Camino on a Wheelchair

[Dna]

Do you have any advices for the Coast Portuguese Camino on a wheelchair? Is it "possible"? Do you know any wheelchair adapted albergues? I am doing with a friend on a wheelchair next month, starting in Baiona. If you have any tips I will be very appreciate. Thank you. Regards

 

[Former member 49149]

Welcome to the forum, and I wish you and your friend bom caminho. I have no advice to offer, I am sorry, as I have no experience of the route you hope to take. Someone will surely comment who has the experience.

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Do you have any advices for the Coast Portuguese Camino on a wheelchair? Is it "possible"? Do you know any wheelchair adapted albergues? I am doing with a friend on a wheelchair next month, starting in Baiona. If you have any tips I will be very appreciate. Thank you. Regards

I don't know about the Portuguese but some of the albergues on the Frances advertise their accessible facilities. I couldn't tell you which ones as it's not top of my agenda.

 

[lt56ny]

Hi and buen camino. I do not know if any of the sites such as Gronze.com or the apps or books mention albergues that are wheelchair accessible. I have not walked the coastal camino so I can not say for sure. But looking at some of the photos on Gronze it does not appear that way. I have walked 5 caminos and I can't remember ever seeing a wheelchair accessible albergue off the top of my head. I would tend to doubt there are many. So many albergues are on multiple levels, never have elevators, have cramped quarters, etc.
I did check on Booking.com and you can sort by "facilities for disabled guests", "wheelchair accessible" and "entire unit wheelchair accessable". This may be your best option but of course the most expensive one also.
I couldn't find anything either on a brief Google search but found this article with a few very good tips.

Disabled Holidays in Spain | Accessible Holidays

We offer accessible holidays to the historic, atmospheric and bewilderingly diverse Spain, a sun-worshipper's paradise.

www.limitlesstravel.org

Good luck

 

[Molly Cassidy]

Hi and buen camino. I do not know if any of the sites such as Gronze.com or the apps or books mention albergues that are wheelchair accessible. I have not walked the coastal camino so I can not say for sure. But looking at some of the photos on Gronze it does not appear that way. I have walked 5 caminos and I can't remember ever seeing a wheelchair accessible albergue off the top of my head. I would tend to doubt there are many. So many albergues are on multiple levels, never have elevators, have cramped quarters, etc.
I did check on Booking.com and you can sort by "facilities for disabled guests", "wheelchair accessible" and "entire unit wheelchair accessable". This may be your best option but of course the most expensive one also.
I couldn't find anything either on a brief Google search but found this article with a few very good tips.

Disabled Holidays in Spain | Accessible Holidays

We offer accessible holidays to the historic, atmospheric and bewilderingly diverse Spain, a sun-worshipper's paradise.

www.limitlesstravel.org

Good luck

This is the site I've been using.

Albergues del Camino Francés :: Guía del Camino de Santiago

Guía de albergues para peregrinos del Camino Francés con todos los datos del albergue: contacto, plazas, precios, apertura, reservas, etc

www.alberguescaminosantiago.com

You can't search for facilities but if you read the descriptions/lists of facilities some do say they have accessible facilities.

 

[Elle Bieling]

Oh my! Good luck to you and your friend. I have no experience with wheelchairs on the Coastal Route, but I DO have experience on the Central Route. We met up with a young woman in a wheelchair a day out of Porto, in Vilarinho. We stayed with her for many days, and it took a team of men to get her through. Often she would just map out her own route along the highways, but several times we took turns pushing/pulling her through sections that she would not have chosen, had we not volunteered to bring her with us. You can read our story, starting on our day sixteen. I think the info will be useful. She was able to do very short distance walking, so she could stay anywhere, fortunately.

I have also walked the Coastal/Senda Litoral, but without a wheelchair person. There are lots of boardwalks to make it easier, albeit a bit rattly. You can see the many photos, starting here to get an idea of each of our day's journey and what the terrain looked like. I particularly recall on our day twenty, having to climb up and over a mountain pass, but that could be avoided by continuing on the road to Baiona. Oops, I see you are starting in Baiona so that won't matter!

