Travelling through Portugal summer 2021--to/from caminho walks

Friend from Barquinha · May 18, 2021

For those travelling around Portugal one route or another, either en route to the start of your caminho, or returning home afterwards...good deals on the Portuguese railway system:

CP launches summertime discounts: Lisbon - Porto for just €5; Lisbon - Algarve €4.50! - Portugal Resident

CP (Comboios Portugal) has just announced a summertime campaign of incredible discounts, including the fast-train service between Lisbon and Porto for just €5. Explain reports, there are dozens of deals, offering up to 80% on InterCity trains. The only ‘catch’ (if there is one) is that bookings...

www.portugalresident.com

The system covers an amazing amount of the country (speaking from Canada, where passenger rail is almost an oxymoron, these days):

How to travel on CP trains | CP - Comboios de Portugal

For leisure, on work, in groups or every day, we provide various services you can use on your journeys. See here.

www.cp.pt

CP discounts for all ages | CP - Comboios de Portugal

Check all the CP discounts for all ages. Buy your train ticket now from our Online Ticket Office.

www.cp.pt

(I should add that the 2nd-class tickets in Portugal are perfectly adequate. You get slightly more seat room in first class, but otherwise, they're pretty much the same. Same access to restaurant cars, etc.)

[Added about a week later--CP's rail-network map has not yet been updated. There now is a train link between Covilhã and Guarda in the northeast, meaning that the northern rail routes make a complete loop. https://www.andybtravels.com/news/portugals-beira-baixa-line-reopens-covilha-and-guarda Please excuse my Portuguese-train-nerdiness!]

gayeh · May 18, 2021

Friend from Barquinha said:
For those travelling around Portugal one route or another, either en route to the start of your caminho, or returning home afterwards...good deals on the Portuguese railway system:

CP launches summertime discounts: Lisbon - Porto for just €5; Lisbon - Algarve €4.50! - Portugal Resident

CP (Comboios Portugal) has just announced a summertime campaign of incredible discounts, including the fast-train service between Lisbon and Porto for just €5. Explain reports, there are dozens of deals, offering up to 80% on InterCity trains. The only ‘catch’ (if there is one) is that bookings...

www.portugalresident.com

The system covers an amazing amount of the country (speaking from Canada, where passenger rail is almost an oxymoron, these days):

View attachment 100502

How to travel on CP trains | CP - Comboios de Portugal

For leisure, on work, in groups or every day, we provide various services you can use on your journeys. See here.

www.cp.pt

CP discounts for all ages | CP - Comboios de Portugal

Check all the CP discounts for all ages. Buy your train ticket now from our Online Ticket Office.

www.cp.pt

Wow this is fantastic! Thanks very much for sharing.

Friend from Barquinha · May 18, 2021

gayeh said:
Wow this is fantastic! Thanks very much for sharing.

I think you said in your other thread, that you were just over 65. For anyone over 65, half-price all the time, without reservations, on any of the trains. I'm Canadian, like you, and under non-Covid circumstances was spending as much time as I could in Portugal. The trains are *wonderful* for travelling around. Don't need to reserve, lots of trains, lots of stations. One of the best things about the country.

gayeh · May 18, 2021

Friend from Barquinha said:
I think you said in your other thread, that you were just over 65. For anyone over 65, half-price all the time, without reservations, on any of the trains. I'm Canadian, like you, and under non-Covid circumstances was spending as much time as I could in Portugal. The trains are *wonderful* for travelling around. Don't need to reserve, lots of trains, lots of stations. One of the best things about the country.

Yes I heard about the seniors advantage but didn't realize that there are seemingly no restrictions! I plan to stay in Spain and/or Portugal as long as possible. My doctor friend tells me that there are rumblings of a rough virus winter ... again

WalkingJane · May 19, 2021

Friend from Barquinha said:
I think you said in your other thread, that you were just over 65. For anyone over 65, half-price all the time, without reservations, on any of the trains. I'm Canadian, like you, and under non-Covid circumstances was spending as much time as I could in Portugal. The trains are *wonderful* for travelling around. Don't need to reserve, lots of trains, lots of stations. One of the best things about the country.

