How to Avoid Road Walking on the Camino Portugues

[Ruchira]

Hello, I'm planning to walk the Camino Portuguese in May this year, starting in Porto. I've been told that there is a lot of road walking, which I would prefer to avoid. It's been suggested that if I combine various routes, this can be mostly avoided. My question - can anyone please advise me on how to avoid road walking? I don't mind leaving one route for another if necessary. I walked the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo to SDC in September 2019 and loved every minute of it. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

 

[Gwill21]

Having just completed the central route in October I would take the coastal out of Porto and cross over to the central after a couple of days. I found the largest portion of road walking (and the loudest) was taking the traditional central route out of Porto. The first 2 days were not enjoyable for the wife and me because of the roads, cars and noise. When we returned to Porto after completing our walk we took a bus to Matosinhos just to see what that looked like and it looked quite pleasant.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

When we returned to Porto after completing our walk we took a bus to Matosinhos just to see what that looked like and it looked quite pleasant.

I spent my first day leaving Porto on the Senda Litoral (coastal route) ending in Matosinhos. I continued the following day as far as Vila do Conda and stayed the night before turning inland to join the central route; all was quite lovely and I thought it was a good decision.

 

[Scott F]

Hello, I'm planning to walk the Camino Portuguese in May this year, starting in Porto. I've been told that there is a lot of road walking, which I would prefer to avoid. It's been suggested that if I combine various routes, this can be mostly avoided. My question - can anyone please advise me on how to avoid road walking? I don't mind leaving one route for another if necessary. I walked the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo to SDC in September 2019 and loved every minute of it. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Hi Ruchira,

We are flying into Porto on 4/29 and plan on going to the cathedral and walking to Matosinhos via the coastal. Best wishes!

 

[Marla in CA]

Hello, I'm planning to walk the Camino Portuguese in May this year, starting in Porto. I've been told that there is a lot of road walking, which I would prefer to avoid. It's been suggested that if I combine various routes, this can be mostly avoided. My question - can anyone please advise me on how to avoid road walking? I don't mind leaving one route for another if necessary. I walked the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo to SDC in September 2019 and loved every minute of it. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Following

 

[Tschempi]

I would recommend you the coastal with the spiritual variante. It was really amazing with a few roads… ok but overall it was maybe 10% overall. Buen camino

 

[Anthony Rocco]

Hello, I'm planning to walk the Camino Portuguese in May this year, starting in Porto. I've been told that there is a lot of road walking, which I would prefer to avoid. It's been suggested that if I combine various routes, this can be mostly avoided. My question - can anyone please advise me on how to avoid road walking? I don't mind leaving one route for another if necessary. I walked the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo to SDC in September 2019 and loved every minute of it. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

Our first two days out of Porto on the central route were absolutely miserable, even though we ended up at nice places to stay. Too much road walking, first seemingly forever on the streets of Porto, then later with no shoulder. This is true, unfortunately, for much of the central route as well the Camino Portugues before Porto. We ended up zigzagging after that, putting together a delightful camino. On the central, Ponte de Lima is a jewel. We stayed in Valenca and loved it, walking across the bridge to spend a few hours in Tui. One of our most delightful days was walking west all along the Minho River from Valenca/Tui to A Guarda. It's a wonderful path and the only day of a our camino walk when were the only peregrinos. The coastal path from A Guarda is gorgeous. If you have time, walk the Variante Espiritual which includes the boat ride to Padron.

 

[Llew]

I spent my first day leaving Porto on the Senda Litoral (coastal route) ending in Matosinhos. I continued the following day as far as Vila do Conda and stayed the night before turning inland to join the central route; all was quite lovely and I thought it was a good decision.

I did the same in September last year and it was a great walk.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

If you have time, walk the Variante Espiritual which includes the boat ride to Padron.

I agree! If the OP is still in the planning stages I hope she makes the time to include walking it. It was a real highlight for me.

 

[Marla in CA]

Our first two days out of Porto on the central route were absolutely miserable, even though we ended up at nice places to stay. Too much road walking, first seemingly forever on the streets of Porto, then later with no shoulder. This is true, unfortunately, for much of the central route as well the Camino Portugues before Porto. We ended up zigzagging after that, putting together a delightful camino. On the central, Ponte de Lima is a jewel. We stayed in Valenca and loved it, walking across the bridge to spend a few hours in Tui. One of our most delightful days was walking west all along the Minho River from Valenca/Tui to A Guarda. It's a wonderful path and the only day of a our camino walk when were the only peregrinos. The coastal path from A Guarda is gorgeous. If you have time, walk the Variante Espiritual which includes the boat ride to Padron.

