Help figuring out my etapas

Anemone del Camino · Feb 2, 2016

Because planning is such a big part of the Camino fun, especially since I am after able to let go and change my plans, I have been working on a Porto to Santiago walk. I am comfortable with 20km a day, would not mind a shorter day here and there because of my plantar fasciitis, like to take 3 weeks off work, including cross-Atlantic flights, and would like to experiece Casa Fernanda. Problem is that I have ended up with the whole distance, a mear 241 km in 17 days which is just ridiculous. I walked the Primitivo in the same amount of time and that was 320km or so, amd was comfortable. I'd like to shave off 3 days or so.

Any suggestions on how to rearange these while still not missing on good stops and not doing lots of 25km back to back are appreciated. Here we go:

D1: Porto to Matosinhos and back by metro or bus. 12km (I like a short 1st day to help with jetlag).
D2: Back to Matosinhos by bus or metro and walk to Villa do Conde. 21.5km
D3: VdeC to Rates 13 km
D4: Rates to Barcelos 14 km. Any reason to stay in Rates or should I just push 27km to Barcelos?
D5: Barcelos to Casa Fernanda. 19km
D6: Casa Fernanda to Ponte de Lima. 15km
D7: Pte de Lima to Rubiales. 18km
D8: Rubiales to Caminha or A Guarda.
D9: Caminha or A Guarda to Mougas. 23.3 km
D10: Mougas to Baiona (Niran). 16.3 km
D11: Niran to Vigo. 20km
D12: Vigo to Redondela. 15km
D13: Redondela to Pontevedra. 19.7km
D14: Pontevedra to Caldas de Rei. 21.6 km
D15: Caldas to Padron:18.1 km
D16: Padron to Teo: 10.4 km
D17: Teo to Santiago. 15km

Looking forward to hearing from the pros!

amorfati1 · Feb 2, 2016

Anemone del Camino said:
Because planning is such a big part of the Camino fun, especially since I am after able to let go and change my plans, I have been working on a Porto to Santiago walk. I am comfortable with 20km a day, would not mind a shorter day here and there because of my plantar fasciitis, like to take 3 weeks off work, including cross-Atlantic flights, and would like to experiece Casa Fernanda. Problem is that I have ended up with the whole distance, a mear 241 km in 17 days which is just ridiculous. I walked the Primitivo in the same amount of time and that was 320km or so, amd was comfortable. I'd like to shave off 3 days or so.

Any suggestions on how to rearange these while still not missing on good stops and not doing lots of 25km back to back are appreciated. Here we go:

D1: Porto to Matosinhos and back by metro or bus. 12km (I like a short 1st day to help with jetlag).
D2: Back to Matosinhos by bus or metro and walk to Villa do Conde. 21.5km
D3: VdeC to Rates 13 km
D4: Rates to Barcelos 14 km. Any reason to stay in Rates or should I just push 27km to Barcelos?
D5: Barcelos to Casa Fernanda. 19km
D6: Casa Fernanda to Ponte de Lima. 15km
D7: Pte de Lima to Rubiales. 18km
D8: Rubiales to Caminha or A Guarda.
D9: Caminha or A Guarda to Mougas. 23.3 km
D10: Mougas to Baiona (Niran). 16.3 km
D11: Niran to Vigo. 20km
D12: Vigo to Redondela. 15km
D13: Redondela to Pontevedra. 19.7km
D14: Pontevedra to Caldas de Rei. 21.6 km
D15: Caldas to Padron:18.1 km
D16: Padron to Teo: 10.4 km
D17: Teo to Santiago. 15km

Looking forward to hearing from the pros!

sounds good !
and i certainly would vote for staying in RATES - i enjoyed the town and the albergue.
and the next day you'll arrive in Barcelos early enough to enjoy that town as well.
bom caminho!

