From Santiago to Lisbon

[Fr. Tom]

Hello! I will finish the Norte to Santiago in the summer of 2023 (having diverted to the Primitivo in 2012). I'd like to continue to Lisbon on the "Portuguese" via the costal route. Can anyone comment on the signposting? Decent? I can always just keep the "pool" on my right and head south; however, I welcome the wisdom of experienced pilgrims! Thanks! Peace, Fr. Tom (Anchorage, AK).

 

[dougfitz]

Fr Tom, there are a few members who have travelled a route backwards successfully, so take heart that it is possible. If you are relying on the waymarks, in most places this works well going forward, but when you do find one when going the other way, it might not always be obvious where they were expecting someone to come from to get to it.

You might want to use a GPS app that will do that. Most general purpose GPS apps like OSMAnd can reverse a track for you to follow, or you could use something like the Wise Pilgrim app and follow the track backwards.

Once you get past Porto, it will be possible to follow the waymarking of the Fatima routes for a while, but if you want to follow the Camino Portuguese route, you will need to take care where different Fatima routes head off. Once you get south of Cortico, I don't recall there being another point before Tomar where you would need to be careful.

There are then Fatima routes from Tomar and then Santarem, when you would be following both routes backwards,

Good luck.

 

[mspath]

Fr. Tom,

I certainly agree with all the useful tips cited above by dougfitz. However I have found going backwards rather confusing.

December 2011 after completing my 7th CF and continuing to Finisterre I then walked to the Portuguese border at Tui/Valença do Minho to join my husband, for a holiday. This involved going backward down the Camino Portuguese from Santiago and not up the CP to Santiago.



To go backward was more complicated than you might think; searching for the painted yellow arrows pointing opposite my direction was not easy.
Viewed backwards the arrows resembled anchors. In reverse of the norm I needed to walk from the arrow tip up the shaft. Thus it all was a bit of an unending treasure hunt!

Whenever/wherever/however you go Buen camino!

 

[La Rubia]

Actually, the first part is easy - follow the blue arrows towards Fatima (yellow arrows will be pointing to Santiago as you go). You can go all the way to Fatima and then figure out how get yourself back on the Portuguese, or continue following the yellow arrows backwards one the two paths diverge. Third option is to go backwards on the Caminho de Fatima all the way to Estoril, which is then an easy day's walk along the coast/Tagus River to Lisbon.

 

[dougfitz]

Actually, the first part is easy - follow the blue arrows towards Fatima (yellow arrows will be pointing to Santiago as you go). You can go all the way to Fatima and then figure out how get yourself back on the Portuguese, or continue following the yellow arrows backwards one the two paths diverge. Third option is to go backwards on the Caminho de Fatima all the way to Estoril, which is then an easy day's walk along the coast/Tagus River to Lisbon.

@Fr. Tom has said he wants to walk from Santiago, and use the CP coastal route. My understanding is that this would mean not picking up a Fatima walking route before reaching Porto. I realise that there are other routes leading to Fatima, not just those listed here, but I wasn't aware that there was one aligned on the CP Coastal route north of Porto.

This year, my observation was that the Fatima waymarking stopped at Valenca. I don't recall seeing any blue arrows after there. Perhaps I wasn't looking for them any longer, and didn't see them.

 

[Marcus-UK]

Hello! I will finish the Norte to Santiago in the summer of 2023 (having diverted to the Primitivo in 2012). I'd like to continue to Lisbon on the "Portuguese" via the costal route. Can anyone comment on the signposting? Decent? I can always just keep the "pool" on my right and head south; however, I welcome the wisdom of experienced pilgrims! Thanks! Peace, Fr. Tom (Anchorage, AK).

The Coastal Route from Porto is a nice route. However from the comments I have reviewed about the Caminho Portuguese route from Lisbon to Porto indicate that it is not well sign posted in the normal direction and much of it is not very nice with a scarcity of Albergues!

