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15 days on the Camino Portugues

Sarit O

New Member
Time of past OR future Camino
The French way in 2016
Plan to walk the camino Portuguese on Sep 2018
Hi,
I would appreciate your advise - I intend to start my camino on Sep 24th, I have only 15 days. This time I prefer to concentrate in Portugal only. Unfortunately I don't have enough time to walk all the way, so I will not cross the border to Spain (I already did the camino Frances and the Finisterra last year). The question is where to start and and if there are stages that you recommend me not to miss. thank you! Sarit
 
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Dear Sarit

Fifteen days is more than enough to go from Porto to Santiago, if you are interested. It usually takes 10-12 days to do that. I did that trail last year and it was gorgeous.
Depending on how fast you walk, you can go start even before, in Coimbra, and still get to Santiago in 15 days, but it would require some long days.

In case you indeed want to stay only in Portugal, you can opt for start in Coimbra and stop at Valença, at the border, and you will have plenty of time to explore the cities. Or start in Tomar, but the trails before Porto are not that well marked, and the further you start (i.e. near Lisbon), the less structure it has.

Take a look at Gronze, with suggestion of staged all the way between Lisbon and Santiago: https://www.gronze.com/camino-portugues
 
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I think you have plenty of time to make it to Santiago. I just finished from Porto to Santiago in 12 days. With your 15 it definitely gives you time to split the long days up.

I loved my time in Portugal. You can start before Porto; maybe even take time to go to Fatima.
 
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I'm leaving to walk from Porto on the 13th of September and have a new knee injury. Is there any specific section you can think of that was particularly difficult? We are planning to walk the Coast for a few days, then go inland. Would appreciate any help.
 
I walked the coast to Vila do Conde then cut over to the central the next day. The stage from Ponte de Lima to Rubiães was a tough one for me. Ibuprofen and caffeine powered me through that day.


 
While for sure you would have plenty of time to walk from Porto to Santiago, as many have mentioned, I hear you when you say that you want to limit your walk to Portugal. I'll respect that decision (pausing only to mention that the Spanish part of the CP takes you through different towns and different parts of Galicia - including Padron, so important to St. James' story - than the CF does, so that, were you to continue into Spain, you wouldn't be covering old territory until you actually arrived in SdC, the putative goal for any Camino).

It, of course, depends on how far you want to walk each day. I might walk from Coimbra to Valenca (on the border with Spain). The Village by Village guide puts that at 11 days, so that gives you a few days in case of injury or in case you don't like to walk quite so far in a day. If things are going well, you could spend a rest day or two in Porto. I always like to give myself more time than I think is necessary rather than rush my Camino to catch a plane. Coimbra is also a really easy place to get to to start your Camino.
 
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jcruz1027 said:
I walked the coast to Vila do Conde then cut over to the central the next day. The stage from Ponte de Lima to Rubiães was a tough one for me. Ibuprofen and caffeine powered me through that day.
Click to expand...
Thank you @jcruz1027 ...I've heard the same of that stretch...with that confirmed, I'll need to make a Plan B for that section. Thank you again.
 
Sarit,
I think the advice from Jcruzz is spot on - you should easily be able to walk from Porto to SDC in your time frame - I did the Central last year starting from the beautiful town of Ponte de Lima and 7 days and 152Km's later I was in SDC and took in some great spots along the way (Valenca / Tui* / Pontevedra/Padron) not to mention great scenery, food and Vinho Verde
(Agree also Ponte de Lima to Rubiães was a tough start but it was all down hill after that (metaphorically of course))

* The momentum of people really starts to build up after Tui with the volume of walkers - busy but not uncomfortably busy

As per Jcruzz maybe start one or two stages south of Vila do Conde then cut across to Ponte de Lima to take up the central into SDC OR if staying in Portugal is a total prerequisite David Tallan's suggestion of Coimbra to Valenca sound good (I can't vouch for the stage timings)

Gronze let's you get a sense of the stages / towns very easily: https://www.gronze.com/camino-portugues#localidad-2765
 
Last year we walked from Lisbon to SdC via Porto and the coastal route via Vila do Conde, Esposende, Viana Do Castelo, Caminha taking the ferry to A Guarda, then to Mougas, Baiona, Vigo, Redondela, Pontevedra, Caldas de Rais and Padron before SdC.

This route has lots of delightful boardwalks along the coast and wasn't too hilly for want of a better word.

There are plenty of interesting places where you could include a rest day or two rest days along the way, or you could include short stages sometimes as well. You could make your Camino on this occasion, a knee friendly slow one and take the time to smell the flowers, explore the colourful stones on the beaches, or just take in the sea views now and again.

It was also interesting to experience the differences between Portugal and Spain.

Mind you, we walked in October and were fortunate enough to be a day ahead of last year's terrible Portugal and Spanish wildfires. Why the enormous eucalyptus plantations is beyond me - but that is not a topic for this forum!

You will be spoilt for delightful choices!

Edit: PS - those beachside boardwalks are wonderful to walk on when dry. We didn't get any wet weather but someone told us they can be slippery when wet. We always walk using poles with rubber tips. Helps to prevent slips and falls.
 
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You are welcome. Basically, whatever route you eventually decide on; will be a wonderful time. I miss it all so much already. Buen Camino!

KJFSophie said:
Thank you @jcruz1027 ...I've heard the same of that stretch...with that confirmed, I'll need to make a Plan B for that section. Thank you again.
Click to expand...
 
If you are deciding between the Coastal or the Central, which are both doable in 15 days, you might be interested in my travelogue of our journeys on both! Or you could do the route from Lisbon to Porto. That is also doable in 15 days, with a stopover in either Tomar or Coimbra. The days prior to Porto are long and less traveled and an altogether different experience. If you pay attention, the waymarks are all there and with my information, you will not get lost! Click here if you want to see how we did it all: The Many Ways on the Camino Portugues.
 
Start in Porto and walk the river then along the Atlantic. It is fabulous. I did it in May and June 2017. I walked what is called the Senda Litoral and the Coastal route and Litoral sometimes cross each other. The coastal towns are lovely and food is great. There are good guides accessible through the net.
 
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Hi Anamaya,

I have to disagree with you on something. I’ve never had any problems with signage or places to eat or stay when starting from Lisbon.

Jon
 
I started in Lisbon in March 2017. Never had any trouble finding my way, trail was well marked. If you don't care about finishing in Santiago, I'd suggest you start in Lisbon and walk for 15 days. Whatever you are on day 15 is where you can start again another time. Portugal is wonderful, great food, friendly people. I enjoyed it so much more than when I walked the Francis.
 
We (age 58 and 61) did Porto to SdC in 12 days!
 
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Hi All, Thank you very much for your comprehensive answers! I appreciate your advice, and probably I'll planning the first week of October (I hope the weather will be ok ) .
Finally I've decided to take the camino from Porto to Santiago and I'll think I'll have around 12 days...
thank you again!!
 
I'll be heading out of Porto October 1. Maybe I'll see you. Bom Caminho!
 
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