Walli Walker · Feb 2, 2016

Last June we did:
D1 - Porto to Matosinhos
D2 - Matosinhos to Vilo do Conde
D3 - V do C to Rates
D4 - Rates to Barcelos
D5 - Barcelos to Casa de Fernanda
D6 - C de F to Ponte de Lima
D7 - P de L to Rubiaes
D8 - Rubiaes to Tui
D9 - Tui to Redondela
D10 - Redondela to Pontevedre
D11 - Pontevedre to Caldas de Reis
D12 - C de R to Padron
D13 - Padron to S de C
You could add a day by breaking the Tui to Redondela (32.5 km) into two and staying at Porrino.
A fabulous camino!
Buen camino, Jacki.

Anemone del Camino · Feb 2, 2016

Thank you Albertinho, I am actually hoping for fewer days from Porto to Santiago so I can then add on Fisterra and Muxia in my 3 weeks, or my usual 350 km or so per walk, but without 30km days. Can this be done in your opinion by mixing coastal and central?

Anemone del Camino · Feb 2, 2016

Walli Walker said:
Last June we did:
D1 - Porto to Matosinhos
D2 - Matosinhos to Vilo do Conde
D3 - V do C to Rates
D4 - Rates to Barcelos
D5 - Barcelos to Casa de Fernanda
D6 - C de F to Ponte de Lima
D7 - P de L to Rubiaes
D8 - Rubiaes to Tui
D9 - Tui to Redondela
D10 - Redondela to Pontevedre
D11 - Pontevedre to Caldas de Reis
D12 - C de R to Padron
D13 - Padron to S de C
You could add a day by breaking the Tui to Redondela (32.5 km) into two and staying at Porrino.
A fabulous camino!
Buen camino, Jacki.

Thank you Jacki. So essentially the central as shown by Brierly except for the first few days taking starting on the coast.

Let me ask, when talking Frances there are many of us suggesting not to follow the Brierly stages in order to get out of the bed race and not miss great little spots. Would this also apply to the Portugues in your opinion or not?

I haven't added the distances with the mix of coastal and central as I have in my plan, but if it does add a couple of days as Albertinho suggests it may end up being a camino that is long enough for my taste. Time to pull out the calculator.

Isca-camigo · Feb 2, 2016

Anemone del Camino said:
would not mind a shorter day here and there because of my plantar fasciitis,

I actually would not worry about the time taken because of the above. The route from Porto has a lot of flat surfaces with either asphalt or other hard surfaces, in my experience this plays havoc with plantar fascitis, so for this route 17 days is good.

Mariann · Feb 2, 2016

Anemone del Camino said:
Because planning is such a big part of the Camino fun, especially since I am after able to let go and change my plans, I have been working on a Porto to Santiago walk. I am comfortable with 20km a day, would not mind a shorter day here and there because of my plantar fasciitis, like to take 3 weeks off work, including cross-Atlantic flights, and would like to experiece Casa Fernanda. Problem is that I have ended up with the whole distance, a mear 241 km in 17 days which is just ridiculous. I walked the Primitivo in the same amount of time and that was 320km or so, amd was comfortable. I'd like to shave off 3 days or so.

Any suggestions on how to rearange these while still not missing on good stops and not doing lots of 25km back to back are appreciated. Here we go:

D1: Porto to Matosinhos and back by metro or bus. 12km (I like a short 1st day to help with jetlag).
D2: Back to Matosinhos by bus or metro and walk to Villa do Conde. 21.5km
D3: VdeC to Rates 13 km
D4: Rates to Barcelos 14 km. Any reason to stay in Rates or should I just push 27km to Barcelos?
D5: Barcelos to Casa Fernanda. 19km
D6: Casa Fernanda to Ponte de Lima. 15km
D7: Pte de Lima to Rubiales. 18km
D8: Rubiales to Caminha or A Guarda.
D9: Caminha or A Guarda to Mougas. 23.3 km
D10: Mougas to Baiona (Niran). 16.3 km
D11: Niran to Vigo. 20km
D12: Vigo to Redondela. 15km
D13: Redondela to Pontevedra. 19.7km
D14: Pontevedra to Caldas de Rei. 21.6 km
D15: Caldas to Padron:18.1 km
D16: Padron to Teo: 10.4 km
D17: Teo to Santiago. 15km

Looking forward to hearing from the pros!

