sommerjule
New Member
Hi everyone,
I went on a short coastal Camino Portugues in March with my 11 year old son and wanted to share some of my experiences here.
We walked a very small part of the Camino. We started March 13 in Póvoa de Varzim and finished in Vila Nova de Conde March 22. It was more to try out walking together than a „full“ pilgrimage.
We did short stages between 10-15 km daily, with some detours.
I booked all accommodation before, because when was walking last year on the Camino Central in April, the albergues and private places would fill up quickly and I wanted us to be able to take our time. None of the places we stayed at was full in March, while we were there this year. Still, I enjoyed the safety of the pre-booking.
Of all the accommodations, I can highly recommend CMB guesthouse in Apúlia. Very nice clean room, rooftop terrace, kitchen to use and with breakfast for 40 euros for two persons.
The week that we walked, the weather was great. My son really enjoyed the parts of the Camino along the beach and spent time playing on the beach, so we were really slow, which was fine. It is different than walking alone, of course, because I adapted to his rhythm of walking instead of at my own pace.
On the warmer days (25degrees and more) my son would heat up really quickly. So it was good that we had not too many kilometers to walk and could take a lot of breaks.
The infrastructure is, as many here wrote before, really good. If there was no cafe, there was a supermarket where we could find food and cold drinks. the picture above is from the parking lot at the church at Castelo da Neiva, (the only place with shade). We did a short detour to a supermarket for emergency ice tea and crips ;-)
We both enjoyed the great Portuguese pastry at the many cafes along the way. And the friendliness of the Portuguese people. My son got to try out some of English that he learns at school.
Overall, walking together was a great experience and we might come back when he is a littler older and do the full way or the rest of the way that we did not walk this year.
I went on a short coastal Camino Portugues in March with my 11 year old son and wanted to share some of my experiences here.
We walked a very small part of the Camino. We started March 13 in Póvoa de Varzim and finished in Vila Nova de Conde March 22. It was more to try out walking together than a „full“ pilgrimage.
We did short stages between 10-15 km daily, with some detours.
I booked all accommodation before, because when was walking last year on the Camino Central in April, the albergues and private places would fill up quickly and I wanted us to be able to take our time. None of the places we stayed at was full in March, while we were there this year. Still, I enjoyed the safety of the pre-booking.
Of all the accommodations, I can highly recommend CMB guesthouse in Apúlia. Very nice clean room, rooftop terrace, kitchen to use and with breakfast for 40 euros for two persons.
The week that we walked, the weather was great. My son really enjoyed the parts of the Camino along the beach and spent time playing on the beach, so we were really slow, which was fine. It is different than walking alone, of course, because I adapted to his rhythm of walking instead of at my own pace.
On the warmer days (25degrees and more) my son would heat up really quickly. So it was good that we had not too many kilometers to walk and could take a lot of breaks.
The infrastructure is, as many here wrote before, really good. If there was no cafe, there was a supermarket where we could find food and cold drinks. the picture above is from the parking lot at the church at Castelo da Neiva, (the only place with shade). We did a short detour to a supermarket for emergency ice tea and crips ;-)
We both enjoyed the great Portuguese pastry at the many cafes along the way. And the friendliness of the Portuguese people. My son got to try out some of English that he learns at school.
Overall, walking together was a great experience and we might come back when he is a littler older and do the full way or the rest of the way that we did not walk this year.
. Time well spent in making memories that will last, thank you for the recounting.
