Hi I'm new here. I'm Bevey. We will be doing the Central Route arriving on Sept. 21st.

[blm]

We will be taking the train from Lisbon to Vila do Conde and staying a night there. My question is that we need to get to Sao Pedro de Rates by train or car, to start walking to Barcelos. We don't have time to do the 20 mile hike on the first day. Any recommendations? Thanks.

 

[Grousedoctor]

I just looked at the Rome2rio website and it looks to me that if you don’t have a private car then a taxi is the only way to get to Rates. It appears to be about 8 miles and looks like the cost is $19-23.

 

[grdemedeiros]

Hi, can you clarify your plan? Are you planning to stay overnight in Rates?

We recently completed our Camino from Porto, Coastal > Central > Spiritual. We slept in VdC, then walked the next day to Rates and slept there. The VdC to Rates walk wasn't 20 miles. But the Rates to Barcelos day was one of our hardest, mostly because of the heat rather than the distance, but also because we took a Variant which was quite a climb.

 

[trecile]

The VdC to Rates walk wasn't 20 miles

Correct. According to mapy.cz it's 13.8 km, or about 8.5 miles.

 

[mochilaverde]

Two thoughts:

• You have a long travel day to get from Lisbon, what about staying two nights in Barcelos and starting from there? Barcelos is a larger town and interesting to explore.
• what about walking on the Coastal route for a day from Vila do Conde to Apúlia/Fão, then taking a bus from Apúlia/Fão to Barcelos? https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Apúlia...port/Apúlia-e-Fão/Barcelos/r/Line-215-bus/s/0

 

[JacquelineA]

You can only reach Rates by taxi.

 

[blm]

You can only reach Rates by taxi.

Thanks for the information. We are going to spend the night in Vila do Conde, but don't want to do a 20 mile hike to Barcelos on our first day, but rather take a taxi to Rates and then start walking. It seems that would be a 10 mile hike on our first day. Is that correct? Thanks

 

[blm]

Two thoughts:

• You have a long travel day to get from Lisbon, what about staying two nights in Barcelos and starting from there? Barcelos is a larger town and interesting to explore.
• what about walking on the Coastal route for a day from Vila do Conde to Apúlia/Fão, then taking a bus from Apúlia/Fão to Barcelos? https://www.rome2rio.com/map/Apúlia-e-Fão/Barcelos#trips/transport/Apúlia-e-Fão/Barcelos/r/Line-215-bus/s/0

Thanks I will explore that more. And you are right about a long day of travel.

 

[blm]

Correct. According to mapy.cz it's 13.8 km, or about 8.5 miles.

View attachment 175731

Thanks, we don't have the time to spend a night there, so we need to move onto Barcelos and that's a long day of hiking if we start from Vila do Conde.

 

[JacquelineA]

Thanks for the information. We are going to spend the night in Vila do Conde, but don't want to do a 20 mile hike to Barcelos on our first day, but rather take a taxi to Rates and then start walking. It seems that would be a 10 mile hike on our first day. Is that correct? Thanks

I have no idea. We walked the coastal from Porto to Caminha and took the train to Valenca to follow the central route to Santiago.

I found a website named Alison on foot which says it is 11 miles from Rates to Barcelos.

 

[JacquelineA]

We stayed in Vila do Conde at Laranjal guesthouse. It’s a shared house with 4 double bedrooms for €60,00 for 1 room including breakfast and free use of washingmachine, coffee and tea. Little balcony and garden. Really nice place and welcoming host Manuel.