The local trains are great fun if you have the time and want to savor the “real” Portugal

jungleboy · May 19, 2021

Just for fun, since I’m also a train enthusiast, these are some camino starting points in Portugal you can reach by train based on @Friend from Barquinha’s map:

Lisbon - CP
Porto - CP central or coastal
Braga - Caminho da Geira e dos Arrieieros
Faro - Caminho Central to Santarém
Tavira - Caminho Nascente, which I have heard good things about

Viseu, for the Caminho Português Interior, is not on the map. I have previously read that it is the largest town in Europe not serviced by a train line.

peregrina2000 · May 20, 2021

And here’s a plug for the commuter lines! When I walked from Lisbon in 2008, I was living in Lisbon for the year, and did day walks all the way up to Tomar. Maybe only a few of those days were on the commuter lines, but though the commuter trains were more frequent, getting back and forth for a day‘s walk was always easy. In Golega, I remember having to get out to Entroncamento for the train, but other than that, it was super easy. North of Tomar, I went out for a few days at a time up to Porto and it couldn’t have been easier. I agree that the Portuguese trains are super.

Camino Chrissy · May 20, 2021

I want to give a shout out for one of my very favorite hilltop villages with castle walls in Portugal where my family spent two days sightseeing while on a tour of the country.
It's Marvao...stunning!
(P.S. I realize I am a bit off topic.)

gayeh · May 20, 2021

WalkingJane said:
The local trains are great fun if you have the time and want to savor the “real” Portugal

Absolutely. I too want the slow, savouring meander

mspath · May 20, 2021

Camino Chrissy said:
I want to give a shout out for one of my very favorite hilltop villages with castle walls in Portugal where my family spent two days sightseeing while on a tour of the country.
It's Marvao...stunning!
(P.S. I realize I am a bit off topic.)
View attachment 100588 View attachment 100589
View attachment 100590 View attachment 100592

CC,
Great shots of a wonderful spot. My husband and I happily celebrated New Years 2013 there; loved the location!

jungleboy · May 20, 2021

Camino Chrissy said:
I want to give a shout out for one of my very favorite hilltop villages with castle walls in Portugal where my family spent two days sightseeing while on a tour of the country.
It's Marvao...stunning!

I am pretty close to Marvão right now but it’s not on my current camino (the Nascente). It’s on the work-in-progress Caminho da Raia though, which I hope to walk soon!

Camino Chrissy · May 20, 2021

jungleboy said:
I am pretty close to Marvão right now but it’s not on my current camino (the Nascente). It’s on the work-in-progress Caminho da Raia though, which I hope to walk soon!

Such a shame if you have to pass it up, Jungleboy, but I know you will find a way to experience it another time.

Friend from Barquinha · May 20, 2021

(On the Marvão distraction) Marvão is lovely, but a shout-out as well to Castelo and Portalegre, which are in the same basic area and get less publicity because they're not walled towns. They, too, are really worth a visit.

That whole area warrants some exploration. You can now get there by train, once a day (to Portalegre, anyway), and then there's a local bus system that covers the area. I haven't explored them personally, but I understand there's also a nice hiking network through the area since it's a state/whatever park--the Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede. And some Roman sites, I think!

movinmaggie · May 22, 2021

Friend from Barquinha said:
I think you said in your other thread, that you were just over 65. For anyone over 65, half-price all the time, without reservations, on any of the trains. I'm Canadian, like you, and under non-Covid circumstances was spending as much time as I could in Portugal. The trains are *wonderful* for travelling around. Don't need to reserve, lots of trains, lots of stations. One of the best things about the country.

Wow, half price for over 65?! I wonder what I'd get for 85??

WalkingJane · May 22, 2021

movinmaggie said:
Wow, half price for over 65?! I wonder what I'd get for 85??

Same thing...no perks for continuing to breathe after 65.

WalkingJane · May 22, 2021

Actually, advanced age is often a perk in Portugal. One of the days I took a local bus, as I got off, a woman took me in hand (literally) to lead me to the large Hostel managed by nuns. Very simple accommodations but a memorable communal dinner!

ktchnofdngr · May 23, 2021

WalkingJane said:
Actually, advanced age is often a perk in Portugal. One of the days I took a local bus, as I got off, a woman took me in hand (literally) to lead me to the large Hostel managed by nuns. Very simple accommodations but a memorable communal dinner!

Do you remember the town/albergue name? I'm walking from Lisbon

this July, and that is exactly the kind of place I love to stay at...

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Travelling through Portugal summer 2021--to/from caminho walks

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