You may be able to find GPS routing on Wikilioc

Luis Freixo has good maps and information on the coastal route

O´Luis do Freixo | OS CAMINHOS CARA A SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

 

[Fr. Tom]

The Coastal Route from Porto is a nice route. However from the comments I have reviewed about the Caminho Portuguese route from Lisbon to Porto indicate that it is not well sign posted in the normal direction and much of it is not very nice with a scarcity of Albergues!

You may be able to find GPS routing on Wikilioc

Luis Freixo has good maps and information on the coastal route

O´Luis do Freixo | OS CAMINHOS CARA A SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA

Thank you, Marcus! I appreciate the quick response. -- Fr. Tom

 

[Fr. Tom]

@Fr. Tom has said he wants to walk from Santiago, and use the CP coastal route. My understanding is that this would mean not picking up a Fatima walking route before reaching Porto. I realise that there are other routes leading to Fatima, not just those listed here, but I wasn't aware that there was one aligned on the CP Coastal route north of Porto.

This year, my observation was that the Fatima waymarking stopped at Valenca. I don't recall seeing any blue arrows after there. Perhaps I wasn't looking for them any longer, and didn't see them.

Thank you, Dougfitz. I won't be travelling to Fatima this time around as I'll be meeting a group of kids from Anchorage in Lisbon for World Youth Day with Pope Francis. I appreciate your wisdom and advice. Blessings on your day! -- Fr. Tom

 

[Fr. Tom]

@Fr. Tom has said he wants to walk from Santiago, and use the CP coastal route. My understanding is that this would mean not picking up a Fatima walking route before reaching Porto. I realise that there are other routes leading to Fatima, not just those listed here, but I wasn't aware that there was one aligned on the CP Coastal route north of Porto.

This year, my observation was that the Fatima waymarking stopped at Valenca. I don't recall seeing any blue arrows after there. Perhaps I wasn't looking for them any longer, and didn't see them.

Actually, the first part is easy - follow the blue arrows towards Fatima (yellow arrows will be pointing to Santiago as you go). You can go all the way to Fatima and then figure out how get yourself back on the Portuguese, or continue following the yellow arrows backwards one the two paths diverge. Third option is to go backwards on the Caminho de Fatima all the way to Estoril, which is then an easy day's walk along the coast/Tagus River to Lisbon.

Thank you, La Rubia, for your gracious reply. I appreciate you taking the time to answer my question. Have a great day! -- Fr. Tom

 

[Fr. Tom]

Fr. Tom,

I certainly agree with all the useful tips cited above by dougfitz. However I have found going backwards rather confusing.

December 2011 after completing my 7th CF and continuing to Finisterre I then walked to the Portuguese border at Tui/Valença do Minho to join my husband, for a holiday. This involved going backward down the Camino Portuguese from Santiago and not up the CP to Santiago.



To go backward was more complicated than you might think; searching for the painted yellow arrows pointing opposite my direction was not easy.
Viewed backwards the arrows resembled anchors. In reverse of the norm I needed to walk from the arrow tip up the shaft. Thus it all was a bit of an unending treasure hunt!

Whenever/wherever/however you go Buen camino!

 

[Fr. Tom]

Mspath,

Thanks so much for your thoughtful advice! I'll take into account what you have offered and then offer the trip to the Holy Spirit! We'll see what happens. Peace, Fr. Tom

 

[Fr. Tom]

Fr Tom, there are a few members who have travelled a route backwards successfully, so take heart that it is possible. If you are relying on the waymarks, in most places this works well going forward, but when you do find one when going the other way, it might not always be obvious where they were expecting someone to come from to get to it.

You might want to use a GPS app that will do that. Most general purpose GPS apps like OSMAnd can reverse a track for you to follow, or you could use something like the Wise Pilgrim app and follow the track backwards.

Once you get past Porto, it will be possible to follow the waymarking of the Fatima routes for a while, but if you want to follow the Camino Portuguese route, you will need to take care where different Fatima routes head off. Once you get south of Cortico, I don't recall there being another point before Tomar where you would need to be careful.

