morning of 1st Sept, getting train up to Porto (still to plan that) Should i stay in Porto one night and start out on 2nd? Plan to do coastal/beach route but go inland to get up high sometimes. Does anyone know if it is easy to go cross-country between routes? Thanks, love this forum

 

[Walli Walker]

Have at least a day in Porto if you can, it's a lovely city. You can easily walk from Vilo de Conde, on the coast, to Rates on the central route. Buen Camino, Jacki.

 

[Camembert]

Hi, flying into Lisbon on the early morning of 1st Sept, getting train up to Porto (still to plan that) Should i stay in Porto one night and start out on 2nd? Plan to do coastal/beach route but go inland to get up high sometimes. Does anyone know if it is easy to go cross-country between routes? Thanks, love this forum

Porto is a beautiful town with lots of things to see. One day should not be enough !
The walk from the cathedral along side the Douro river and the ocean to Vila do Conde is great. 30 kms so you could do your walk to Matosinhos as a part of siteseeing , return to your hostal and next day take bus 500 of the metro to Matosinhos and walk from there to Vila do Conde. 20 kms.
From there it is 15 kms to São Pedro de Rates where is an albergue.
From there is some nasty roadwalking to Barcelos but with some safety precautions-fluorescent safetyvest- it is no problem. 20 km.
From Barcelos walk 18 kms to Casa da Fernanda and stay there for the night .best place on the caminho to stay. Give Fernanda a ring on beforehand +351 914 589 521. It can be busy.
From there it is 14 kms to Ponte de Lima. Stay there for the night. Albergue or several hostals.
Next day is a hard day climbing the off road path to the top of the LaBruja mountain and down to Rubiaes. 18 kms
From there every next stage is about 20 kms except the Padrón to Santiago stage. 24 kms
You could break this distance to 14 kms to Teo where is an albergue and the next day a relaxed walk of 10 kms to Santiago.

Bom caminho

 

[LouiseEdin]

Have at least a day in Porto if you can, it's a lovely city. You can easily walk from Vilo de Conde, on the coast, to Rates on the central route. Buen Camino, Jacki.

Thank you Jacki

 

[LouiseEdin]

Porto is a beautiful town with lots of things to see. One day should not be enough !
The walk from the cathedral along side the Douro river and the ocean to Vila do Conde is great. 30 kms so you could do your walk to Matosinhos as a part of siteseeing , return to your hostal and next day take bus 500 of the metro to Matosinhos and walk from there to Vila do Conde. 20 kms.
From there it is 15 kms to São Pedro de Rates where is an albergue.
From there is some nasty roadwalking to Barcelos but with some safety precautions-fluorescent safetyvest- it is no problem. 20 km.
From Barcelos walk 18 kms to Casa da Fernanda and stay there for the night .best place on the caminho to stay. Give Fernanda a ring on beforehand +351 914 589 521. It can be busy.
From there it is 14 kms to Ponte de Lima. Stay there for the night. Albergue or several hostals.
Next day is a hard day climbing the off road path to the top of the LaBruja mountain and down to Rubiaes. 18 kms
From there every next stage is about 20 kms except the Padrón to Santiago stage. 24 kms
You could break this distance to 14 kms to Teo where is an albergue and the next day a relaxed walk of 10 kms to Santiago.

Bom caminho

Thanks albertinho. Thanks for the itinerary and also the most important stop at casa da Fernando, looks like an unmissable place, but wasn't sure (from reading the forums) where it slotted in

 

[Camembert]

Thanks albertinho. Thanks for the itinerary and also the most important stop at casa da Fernando, looks like an unmissable place, but wasn't sure (from reading the forums) where it slotted in

Casa da Fernanda is 18 kms after Barcelos on the caminho in the little village of Vitorino de Piães. You can't miss it . If you see a sign Lugar do Corgo you are in front of her house.
Bom caminho

 

[Urban Trekker]

Hi, flying into Lisbon on the early morning of 1st Sept, getting train up to Porto (still to plan that) Should i stay in Porto one night and start out on 2nd? Plan to do coastal/beach route but go inland to get up high sometimes. Does anyone know if it is easy to go cross-country between routes? Thanks, love this forum

Coastal route is well marked including going inland to main route. Do spend a day or 2 in Porto. See and walk across Eiffels Bridge, its free, take a tour and sample some Port on the river, it's not free, and walk around old Porto. Start your camino by take the tram to Matosinhos then walk back to Porto along the coast and river, spend the night, then take tram back the next morning and continue up the coast. Do be careful on the road of possible death, you will know it when you see it. Don't miss Casa Fernanda but do call ahead. Do spend the night on the Portuguese side of the boarder or if you spend the night in Tue go back and visit the old Portuguese boarder fort. Its free and there's a surprise inside. Bom Caminho

Happy Trails

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Was just spending some times going through the latest edition of the Brierly guide and it says that neither path from Vila do Conde to Sao Pedro de Rates to join the Central are waymarked.