You would have to look at each day's route and determine what would be best, based on how much you had to assist the person in the chair. We also found that many, many fellow pilgrims were willing to help push our friend if/when we got in a jam!

Good luck to you and buen camino! ~ Elle

 

[Elle Bieling]

Hello again @Dna. After cruising through my photos, there will be some off-road sections that will be tricky for a person in a chair, especially on our day twenty-two, just after Arcade. Steep section on old Roman roads may require a look for an alternative!

 

[lt56ny]

This is the site I've been using.

Albergues del Camino Francés :: Guía del Camino de Santiago

Guía de albergues para peregrinos del Camino Francés con todos los datos del albergue: contacto, plazas, precios, apertura, reservas, etc

www.alberguescaminosantiago.com

You can't search for facilities but if you read the descriptions/lists of facilities some do say they have accessible facilities.

Good luck

 

[trecile]

The group who made the film I'll Push You are organizing a group wheelchair Camino.

I'll Push You: Accessible Camino 2020 Group Trip

Do you live with limited mobility and would like to walk/roll the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain? Then join us on our accessible Camino 2020 group trip!

www.illpushyou.com

 

[wjohnk]

I walked Baiona to SdC last September. Most of the route was wheelchair possible. There is a forest path about 13Km from Baiona which could prove difficult. From memory the Vinotel 7 uevas in Nigran would be wheelchair friendly. It is 200m from the Camino. I would contact the (very helpful) Tourist Office in Baiona for advice - and other tourist offices along the route for advice. Everyone on the route was friendly and helpful and fellow pilgrims are sure to help push the wheelchair up hills.

 

[Dna]

Welcome to the forum, and I wish you and your friend bom caminho. I have no advice to offer, I am sorry, as I have no experience of the route you hope to take. Someone will surely comment who has the experience.

Thank you very much.

 

[Mariy]

A part of the trail after Arcade is going uphill on large boulders which would be very difficult to maneuver with a wheelchair. I personally didn't encounter anyone on a wheelchair during my Camino but I did encounter a man pulling/pushing a cart with camping equipment. Pilgrims were very helpful lending him a hand.

 

[Walking Lover]

Do you have any advices for the Coast Portuguese Camino on a wheelchair? Is it "possible"? Do you know any wheelchair adapted albergues? I am doing with a friend on a wheelchair next month, starting in Baiona. If you have any tips I will be very appreciate. Thank you. Regards

I would stick to the Coastal. It will be flatter. Where are you starting?

 

[Susan Peacock]

My advice comes not from walking the coastal route but from being part of a team pushing/pulling a young man in a special trekking chair on the Camino Frances. Whatever the route you take, you will need a team and/or a committed Camino family. This is certainly a rewarding and wonderful experience that I will be repeating this summer. However, it will be difficult for one person. If you intend to get help along the way, I would probably go on the central route with more pilgrims and more potential volunteers. Be sure to take ropes to help with pulling uphill and to keep the chair from running away on the downhill. Also be prepared with a contingency plan for any chair repairs and/or injuries from the pusher. THIS IS POSSIBLE AND AWESOME with some planning.

 

[alipilgrim]

Luis O'Freixo's website http://www.caminador.es/ shows paths that are wheelchair accessible, mainly the Senda Litoral from Porto north. The website is only in Spanish and I find it a bit hard to navigate, but eventually you can find .pdf's of the whole route in great detail. I've attached a screenshot of the first day out of Porto...

 

[Bala]

The group who made the film I'll Push You are organizing a group wheelchair Camino.

I'll Push You: Accessible Camino 2020 Group Trip

Do you live with limited mobility and would like to walk/roll the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage in Spain? Then join us on our accessible Camino 2020 group trip!

www.illpushyou.com

Thanks for this link. My niece is in a wheelchair and loves to travel. I will send the info to her. This year is already committed, but if they offer this again I will strongly encourage her to go. Who knows, maybe I could accompany her.

 

[MarkN]

Perhaps consider checking out the available Camino biking maps and apps?
There are a few very tough to walk sections that the bikers already found a route for that may be a solution for you?