Hi, I am also a bit uncertain. I am starting from Porto around April 11, thought of spending at least 1 night in Porto, then start slowly by walking to Matosinhos and spend 1 night, then continue to Vila do Conde, spend the night, then continue to Esposende, 1 night. From there I would like to get on to the central route at Barcelos since I want to make a visit to Braga (by bus) and then continue on more or less the same distances you mention above. Well, I am 70 and prefer not to exceed 20 km a day. I have walked the Camino Frances, finished in June 2013. Has anyone joined the Central from Esposende? Is there a bus service???? Assume there is no way to walk from there to Barcelos? Appreciate your input!!

Mariann · Feb 2, 2016

Forgot to ask, anyone with experience of walking in April? I know the weather varies a lot, but....

naplesdon · Feb 2, 2016

I spent a rest day in Padron, it is a worthwhile stop and then walked to Teo for a night and the next day on to Santiago. I don't think the distances in the guidebooks are correct because I only walked about 4 hours each day; and I'm not a fast walker so it must only be about 20k+ from Padron to Santiago.

peregrina2000 · Feb 2, 2016

Hi, Anemone,
I walked so long ago that my experiences are unlikely to help you out. I did just want to put in a plug for the albergue in Herbón. Depending on the time of year (because it's seasonal, open only June-October), it's one of those donativo, communal supper places in an old monastery. I have never been able to get there, but I have friends who volunteer as hospitaleros and it seems like a wonderful place. It's near Padrón, a bit off camino. I know that amorfati had a rough time on the camino trying to find it, but I think that may have been because the place hadn't yet opened for the summer and the trail from the Camino proper to Herbón had not yet been bushwhacked for the summer.

Anyway, if that is appealing, let me know, and I'll see what other details I can find. There is info here on the forum on how to get there, and some members have stayed there and all have liked it very much, at least that I'm aware of.

http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/hospital-de-peregrinos-de-herbon

Buen camino, Laurie

Anemone del Camino · Feb 3, 2016

So I just added my distances and came up with 293 km which makes more sense tha 241 in 18 days.

@ Lauroe, thank you for mentioning Herbon, and not Hebron

. The new Brierly goes on and on about ot, and shows a pic of the sign that shows you how to get there. I had it marked as not to miss based on a previous post, likely @amorfati1 . Thank you for the heads up.

The other monastery I am contemplating is the one in ... Rats! Can't find it. It is earlier on, but perhaps on the Cental. It's ona little detour, before the "main" stop.

Walli Walker · Feb 3, 2016

Anemone, we found that the 'Brierley stages' just seemed to fit and there was no race for beds at all, even in June.

lessonslearnedabroad · Mar 30, 2016

Has anyone walked in less time than Brierley suggests? I have no qualms with 30-35km days, so if anyone has a good itinerary I'd love to hear about it!

Former member 22438 · Mar 30, 2016

lessonslearnedabroad said:
Has anyone walked in less time than Brierley suggests? I have no qualms with 30-35km days, so if anyone has a good itinerary I'd love to hear about it!

You have to sort out where you can stay for the night if you like to walk more than that.
Brierley sorted out the average distances between places around 20 kms
I do not know where you want to start ? Lisbon or Porto ?

Former member 22438 · Mar 30, 2016

Albertinho said:
You have to figuer out where you can stay for the night if you like to walk more than that.
Brierley figuered out the average distances between places around 20 kms
I do not know where you want to start ? Lisbon or Porto ?

An example
Day 1 from Porto to São Pedro de Rates via Vila do Conde. 45 km
Day 2 São Pedro de Rates to Casa Fernanda 38 kms
Day 3 Fernanda to Rubiaës 32 kms but take care. Between Ponte de Lima is a lot of climbing on the Alto de Portela Grande mountain.
Day 4 Rubiaës to o Porriño 38 km
Day 5 O Porriño to Mos 35 km
Day 6 Mos to Caldas de Reis 30 km
Day 7 Caldas de Reis to Santiago 42 km or alternatively to Teo 30 and the last day a quiet 12 km walk to Santiago.