 

[Camembert]

Was just spending some times going through the latest edition of the Brierly guide and it says that neither path from Vila do Conde to Sao Pedro de Rates to join the Central are waymarked.

In earlier issues of the Brierley guide he mentioned a detour from Porto along the coast to Vila do Conde and on to São Pedro de Rates. We walked a part of it in Vila do Conde last year and was very well waymarked with yellow markers.. In 2013 we walked the Portuguese from Lisbon and walked the detour too and it was well waymarked .can't imagine the waymarkers are gone by now.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

In earlier issues of the Brierley guide he mentioned a detour from Porto along the coast to Vila do Conde and on to São Pedro de Rates. We walked a part of it in Vila do Conde last year and was very well waymarked with yellow markers.. In 2013 we walked the Portuguese from Lisbon and walked the detour too and it was well waymarked .can't imagine the waymarkers are gone by now.

I am talking about leaving Vila do Conde as he does not mention any problema until there.

He says neither options after leaving it to join the central are marked, and in particular he says the one to Rates via Beiriz had its waymarkers removed mto discourage the use of this option... But he has them both mapped out and described in detail. So still doable with those instructions I suppose.

 

[amorfati1]

Was just spending some times going through the latest edition of the Brierly guide and it says that neither path from Vila do Conde to Sao Pedro de Rates to join the Central are waymarked.

Another 'ooohps' in those guides that simply are not correct. Unless of course every arrow past May 2014 has been removed. I walked it. It's marked.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Another 'ooohps' in those guides that simply are not correct. Unless of course every arrow past May 2014 has been removed. I walked it. It's marked.

What did the old edition of his book say? If it also says it is not then I would have to go with your experience, but this is his brand new edition and things change quickly on the Camino. And he does say they were removed on purpose so people would not walk those options. Anyone have an old copy of Brierly's guide they can look up?

 

[amorfati1]

What did the old edition of his book say? If it also says it is not then I would have to go with your experience, but this is his brand new edition and things change quickly on the Camino. And he does say they were removed on purpose so people would not walk those options. Anyone have an old copy of Brierly's guide they can look up?

yes - circumstances on some stretches on the camino can change quickly indeed while other remain unchanged for centuries.
i do have somewhere an older version of the B'guide and shall investigate into that section. certainly then i will let you know ...
it's entirely possible that local 'pranksters' were at "work" again ... sigh.
cheers, c

 

[Camembert]

What did the old edition of his book say? If it also says it is not then I would have to go with your experience, but this is his brand new edition and things change quickly on the Camino. And he does say they were removed on purpose so people would not walk those options. Anyone have an old copy of Brierly's guide they can look up?

Okay. I have a 3rd edition of 2011 and a maps book of 2015
We did not walk via Beiriz but via Arcos. One time in 2013 coming from Vila do Conde and last time in 2014 coming vfrom Vairão/ Vilarinho and both routes were waymarked.
Last june we were as tourists in Porto and went by metro to Via do Conde and walked around and everywhere were waymarkers.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Okay. I have a 3rd edition of 2011 and a maps book of 2015
We did not walk via Beiriz but via Arcos. One time in 2013 coming from Vila do Conde and last time in 2014 coming vfrom Vairão/ Vilarinho and both routes were waymarked.
Last june we were as tourists in Porto and went by metro to Via do Conde and walked around and everywhere were waymarkers.

What did the 2011 edition say about the waymarks?

 

[Camembert]

What did the 2011 edition say about the waymarks?

The detour VDC to Rates is indicated via Arcos only in the 2011 edition..
The stage in my 2015 maps guide is grey dotted and the Beiriz one in a green dotted
Line
The grey stages lead south east of the N 206 and the green one north west of that road. Both routes come together close before São Pedro de Rates.
AsI look on the map it seems the 2015 green stage goes through a more rural part but I have no discription of that route. Maybe it is in your booklet.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

The route south of N206: "If you are experienced at route-finding and orientation then it is relatively easy to follow and the first 5.4 km is due north alongside the aqueduct".

In the map it joins the Central at the intersection with N-306 and at Arcos you can take a detour to Villa d'Arcos or going straight to Sao Pedro.

