How to choose portion of trail to walk?

[Melcro1218]

Hello!
I’m from Vermont (USA), and new to this forum.
My husband and I are planning to walk a portion of the Camino in late April of 2025.
We’re trying to decide between Lisbon to Fatima or Vigo to Santiago. We will be flying in to Lisbon.
Any thoughts? Recommendations?
Thank you!
Melissa

 

[dbier]

In order to obtain tailored advice, you need to specify your desired goal.

Do you want a Compostela or Pilgrims Office distance certificate?

Then arrive in Santiago after walking a minimum of 100km on foot and getting a minimum two stamps/day.

Re Fatima, may the forum please correct me, but I don't think Fatima is a stop on a recognized Camino Route. I believe the route to Fatima shares with the Camino Route (s) , but diverges before Fatima.

 

[OzAnnie]

My husband and I are planning to walk a portion of the Camino

Hi Mel, welcome to the forum.

How many days will you have to walk ?
Have you thought of Porto to Santiago?
I think I’d choose either of Vigo to Santiago or Porto to Santiago. Just depends on the time you have.

Check the distances on this route or any others by looking at this site: www.gronze.com

There is a lot of information to be found on the Gronze site (including accommodation /albergues,pensions, hotels, hostels and details of linking to each other (phone , booking .com ) etc. ,

Buen camino

 

[dougfitz]

Re Fatima, may the forum please correct me, but I don't think Fatima is a stop on a recognized Camino Route. I believe the route to Fatima shares with the Camino Route (s) , but diverges before Fatima.

There are several well established and recognized caminho routes to Fatima, some that follow the same paths as the Camino Portuguese route for at least part of the way. As @dbier suggests, these routes will diverge at some point from the Camino Portuguese route.

I wasn't inspired by arriving in Fatima in the same way as I have been arriving in SDC. I think it would be more meaningful to someone who walked and then participated in the full range of religious services as well as visiting the various parts of the shrine. Unless you are deeply invested in the Marian traditions, I would suggest walking to Santiago as a first pilgrimage.

 

[ShoshTrvls]

If it is your first Camino and you will be walking for only 5 or so days (as suggests your option of Vigo to SdC), I'd like to suggest you consider the Camino Ingles, which I've become a huge fan of as a "first" camino, for the following reasons (among others):

(a) It ends in SdC -- that's what the Camino is about
(b) It is a "full" Camino, meaning you will start where everyone else walking the path starts. This creates a sense of community that is somewhat lost if you start a different route someplace in the middle; there's definitely a distinction in experiences when you have people who have been walking for 25 days while others are fresh off the plane.
(c) It is a beautiful route with a lot of scenic diversity, between coast, estuaries, fields, forests and vineyards.
(d) It has some elevation to it, enough to make you feel accomplished, but overall the path is not a difficult one.
(e) Betanzos, a mideaval town roughly in the middle of the walk, is beautiful.
(f) It has enough people to walk with, but not too many. You can be amongst other pilgrims but also walk in solitude quite easily.

 

[Melcro1218]

Thanks for your response.
We are leaning toward walking from Vigo to Santiago. While getting the certificate is not our primary goal, it would be nice to have it. The issue with starting in Vigo is finding transportation from either Lisbon or Madrid, where we will be flying in to (we can get a direct flight from Montreal).
Also, we’re hoping this section of the trail isn’t too crowded the end of April/early May.

 

[Melcro1218]

If it is your first Camino and you will be walking for only 5 or so days (as suggests your option of Vigo to SdC), I'd like to suggest you consider the Camino Ingles, which I've become a huge fan of as a "first" camino, for the following reasons (among others):

(a) It ends in SdC -- that's what the Camino is about
(b) It is a "full" Camino, meaning you will start where everyone else walking the path starts. This creates a sense of community that is somewhat lost if you start a different route someplace in the middle; there's definitely a distinction in experiences when you have people who have been walking for 25 days while others are fresh off the plane.
(c) It is a beautiful route with a lot of scenic diversity, between coast, estuaries, fields, forests and vineyards.
(d) It has some elevation to it, enough to make you feel accomplished, but overall the path is not a difficult one.
(e) Betanzos, a mideaval town roughly in the middle of the walk, is beautiful.
(f) It has enough people to walk with, but not too many. You can be amongst other pilgrims but also walk in solitude quite easily.

Wow! Thank you for this suggestion! We will definitely consider it. So many options to choose from.
Again, huge thank you!

 

[Melcro1218]

Oops … see my response below.

 

[Melcro1218]

In order to obtain tailored advice, you need to specify your desired goal.

Do you want a Compostela or Pilgrims Office distance certificate?

Then arrive in Santiago after walking a minimum of 100km on foot and getting a minimum two stamps/day.

Re Fatima, may the forum please correct me, but I don't think Fatima is a stop on a recognized Camino Route. I believe the route to Fatima shares with the Camino Route (s) , but diverges before Fatima.

You’re correct about the Fatima route.

 

[Melcro1218]

There are several well established and recognized caminho routes to Fatima, some that follow the same paths as the Camino Portuguese route for at least part of the way. As @dbier suggests, these routes will diverge at some point from the Camino Portuguese route.

I wasn't inspired by arriving in Fatima in the same way as I have been arriving in SDC. I think it would be more meaningful to someone who walked and then participated in the full range of religious services as well as visiting the various parts of the shrine. Unless you are deeply invested in the Marian traditions, I would suggest walking to Santiago as a first pilgrimage.

Thank you! Sounds like SDC is the way to go!

 

[Melcro1218]

Wow! Thank you for this suggestion! We will definitely consider it. So many options to choose from.
Again, huge thank you!

I meant to ask: is it possible to break up the mileage? We don’t want to walk more than 20km a day. And we have the time to go at this pace.
Again, thank you!

 

[ShoshTrvls]

I meant to ask: is it possible to break up the mileage? We don’t want to walk more than 20km a day. And we have the time to go at this pace.
Again, thank you!

Yes, definitely. For example, many people split the first stage into two days, stopping at Neda. The next two stages (to Pontedueme and then the Betanzos) are both under or about 20 km. And there are several ways to split up the rest.

 

[dougfitz]

The issue with starting in Vigo is finding transportation from either Lisbon or Madrid, where we will be flying in to (we can get a direct flight from Montreal).

This shouldn't be too difficult from Lisbon. There are a range of services from Santa Apolonia or Oriente, the stations in Lisbon, through to Porto, and then another service from Campanha (Porto) to Vigo. When I took that service, it arrived an hour or so late. I don't recall what the delay was, other than it seemed to be on time until the stop in Portugal before Tui (where it doesn't stop) but got slower after that.

In addition, there are regular bus services going north from Lisbon, to or through Campanha and then onto Vigo and other places in Spain.

 

[Melcro1218]

This shouldn't be too difficult from Lisbon. There are a range of services from Santa Apolonia or Oriente, the stations in Lisbon, through to Porto, and then another service from Campanha (Porto) to Vigo. When I took that service, it arrived an hour or so late. I don't recall what the delay was, other than it seemed to be on time until the stop in Portugal before Tui (where it doesn't stop) but got slower after that.

In addition, there are regular bus services going north from Lisbon, to or through Campanha and then onto Vigo and other places in Spain.

Great! Good to know all this.
Thank you!