Walking through Porto

[anniethenurse]

Hola a todos!

I have now walked 3 times in Portugal on different routes. And will be returning next June

But I must be the only one who walked and will be walking out of Porto. Along the river to the Atlantic Ocean and to Matosinhos and past Matosinhos. Lovely walking by the river and by the Ocean

Anyone else who loves walking the camino and walked out of Porto?

Bom caminho

 

[Camembert]

Hola a todos!

I have now walked 3 times in Portugal on different routes. And will be returning next June

But I must be the only one who walked and will be walking out of Porto. Along the river to the Atlantic Ocean and to Matosinhos and past Matosinhos. Lovely walking by the river and by the Ocean

Anyone else who loves walking the camino and walked out of Porto?

Bom caminho

Me ! And my wife did.
Even during the walk along the riverside we attended a fado rehearsal in a small bar oposite the small ferryboat just before the Douro river meets the ocean.
We stayed overnight in hotel Central in Matosinhos and next day continued to Vila do Conde from where we headed inland to São Pedro de Rates, Barcelos and Casa Fernanda.

 

[Anniesantiago]

Yes, we walked out of Porto.
I LOVED Porto, by the way, especially the grilled sardinhas down by the river!

(and of course the village of Carvalho, where my family name originated)

 

[Utgaard]

I loved walking in Porto, too! I walked along the Douro to the Atlantic in late May, 2014. It was a great start to my Caminho. And the views were pretty nice.

View media item 3219

 

[anniethenurse]

Along the river and along the Ocean.
May 2015

 

[Theatregal]

I will walk out of Porto, along the coast, next week ~ very excited!

 

[Theatregal]

Wish you a great Camino, shame we won´t meet this year.

Ondo Ibili !

Yes! It would have been great to meet you again! Bom Caminho!

 

[Theatregal]

@Theatregal

I posted this in another thread earlier , don´t know if you saw it.

"In 2010 ( Holy Year ) my wife and I walked the Camino Portugues de la Costa. We were told by 2 volunteers we met next to the ferry office at the port in Aguarda that this Camino was " intuitivo" ( that you had to play it by ear ). They were right but we loved every minute of our walk. One day we stayed at an albergue "Aguncheiro Albergue Turistico" it´s in Mougás - Oia about 21 kms from Aguarda. It has a hotel,restaurant and albergue for peregrinos. My wife and I were number 19 and 20 at that albergue at the end of August in a Holy Year. I imagine the costal route has greater number nowadays."

We had a seafood paella there while looking out at the sea.

Ondo Ibili !

I did indeed! Included it in my notes. I loved the quote about this camino - "intuitivo" Suits me!

 

[Marc S.]

Yep, I walked out in October 2014. Not along the coastline, but inland to Villarinha. Brierly calls this a 'long slog through the suburbs' and
lists three alternatives to avoid it. A long slog it was, but it was good, and I would do it again. I see beauty in all things....

 

[anniethenurse]

Lovely @Marc S.
I walk the camino the bad one the good one. That is my way!

 

[fraluchi]

[...] We stayed overnight in hotel Central in Matosinhos and next day continued to Vila do Conde from where we headed inland to São Pedro de Rates, Barcelos and Casa Fernanda. Bom caminho e abraço deste lado do Europa.

We didn't walk out of Porto but rather in Porto. The first day, starting from the cathedral, we lost track of the yellow arrows and got lost. The nest day we found the place where we went wrong and walked a fair distance through town. Then decided to return along the Douro river and to our overnight stay in the center of town. We walked 17 kilometers, and it all was an eye opener. On the day of our departure we took the 500 bus from the Sao Bento station to Matosinhos and walked from there. Did more or less the road Albertinho took, stayed in Vila do Condo, then in Pedra Furada and Tamel before the fabulous Casa Fernanda. Along all our Caminos we have rarely experienced such exceptional and generous welcome.
Back to the subject of this thread: I would not walk again from and through Porto and built up areas with horrible road surfaces to walk on, but rather start from Barcelos (Camino Central). The coastal walk is different, but only really starts after Matosinhos and is rather monotonous. I can't judge the coastal walk from Vila do Conde to the North.

 

[gracethepilgrim]

ooh yes, I walked out of Porto to Villarinha also - every step from the cathedral. I loved it.
It still puzzles me why folk try to ‘avoid the ugly bits'. A wise French gentleman told me many years ago on my first pilgrimage that the way you approach your pilgrimage is the way you approach life. Please, this is not a judgement, just a comment.

 

[fraluchi]

[...] A wise French gentleman told me many years ago on my first pilgrimage that the way you approach your pilgrimage is the way you approach life.[...]

...some "wise" people may explain things the other way 'round

 

[Camembert]

ooh yes, I walked out of Porto to Villarinha also - every step from the cathedral. I loved it.
It still puzzles me why folk try to ‘avoid the ugly bits'. A wise French gentleman told me many years ago on my first pilgrimage that the way you approach your pilgrimage is the way you approach life. Please, this is not a judgement, just a comment.

I drove with my car from Porto to Vilarinho and even with the car it was very dangerous on those roads. The Portuguese drivers tried to merge in between my car and my hooked on campingtrailer !
I saw trucks and buses almost hitting pilgrims walking on the hardshoulder of these roads.
Better if you like to walk direction Vilarinho take the metro to Forum Maia and walk from there.

Just before Vilarinho you'll find the albergue Mosteiro de Vairão in an ancient monastery. Nice place to stay there.
From there it is a nice 15 km long walk to São Pedro de Rates where is the next albergue.

 

[naplesdon]

I left Porto early in July 2013 during a heat wave. I did not know anything about the route along the beach and was very wary of walking through the city in all of the heat so I took the metro to Santa Clara (actually overshot the station and had to do some back tracking) and then walked to Arcos. I was melting by noon, found a place with a pool and collapsed there. I loved the route from Porto to SDC and stops at Casa Fernanda, Porto do Limo and Padron are highly recommended.

 

[Jacobus]

Hola a todos!

I have now walked 3 times in Portugal on different routes. And will be returning next June

But I must be the only one who walked and will be walking out of Porto. Along the river to the Atlantic Ocean and to Matosinhos and past Matosinhos. Lovely walking by the river and by the Ocean

Anyone else who loves walking the camino and walked out of Porto?

Bom caminho

I will be walking this exact route. Arriving Porto Aug 5 start walking Aug 7. In addition I will continue on to Fisterre Muxia and return to SDC then over to the Ingles...