Central vs Interior

[JillGat]

I see comparisons between the Central and Coastal Camino routes through Portugal. But now I see there is a third; the Interior. Is that an option from Porto? In what ways is the Interior different than the Central? Less pavement, by any chance?

 

[KinkyOne]

I see comparisons between the Central and Coastal Camino routes through Portugal. But now I see there is a third; the Interior. Is that an option from Porto? In what ways is the Interior different than the Central? Less pavement, by any chance?

Here you can see all the Camin(h)os in Portugal just have to zoom in:

Visualizador de los Caminos de Santiago en Europa del IGN

Visualizador de cartografía de los Caminos de Santiago en Europa creado por el Instituto Geográfico Nacional y el Centro Nacional de Información Geográfica con la colaboración de la Federación de Asociaciones de Amigos del Camino de Santiago.

nco.ign.es

There are at lest three,coastal, interior and central.

 

[Former member 22438]

I see comparisons between the Central and Coastal Camino routes through Portugal. But now I see there is a third; the Interior. Is that an option from Porto? In what ways is the Interior different than the Central? Less pavement, by any chance?

Yes you can go from Porto to the Caminho Português Interior.
Take the train to Coimbra and take the bus to Farminhão north west of Coimbra where the Interior starts. There are several buses a day except on Sundays Also more north west you can pick up the route e.g. In Viseu or even in the far northwest in Chaves . There is a direct bus from Porto to Viseu.
The stages are longer .
The landscape is beautiful . You will encounter lot of ascending and descending terrain in a remote area.
The Interior leads to Ourense in Spain where it hits the Via de la Plata which comes from the far south of Spain.

Bom caminho

 

[JillGat]

What a great map! I could spend the rest of the day looking at that. Looks like four options, walking out of Porto. Does Brierly's guide talk about the Central and the Interior? I would like to avoid all the cobblestones/tarmac I keep hearing about in Portugal.

 

[David Tallan]

I tend to think of the Interior as the fourth, from the seashore inwards you have: (1) Senda Litoral, (2) Coastal, (3) Central, (4) Interior. The Interior seems to be much the least walked of the four, and isn't described in any of the published English-language guidebooks I'm aware of. It is likely to be a much more solitary camino. I also think it is more mountainous. It doesn't connect to Porto as the other three do but passes by to the east. So you will need to take transit to get there, as Albertinho describes. If you are taking the Interior you are unlikely to start walking from Porto as you can with the other three.

 

[Former member 22438]

I tend to think of the Interior as the fourth, from the seashore inwards you have: (1) Senda Litoral, (2) Coastal, (3) Central, (4) Interior. The Interior seems to be much the least walked of the four, and isn't described in any of the published English-language guidebooks I'm aware of. It is likely to be a much more solitary camino. I also think it is more mountainous. It doesn't connect to Porto as the other three do but passes by to the east. So you will need to take transit to get there, as Albertinho describes. If you are taking the Interior you are unlikely to start walking from Porto as you can with the other three.

I do understand the misunderstanding from many posters -it is a misunderstanding as long as I am on this forum (since beginning of 2013)
Walking along the coast is one thing. You have water at your left side. Once you arrive in Vila do Conde you can choose to go away from the coast to the inland caminho. So you will go to the "interior " caminho but this caminho is called the Central caminho ! and that is the confiusion. Because there exists a real "interior caminho " in Portugal, as been said not starting from Porto but in a totaly different part at the east side of Portugal i n a beautiful but remote area by the way.
Hope this is the last post about this item.
Bom caminho

 

[JillGat]

I do understand the misunderstanding from many posters -it is a misunderstanding as long as I am on this forum (since beginning of 2013)
Walking along the coast is one thing. You have water at your left side. Once you arrive in Vila do Conde you can choose to go away from the coast to the inland caminho. So you will go to the "interior " caminho but this caminho is called the Central caminho ! and that is the confiusion. Because there exists a real "interior caminho " in Portugal, as been said not starting from Porto but in a totaly different part at the east side of Portugal i n a beautiful but remote area by the way.
Hope this is the last post about this item.
Bom caminho

Except that the "coastal" Camino doesn't actually follow the shore.. that's the senda litoral, of course.

 

[Former member 22438]

Except that the "coastal" Camino doesn't actually follow the shore.. that's the senda litoral, of course.

Amen

 

[surya8]

I've walked all 3 of them, so if you really looking for solitude and hills then there is Interior for you. The one that starts in Viseu/Farminhao, and that I wouldn't probably recommend for a first-timer, it has almost no pavement but has other things The one that has more tarmack is the one between Lisbon and Porto, especially after Coimbra so you'll be fine starting from Porto, there is much less asphalt there. The central one from Porto is a mix of different roads, as well as Senda Litoral or Coastal. Coastal is a bit hilly - the thing that I didn't expect. Coastal is for the views, the Central one - for the people - that was for me as least.

 

[Aurigny]

I walked the CPI two years ago, and blogged about it in this forum. It took me fourteen days, exerting myself fairly hard. Of the five different pilgrimage routes I've covered (Francés, Primitivo, Portugues Central, Portugues Coastal and Interior), I'd say the CPI is by far the most challenging.