 

[Camembert]

The route south of N206: "If you are experienced at route-finding and orientation then it is relatively easy to follow and the first 5.4 km is due north alongside the aqueduct".

In the map it joins the Central at the intersection with N-306 and at Arcos you can take a detour to Villa d'Arcos or going straight to Sao Pedro.

I just follow the yellow waymarkers untill now-after 3 caminhos-they allways were there.

During our holidaystay in Porto last year we travelled by metro to VDC and walked from the bridge where the caminho enters VDC to the right, followed the river to the metro stop and from there are the waymarkers direction Arcos.
I have not seen any waymarkers along the aquaduct direction Beiriz which we walked along coming from the metro at the Povoa de Varzim side (VDC has two metro stops -one north and one at the south side)

 

[Walli Walker]

Vilo de Conde to Rates was marked in June 2015 but, having said that, it was still a bit tricky finding the right path. Locals were helpful though.

 

[KariC]

I've got the 2015 guide, and it's got blue (front cover) / green (stage) dots all the way Matosinhos > VdC > Rates - then nothing along the coast til Esposende, where one can continue on the coastal route - do people always go inland at VdC? Is it not possible to just walk north to Esposende? If not, how do you get there to resume the costal route? Thanks.

 

[Camembert]

Look at the subforum coastal route and you find all answers, vids,blogs.
The coastal continues all way to Vigo in Spain, is well waymarked and beautifull.
There are albergues, hostals,appartments for rent. Restaurants. All distances in between 20kms per day.

Bom caminho

 

[KariC]

Look at the subforum coastal route and you find all answers, vids,blogs.
The coastal continues all way to Vigo in Spain, is well waymarked and beautifull.
There are albergues, hostals,appartments for rent. Restaurants. All distances in between 20kms per day.

Bom caminho

Obrigada!

 

[Camembert]

I've got the 2015 guide, and it's got blue (front cover) / green (stage) dots all the way Matosinhos > VdC > Rates - then nothing along the coast til Esposende, where one can continue on the coastal route - do people always go inland at VdC? Is it not possible to just walk north to Esposende? If not, how do you get there to resume the costal route? Thanks.

Por nada !

Lots of people turn inland at VdC but in VdC are also waymarkers to the coastal.
In VdC is no albergue but if you follow the coastal waymarkers after about 5 kms is Povoa de Varzím where is an albergue and you are at the coastline.
Next oportunity to turn inland is in Caminha by following the coast to the border river Minho between Portugal and Spain. From there you can walk to Valença do Minho and you are on the central route to Santiago.

The last oportunity is cross the Minho river and walk to Vigo and from there to Redondela where you pick up the central route again and if you like , the Variante Espiritual..see another subform. Very interesting.

Of course you can head inland on other places f.ex. In Viana do Castelo but than you need to take the train or bus to Balugães where you find the central route again and close by the famous albergue casa da Fernanda.

Bom caminho

 

[Geoff the Welshman]

Would recommend taking the "traditional" coastal route out of Porto up to Vila do Conde and then branching inland. However, after Ponte de Lima (one of the nicest towns on the CP) suggest turning back to the coast and taking the ferry from Caminha to Guarda. The next two days walking up the Galician coast via Baiona and Vigo to Cesantes (before cutting back inland to Pontevedra) are the most beautiful I experienced last year.

 

[Camembert]

Would recommend taking the "traditional" coastal route out of Porto up to Vila do Conde and then branching inland. However, after Ponte de Lima (one of the nicest towns on the CP) suggest turning back to the coast and taking the ferry from Caminha to Guarda. The next two days walking up the Galician coast via Baiona and Vigo to Cesantes (before cutting back inland to Pontevedra) are the most beautiful I experienced last year.

It is the other way round. the first part to Caminha is not waymarked unless you first walk to Valença do Minho . Or walk along the not waymarked busy N202 to Viana do Castelo and walk from there the coastal to Caminha. Many roads lead to Rome eh...Santiago.

 

[John Briscoe]

Hi, flying into Lisbon on the early morning of 1st Sept, getting train up to Porto (still to plan that) Should i stay in Porto one night and start out on 2nd? Plan to do coastal/beach route but go inland to get up high sometimes. Does anyone know if it is easy to go cross-country between routes? Thanks, love this forum

My wife and I are leaving Porto on the 15th April after 3 days there to walk to Santiago.
We will go to Vila de Conde and from there inland to either Arcos or Rates and then take the tracks to Barcelos but over the hills rather than the road.
I will post something when we get back home to Brisbane Australia in later May. We are using Brierley's 2014 edition of the Camino Portugues.

