After Santiago, Porto?

[VeganCamino]

Hello friends. I'm thinking about walking to Porto after Santiago if the weather is nice and my feet and low back are up for it.

I'm curious if anyone else has walked in "reverse" and how easy/difficult that was to go against the flow of other pilgrims. I know that people walk to Fatima, so maybe not as hard to walk South from Santiago into Porto as it would be to walk the Frances in reverse.

Thoughts?

Thanks so much.

 

[David Tallan]

Santiago to Porto is one of the easiest routes to walk in reverse. It is even signposted with painted arrows in the correct direction. Just follow the blue arrows.

That's because Santiago to Porto is on the way to Fatima, as you note.

A big difference is likely to be in the constantly changing community of fellow pilgrims. On the way to Santiago, you tend to find yourself in a cohort of pilgrims, seeing the same pilgrims multiple times. When the mass of pilgrims is walking in the opposite direction it is "once and done".

 

[Grousedoctor]

When the mass of pilgrims is walking in the opposite direction it is "once and done".

One of my regrets about cycling a Camino was that I never met the same pilgrims more than once. For me, regardless of the specific Camino, the camaraderie that develops by interacting with people multiple times is an important reason to walk and certainly one of the reasons why I have now returned to Spain and Portugal multiple times. However, we all walk for different reasons.

 

[SAGALOUTS SON]

We walked from Porto to Santiago finishing on Wednesday and we were surprised by how many were walking in reverse. This was probably most evident in Portugal. You may still find that community feel. The blue arrows were very clear.

 

[VeganCamino]

Santiago to Porto is one of the easiest routes to walk in reverse. It is even signposted with painted arrows in the correct direction. Just follow the blue arrows.

That's because Santiago to Porto is on the way to Fatima, as you note.

A big difference is likely to be in the constantly changing community of fellow pilgrims. On the way to Santiago, you tend to find yourself in a cohort of pilgrims, seeing the same pilgrims multiple times. When the mass of pilgrims is walking in the opposite direction it is "once and done".

Thank you.