Urban trekker1
Urban Trekker1
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Camino Ingles (May 2013)
Caminho Portuguese (May 2014)
Camino Frances (May 2015)
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Hi Trekker! You and I have done the opposite things! I walked Lisbon to Porto in May, and plan the Ferrol to SdC next May! I think on most caminos there are bound to be some beautiful, some boring parts, some industrial estates to traverse. Your 30 days sounds like a good option to me. If you find Lisbon to Porto boring, catch the occasional bus! But you will have the beautiful Porto to SdC section to anticipate with joy. Links to my Diaries and over 1,000 pictures are on my web site.
Bom caminho!
Stephen, I took 6 days to do the Camino Ingles. We went from Farrol to Neda on day one. Real nice albergue there. Food close by and they had a washing machine. Day 2 we pushed to Mino, a big mistake. From Pontedeuma to Mino you climb up and down the equivalent of three 60 story buildings. I ruined my feet. Albergue in Mino was OK but a walk to food. We should have stopped at Pontedeume for the night then on to Neda. From Neda to Betanzos. The albergue in Betanzos should not be missed. Its new and built into a 14th century structure. 2 blooks off the main plaza. Per Johnny Walkers guide book, we took 2 days to go from Betanzos to Burma. There is a Pension in the guide that will pick you up from and return you to Bar Julia the next morning. Then you continue on to Bruma. The albegue in Bruma is built into a old house. Very nice place but no food. A restaurant will take orders and deliver your meal. They put on a nice spread. From Bruma you have a 30 K walk. The only Lodging is a old hotel in Sigueiro. Then to Santiago. Met wonderful people all along the way. In Ferrol a local took us in his car and covered the entire Camino in Ferrol and told us where not to go. In Betanzos we were invited into a private art school. The owner of the pension we stayed at in Ferrol let us store our luggage while we walked the Camino. He would not take a dime from us (we bought his a beer). Several bars along the route gave us free Spanish Liquor shooters. At another albergue in Ferrol the manager invited us to a old Galician pagan ceremony. Fantastic people!!!Hi Trekker! You and I have done the opposite things! I walked Lisbon to Porto in May, and plan the Ferrol to SdC next May! I think on most caminos there are bound to be some beautiful, some boring parts, some industrial estates to traverse. Your 30 days sounds like a good option to me. If you find Lisbon to Porto boring, catch the occasional bus! But you will have the beautiful Porto to SdC section to anticipate with joy. Links to my Diaries and over 1,000 pictures are on my web site.
Bom caminho!
Last June I walked from Porto to Santiago and I met a few who had walked from Lisbon and they all disliked it due to the amount of road and pavement walking. Also something that never seems to get mentioned is the fact that many roads in Portugal are paved with granite cobble stones. These are as hard on the feet as concrete, and due to their slight unevenness the ankle is slightly twisting on every step, which is a nothing for a few kms but very tiring after 15 or 20 kms.
Camino David, thanks for the response. As my handle would indicate, I walk on pavement (black top or concrete) all the time. The few dirt trails here a rutted, steep, and covered with dirt bikes or 4 wheelers. I have more problems off pavement than on.Last June I walked from Porto to Santiago and I met a few who had walked from Lisbon and they all disliked it due to the amount of road and pavement walking. Also something that never seems to get mentioned is the fact that many roads in Portugal are paved with granite cobble stones. These are as hard on the feet as concrete, and due to their slight unevenness the ankle is slightly twisting on every step, which is a nothing for a few kms but very tiring after 15 or 20 kms.
I guess I'll have to walk it myself and find out. Road walking doesn't bother me. All my training walks are on pavement. I have more trouble walking off pavement than on.Hi, urbantrekker,
There is a split of opinion on this forum about the Caminho from Lisbon. There is a fair amount of road walking, but only a few of those stretches are on busy roads. Some of the industrial areas outside of Lisbon are pretty uninspiring, but almost every camino has some of those. I think that another thing that people find is that there are very few pilgrims walking south of Porto. That is changing, the numbers are growing steadily, and there are more and more pilgrim accommodations along the route. I personally agree with Maura that the route is very nice -- lots of pretty little towns, and the people are exceptionally friendly and kind.
Thank you all for your responses. If I start in Lisbon then I fly to Lisbon. Now, what's the best way to get home. Do I take a bus from Santiago back to Lisbon and fly home or do I take the train from Santiago to Madrid and fly out of there. Suggestions
I live just outside of Reno, Nv. I'm familiar with the subway, bus, and train system in Madrid and Santiago. So I'm thinking fly into Lisbon to start my walk and take the train from Santiago to Madrid and home to the US. AbregatoI'm not sure where you are flying from, but I think it's always worth it to find out the cost of doing what they call an open jaw ticket -- flying from home to Lisbon and then from Santiago to home. In your case it would probably involve a round trip to Madrid, with an extra flight to Lisbon in the beginning and from Santiago at the end. You usually can't find these ticket online and have to get help from a real person on the phone, I believe. I have found on several occasions that the additional cost of those extra segments is trivial. For instance, last year I flew from US to Valencia and Santiago to US for $100 more than it would have cost me to fly round trip from US to Madrid.
There is a bus from Santiago to Lisbon, it is a LONG boring ride, with a 45 minute stop in an uninspiring highway cafeteria. The bus leaves around 11 in the if my memory is right and gets to Lisbon around 6 or 7 hours later.
I think that many of the different experiences on the roadside stretches have to do with time of day and day of week. I, like Stephen, always felt like I had a wide paved shoulder on the busy roads and never felt like my life was in danger. But as they say on TV, your results may be different. Buen camino, Laurie
Mariposa, thank you for your post and sharing your blog with me. More names to wright down and research. I'm pretty sure I'm going to walk all the way from Lisbon to Santiago. Do you mean Valencia just outside of Lisbon? Where did you get the map I saw in your pictures.My hubby and I walked from Valenca to Santiago. We stayed at municipal albergues in Porriño, Redondela and Briallos. In Caldas de Reis we stayed in a hotel and did spa pool in thermal waters. ... highly recommend! We stayed at a lovely pension in Areal called A Milagrosa...lovely. You can check out my blog at www.michelesway.weebly.com
Buen Camino.
Thank you for the info.Valenca is right on the border of Spain and Portugal... way north of lisbon.
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