 

[Camembert]

My wife and I are leaving Porto on the 15th April after 3 days there to walk to Santiago.
We will go to Vila de Conde and from there inland to either Arcos or Rates and then take the tracks to Barcelos but over the hills rather than the road.
I will post something when we get back home to Brisbane Australia in later May. We are using Brierley's 2014 edition of the Camino Portugues.

Interesting ! The road to Barcelos indeed is not a nice one . I supose you will walk on small paths and use gps ? Looking forward for your updates.bom caminho

 

[John Briscoe]

Interesting ! The road to Barcelos indeed is not a nice one . I supose you will walk on small paths and use gps ? Looking forward for your updates.bom caminho

Thanks for your comment. Brierly takes us on a path across Alto da Mulher and Quinta & Igreja (near Mont Franqueira)

 

[Camembert]

Thanks for your comment. Brierly takes us on a path across Alto da Mulher and Quinta & Igreja (near Mont Franqueira)

Okay I have to buy the new Brierley 2016 guide

Bom caminho

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Would recommend taking the "traditional" coastal route out of Porto up to Vila do Conde and then branching inland. However, after Ponte de Lima (one of the nicest towns on the CP) suggest turning back to the coast and taking the ferry from Caminha to Guarda. The next two days walking up the Galician coast via Baiona and Vigo to Cesantes (before cutting back inland to Pontevedra) are the most beautiful I experienced last year.

@Geoff the Welshman, how do you get from Pte de Lima to the ferry in Caminha? Brierly 2016 guide does not show a path. Thank you.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Thanks for your comment. Brierly takes us on a path across Alto da Mulher and Quinta & Igreja (near Mont Franqueira)

That's right. Brierly makes both options out if VdC ( via Arcos or Beiriz) join at Rates and from there to Opcao and Barcelos up Alto da Muher Morta through Courel.

 

[Camembert]

@Geoff the Welshman, how do you get from Pte de Lima to the ferry in Caminha? Brierly 2016 guide does not show a path. Thank you.

See my comment above ! To get to Caminha you have to go to Valença which means you have to walk the stages Ponte de Lima to Rubiães and Rubiães to Valença. From there you walk south west to Vila Nova de Cerveira and Caminha. So you will walk backwards .
Alternative is walk,bus or train from Ponte de Lima to Viana do Castelo and walk from ther in one or to stages to Caminha.
Ponte the Lima is situated at the Lima river, Caminha at the Minho river far more north.

Last year we walked from Porto (airport) to Casa da Fernanda between Barcelos and Ponte de Lima on the central route.
Jacinto, Fernanda's husband took us by car to Viana do Castelo from where we walked to Caminha, crossed the river and walked to A Guarda and on to Oia ,Baiona and Vigo before entering the central route again at Recondela.

The other day we stayed again at Fernanda's from Christmas to the 7th of January and drove with our car to Viana which is about 25 kms.we also drove from Ponte de Lima to Vila Praia de Âncora (close by Caminha) which is about 50 kms!

Probably Geoff used cross country paths and gps.

 

[Anemone del Camino]

Thank you @Albertinho , I was hoping there was a way not to backtrack I could not see on the Brierly map.

 

[Camembert]

Thank you @Albertinho , I was hoping there was a way not to backtrack I could not see on the Brierly map.

You are welcome ! The point is that Caminha is in forward direction north west from Ponte de Lima but diagonal you face a mountain landscape with pretty high mountains. Only the motorway crosses these mountains. We drove this motorway several times. There are a few villages so the chance to find a place to sleep ..???
So I am curious how Geoff the Welshman coped with this all !

 

[anniethenurse]

@lady danglebury

Thanks albertinho. Thanks for the itinerary and also the most important stop at casa da Fernando, looks like an unmissable place, but wasn't sure (from reading the forums) where it slotted in

Don't worry if Fernanda's is completo. Walk 6 kilometers to Portela and stay at the Quinta da Portela - the Dutch man Han Geelen will open his Pilgrim House for you with two bedrooms, complete kitchen, great patio and view over his vinyards. He will do your laundry as well as he will cook you a superb dinner served in his magnifique dining room inside the main building. After the dinner a good night's sleep before continuing after the breakfast. Give Han a call first - maybe completo! Right on the camino easy to find.

