Advice for starting point near the border (Tui/A Guarda/Caminha)?

[Olga_O]

Hi all!
I'm planning my first Camino this April. I want to go costal route and go as much way along the ocean as possible. But I have some limitation, so I will not start from Portu and look for some point a little bit closer to Santiago.
I would be grateful for any advice about starting point and information on how to get there better.

Now i think about flying to Vigo and taking bus to A Guarda to start there.
But it will also be OK to start one or two segments closer or further. It may have sense if there is a good transpotration from any international airport, for example by train (even if it is a long way it is OK).

One more limitation i have: some heavy luggage I will need to send directly to Santiago from somewhere on my way before camino starts. And as i can understand now it will be more convinient to travel trough Spain and use Sapnish post

Thank you for any advice

 

[Deleted member 73526]

Where are you starting from? Moscow?

 

[Olga_O]

Where are you starting from? Moscow?

Yes, but it does not matter actually. I can plan any kind of route trough Europe to get there. Not limited by time.

 

[Former member 22438]

In Spain you easily can forward your luggage from a postoffice ( correos ) to e.g. Ivar, owner of his forum. There are many threads about this matter on this forum

You could start in A Guarda or Tui.
Collect your first stamp on your credential and collect two stamps a day to be shure you can apply for your Compostela document once you are in Santiago.
Condition is that you walked the last one hundred kms to Santiago and two stamps a day.
Both A Guarda and Tui will do. a Guarda is even more than 100 kms away.
Tui is the starting of lots of pilgrims, mostly from Spain.
From A Guarda it is very quiet untill you will reach Redondela where the Coastal caminho joins the Central Portuguese caminho.
You do not tell where you fly into . If it is Porto you could take the ALSA bus from Porto (Stop Casa da Música) to Vigo and then take the bus to A Guarda

To Tui you can take the train from Porto to Valença do Minho and the advantage is that you have a nice walk through the Valença fortress and a beautifull view over the Minho river and Tui in the distance and as a bonus the walk over the famous bridge , built by George Eiffel, also welknown from the Paris Eiffel tower.

Bom caminho

 

[Mike Molloy]

Hi,
I'm doing something similar, I fly into Porto Airport and then catch the 9.00am Andrade express bus

PT

www.andradeexpressturismo.com

from Porto airport to Caminha, just across the border from Spain. Ferry over to A Guarda.
Then start my pilgrimage to SDC
I believe the bus carries on to Tui, but not sure
Hope this gives you another travel option
Mike

 

[Mark Francis Auchincloss]

You can start from Baiona which is 130 km from Santiago. A Guarda is 165km away. There's a good bus service from Vigo to Baiona see http://www.atsahorarios.com/