There are then Fatima routes from Tomar and then Santarem, when you would be following both routes backwards,

Good luck.

 

[Fr. Tom]

Fr Tom, there are a few members who have travelled a route backwards successfully, so take heart that it is possible. If you are relying on the waymarks, in most places this works well going forward, but when you do find one when going the other way, it might not always be obvious where they were expecting someone to come from to get to it.

You might want to use a GPS app that will do that. Most general purpose GPS apps like OSMAnd can reverse a track for you to follow, or you could use something like the Wise Pilgrim app and follow the track backwards.

Once you get past Porto, it will be possible to follow the waymarking of the Fatima routes for a while, but if you want to follow the Camino Portuguese route, you will need to take care where different Fatima routes head off. Once you get south of Cortico, I don't recall there being another point before Tomar where you would need to be careful.

There are then Fatima routes from Tomar and then Santarem, when you would be following both routes backwards,

Good luck.

Thank you, Dougfitz, for your helpful advice regarding GPS apps. This is good avice and I'll check them out. The wonders of modern technology! Peace and all good things! -- Fr. Tom

 

[dougfitz]

However from the comments I have reviewed about the Caminho Portuguese route from Lisbon to Porto indicate that it is not well sign posted in the normal direction and much of it is not very nice with a scarcity of Albergues!

@Marcus-UK, I walked the CP this year, and my experience was quite different to this. It has a different feel south of Porto, but I never thought of it as not being 'nice', whatever that might mean. I walked Lisbon-Fatima and then Tomar-Santiago. The waymarking was more than adequate, including the sections from Lisbon to Porto. More, there appeared to be sufficient waymarking of the Fatima routes going south, although clearly I wasn't trying to follow these.

On accommodation, I had some more difficulty on the Caminho do Tejo from Santarem to Fatima, but otherwise was generally able to find suitable accommodation to meet my target daily distance of around 20 km. I did a few longer days, but it was manageable. Not everywhere I wanted to stay had an albergue, or an albergue with beds available, so I stayed in hostels, etc, more often than I have on other pilgrimages.

In terms of resources, the forum resources section has GPS tracks and facilities location information on the Portuguese route. I used this one, which links to the Dutch Society of Saint Jacob resources page. The GPS track information has been updated recently, but the facilities information hasn't been brought up to date for a couple of years, and still has listings of places that closed during COVID-19 and hadn't re-opened when I walked. Gronze is more up to date here.

 

[Marcus-UK]

@Marcus-UK, I walked the CP this year, and my experience was quite different to this. It has a different feel south of Porto, but I never thought of it as not being 'nice', whatever that might mean. I walked Lisbon-Fatima and then Tomar-Santiago. The waymarking was more than adequate, including the sections from Lisbon to Porto. More, there appeared to be sufficient waymarking of the Fatima routes going south, although clearly I wasn't trying to follow these.

In terms of resources, the forum resources section has GPS tracks and facilities location information on the Portuguese route. I used this one, which links to the Dutch Society of Saint Jacob resources page. The GPS track information has been updated recently, but the facilities information hasn't been brought up to date for a couple of years, and still has listings of places that closed during COVID-19 and hadn't re-opened when I walked. Gronze is more up to date here.

Doug,
I did the Portuguese a few years ago (2016/2017) from Porto to SdC. At the time I selected my start point based upon postings and blogs of people who had started in Lisbon and described sections of the way with bad signage and the lack of Albergues necessitating some overnight stays at Fire Stations and municipal sports halls. It was also reported that at the time some of the path was badly defined and difficult to walk.

I also adapted my route from Porto to Initially follow the coastal path before crossing over to the central path after Vila do Conde to avoid the somewhat grim urban stage out of Porto. Flexibility and walking my own Camino was my goal

It now seems that the path is in much better condition than when I did my research. I am constantly surprised and gratified by the local councils volunteers who maintain the Caminos.