 

[anniethenurse]

Dear all,
Awesome that so many pilgrims are interested in walking the caminos in Portugal. I have walked the coastal routes north of Porto twice (May 2014 and Sept 2014) on different routes and in May 2015 from Lisbon to Sdc and Finisterre mostly on the central route. All I can say is that all the Portuguese camino routes are well marked and there is no doupt where to go. Just follow the signs

The first stages between Lisbon and Santarem are quite lonely partly because pilgrims are being asked on this forum to start from Santarem to be able to skip the boring parts. For me the camino is never boring - if it is it's part of the camino! In good in bad in rain in sun shine on tarmac on board walks easy and difficult.

Bom caminho

 

[Camembert]

Dear all,
Awesome that so many pilgrims are interested in walking the caminos in Portugal. I have walked the coastal routes north of Porto twice (May 2014 and Sept 2014) on different routes and in May 2015 from Lisbon to Sdc and Finisterre mostly on the central route. All I can say is that all the Portuguese camino routes are well marked and there is no doupt where to go. Just follow the signs

The first stages between Lisbon and Santarem are quite lonely partly because pilgrims are being asked on this forum to start from Santarem to be able to skip the boring parts. For me the camino is never boring - if it is it's part of the camino! In good in bad in rain in sun shine on tarmac on board walks easy and difficult.

Bom caminho

@lady danglebury


Don't worry if Fernanda's is completo. Walk 6 kilometers to Portela and stay at the Quinta da Portela - the Dutch man Han Geelen will open his Pilgrim House for you with two bedrooms, complete kitchen, great patio and view over his vinyards. He will do your laundry as well as he will cook you a superb dinner served in his magnifique dining room inside the main building. After the dinner a good night's sleep before continuing after the breakfast. Give Han a call first - maybe completo! Right on the camino easy to find.

Just placed a thread on this forum about Quinta da Portela last week.

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/quinta-da-portela-facha.37979/#post-370535

 

[LouiseEdin]

Thank you anniethenurse and Albertinho, sounds like one definitely not to miss

 

[JohnMcM]

Porto is a beautiful town with lots of things to see. One day should not be enough !
The walk from the cathedral along side the Douro river and the ocean to Vila do Conde is great. 30 kms so you could do your walk to Matosinhos as a part of siteseeing , return to your hostal and next day take bus 500 of the metro to Matosinhos and walk from there to Vila do Conde. 20 kms.
From there it is 15 kms to São Pedro de Rates where is an albergue.
From there is some nasty roadwalking to Barcelos but with some safety precautions-fluorescent safetyvest- it is no problem. 20 km.
From Barcelos walk 18 kms to Casa da Fernanda and stay there for the night .best place on the caminho to stay. Give Fernanda a ring on beforehand +351 914 589 521. It can be busy.
From there it is 14 kms to Ponte de Lima. Stay there for the night. Albergue or several hostals.
Next day is a hard day climbing the off road path to the top of the LaBruja mountain and down to Rubiaes. 18 kms
From there every next stage is about 20 kms except the Padrón to Santiago stage. 24 kms
You could break this distance to 14 kms to Teo where is an albergue and the next day a relaxed walk of 10 kms to Santiago.

Bom caminho

Hello Louise,
Alberthino gives you good advice. I pretty much walked the same route myself a week ago. I loved it even though there was more road/Tarmac/cobble walking than I would have preferred. That said, the friendliness of the Portoguese people I met was second only to us Scots. (I'm an Edinburgh lad myself like you). Some of the scenery is fabulous.

I enjoyed walking through Portugal and meeting the people so much I am going back to follow the Coastal (Senda Litoral) from Porto and onto to the Variante Espiritual, just before you start from Porto

I'm heading for the Camino Ingles 24-28 Aug. After that I'll get down to Porto and start from there on 30 Aug.

As for the Brierley guide, I used the 2016 version. May I please advise you, in my opinion, that's exactly what it is regarding distances, a guide

Casa Fernanda,,,,,,,,,,,,,, if you can do it. Just perfect

Bom Caminho

 

[John Briscoe]

Thanks for your comment. Brierly takes us on a path across Alto da Mulher and Quinta & Igreja (near Mont Franqueira)

Just a quick note for those who may be interested. We are now back home in Australia.
I have compiled this brief itinerary of the places we stayed over the 22 days we took to go to Santiago.
The amounts are in Australia dollars for 2 people. The places we stayed were all private and some were just excellent and special such as in Arcos, Balugaes, and Caldas de Reis. The others were great.
I am now working on my blog to further record this camino. If anyone is interested, I will post the link here as well.
As a final note, the Portuguese Camino is not the Camino Francais. It does not have that unexplainable attraction and mystique. But it is a great walk, quiet mostly and as mentioned above the Portuguese people are just amazing and friendly.