Walking the Camino Portgues in early Jan 2020

[winterwalker]

Hello all,

I'm hoping to do the Porto-SdeC portion of the Camino Portugues in the first two weeks of January. I was looking at flights and would potentially arrive in Porto on the 1st, starting the walk on the 2nd and then my flight would leave on the 14th from SdeC, which would leave me with around 10 days to complete the trek. I've some experience with walking long distances over a couple of days so I'm aware of the many things that can happen before, during and after one. I'm looking for advice on accommodation, I've found gronze.com thus far very approachable, even with my limited Spanish, but I can't seem to enter dates on it. Most of the albergues I've seen say all-year-round, but I'd appreciate reassurance from previous piligrims of this particular walk for any more information on this matter. Is it possible some may be closed in the early part of the new year?

I would, of course, be happy to hear any more advice, including weather, what to see, to bring, etc.
Thank you all.

 

[roving_rufus]

I walked last January on a mix of the coastal and central. Not every albergue will be open but there are generally at least in the "main" stops one that is. If you aren't sure you could email or phone which I did once or twice just to check (but this was more on the coastal section that I did that). On the central especially from Tui there is a constant trickle so there are albergues open. However I would make sure to have accomodation booked for that first night in Porto.

 

[Quadragesima]

Greetings, Winterwalker! I am also a first-time pilgrim planning a New Year's camino from Porto, though it sounds like I will be a few days behind you--I arrive in Porto the evening of Jan. 2, will take a day to recover from jet lag and see the city a bit, and then start walking on Jan. 4. I have three weeks and am not in shape to do 30 km regularly at the beginning, so I'm generally planning to follow a 12-day itinerary I found here. The stages all end at places with municipal albergues, which are supposed to be open year-round. That being said, I plan to call ahead each day to make sure the albergue is open so that I don't get stranded on the road. If it works out that our paths cross, I'd love to meet and/or walk with you for a spell. Bom Caminho!

 

[Bob from L.A. !]

Did you mean January 2020????????????????????

 

[winterwalker]

I walked last January on a mix of the coastal and central. Not every albergue will be open but there are generally at least in the "main" stops one that is. If you aren't sure you could email or phone which I did once or twice just to check (but this was more on the coastal section that I did that). On the central especially from Tui there is a constant trickle so there are albergues open. However I would make sure to have accomodation booked for that first night in Porto.

That's reassuring to know that at least one should be open, but I'll probably double-check as I get closer to the time. Thanks again for that advice. I'm thinking about mixing up the coastal and central routes to immerse myself in different types of settings. And for Porto, yeah, I'll definitely reserve a hostel or something. I was there last year so I've already done the tourist-y bits so it's more of a relax on the first day. A beautiful city to go around for those who've never been!

Greetings, Winterwalker! I am also a first-time pilgrim planning a New Year's camino from Porto, though it sounds like I will be a few days behind you--I arrive in Porto the evening of Jan. 2, will take a day to recover from jet lag and see the city a bit, and then start walking on Jan. 4. I have three weeks and am not in shape to do 30 km regularly at the beginning, so I'm generally planning to follow a 12-day itinerary I found here. The stages all end at places with municipal albergues, which are supposed to be open year-round. That being said, I plan to call ahead each day to make sure the albergue is open so that I don't get stranded on the road. If it works out that our paths cross, I'd love to meet and/or walk with you for a spell. Bom Caminho!

Greetings Quadragesima! I hope jet lag doesn't set you back too much, I'm actually in the same timezone so I'm benefitting from that - but I'm sure you'll be fine. Porto is an amazing city and it's good to spend a couple of days there. I'll have roughly 10 days of walking and then maybe one or two rest days in between, so it's possible that our paths may cross somewhere along the trail. It's also comforting to know that others may also be taking on the pilgrammige at the same time. Thank you so much for that blog posting, it's amazing and I advise anyone thinking of doing the Camino Portgues to take a look at it. I'll be sure to update this posting with more information over the next couple of weeks. Bom Caminho!

Did you mean January 2020????????????????????

Yep, Jan 2020 (only have just seen my error in the thread title, thanks for pointing it out)

 

[surya8]

I'm hoping to do the Porto-SdeC portion of the Camino Portugues in the first two weeks of January. Most of the albergues I've seen say all-year-round, but I'd appreciate reassurance from previous piligrims of this particular walk for any more information on this matter.
I would, of course, be happy to hear any more advice, including weather, what to see, to bring, etc.

I walked the coastal route + Variante Espiritual in Jan 2019. Very good experience overall! Posted about it here: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...r-those-who-consider-walking-in-winter.65099/ All the municipal albergues are open, so no worries there. Bring some warm clothes for the albergues and a light sleeping bag if you are planning to stay in the municipal ones. Bom Caminho!

 

[winterwalker]

I walked the coastal route + Variante Espiritual in Jan 2019. Very good experience overall! Posted about it here: https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...r-those-who-consider-walking-in-winter.65099/ All the municipal albergues are open, so no worries there. Bring some warm clothes for the albergues and a light sleeping bag if you are planning to stay in the municipal ones. Bom Caminho!

Thank you so much. I had seen your post previously and it was super helpful. Thanks again for sharing it here.

 

[winterwalker]

So I'm back with a few more precise observations/questions and would be grateful for your insights.

1. I'm planning on mixing up the Coastal and Central routes and hopefully I can adapt them weather-wise. Easy to swap back and forth without adding too many kilometres onto the stretch?
2. Concerning backpacks, any opinions on size? I'm travelling with Ryanair so it would be nice to be able to bring on cabin luggage instead of paying their exorbitant post-booking baggage fees. On a related matter, do you think I need to bring a sleeping bag or would a liner just do? I'll be staying in mostly albergues/hostels and I presume that they'll have blankets.
3. I'm also vegetarian so if you have any recommendations for restaurants along the way, that'd be great. Do the albergues prepare a nightly meal for pilgrims in winter? And if so, are there vegetarian options?
4. I arrive in Porto on the 1st of January, will it be possible to purchase my Camino passport on that day? Or should I just get the passport beforehand? I've been to Porto before so I've seen most of the touristic places. I plan to spend the first night in Matosinhos to get a start on the walk

I have more questions but I'll put them up at a later stage. Happy holidays to everyone.