THank you for this very helpful info. After reading your post, I have decided I will zig zag too. Curious if you read or followed a certain book to decide where and how to zig zag, or did you piece different posts to figure out how to do it. Thanks in advance for any tips in this regard.

I agree! If the OP is still in the planning stages I hope she makes the time to include walking it. It was a real highlight for me.

I am not the OP but I am following this thread since I am going on or around March 24, and I will make the time to include this in my walk based upon the opinions expressed in this thread.

 

[Brenlea]

I appreciate the question and all the responses, I am also planning the Portuguese Camino the end of May, This will be my first trip I’m looking for all the help I can get. Thank you everyone.

 

[JimG59]

There is a forum for CP starting from Porto. I believe this forum is for those doing the CP starting from Lisbon.

 

[Anthony Rocco]

THank you for this very helpful info. After reading your post, I have decided I will zig zag too. Curious if you read or followed a certain book to decide where and how to zig zag, or did you piece different posts to figure out how to do it. Thanks in advance for any tips in this regard.

I am not the OP but I am following this thread since I am going on or around March 24, and I will make the time to include this in my walk based upon the opinions expressed in this thread.

We did not plan this. We expected to walk the central route, but after two days, which included collapsing from heat exhaustion, we decided we had to make course corrections. And we did many along the way. But this is the kind of peregrinos we have been over the years. We plan in excruciating detail, researching and enjoying the research. But we have never, to my recollection, followed exactly our planned itinerary. After walking our first camino, in which we were three days ahead of our itinerary after the first week, we still aimed for places we wanted to visit, but looked for all the options getting there.

To be frank, on previous caminos, course corrections were course corrections. From Porto, the only way to describe what we did is zigzagging. And to be clear, a few times this required taking buses, which we also found not unpleasant at all. Like the boat ride, you can look all around you rather than down at your feet or what lies immediately ahead.

Read up on the most scenic routes, the most safest routes, the most interesting cities, towns and villages. You may be able to put together an itinerary in advance that you can hold to. But it will be complicated, I can assure you. Bom/buen camino!

 

[Ruchira]

Having just completed the central route in October I would take the coastal out of Porto and cross over to the central after a couple of days. I found the largest portion of road walking (and the loudest) was taking the traditional central route out of Porto. The first 2 days were not enjoyable for the wife and I because of the roads, cars and noise. When we returned to Porto after completing our walk we took a bus to Matosinhos just to see what that looked like and it looked quite pleasant.

Thank you for this info. I had heard about busy narrow roads, no shoulder etc so I'm guessing that's leaving Porto on the central route.. I'll look into leaving Porto via the coastal route. Thanks again!

 

[Ruchira]

Hi Ruchira,

We are flying into Porto on 4/29 and plan on going to the cathedral and walking to Matosinhos via the coastal. Best wishes!

Hi Scott,
I'll probably just miss you as I plan to spend a few days in Lisbon before heading up to Porto, early May. Buen Camino!

 

[Ruchira]

Having just completed the central route in October I would take the coastal out of Porto and cross over to the central after a couple of days. I found the largest portion of road walking (and the loudest) was taking the traditional central route out of Porto. The first 2 days were not enjoyable for the wife and I because of the roads, cars and noise. When we returned to Porto after completing our walk we took a bus to Matosinhos just to see what that looked like and it looked quite pleasant.

Thank you for this info. I had heard about busy narrow roads, no shoulder etc so I'm guessing that's leaving Porto on the central route.. I'll look into leaving Porto via the coastal route. Thanks again!

There is a forum for CP starting from Porto. I believe this forum is for those doing the CP starting from Lisbon.

Thank you! I'll look into that

 

[Ruchira]

Our first two days out of Porto on the central route were absolutely miserable, even though we ended up at nice places to stay. Too much road walking, first seemingly forever on the streets of Porto, then later with no shoulder. This is true, unfortunately, for much of the central route as well the Camino Portugues before Porto. We ended up zigzagging after that, putting together a delightful camino. On the central, Ponte de Lima is a jewel. We stayed in Valenca and loved it, walking across the bridge to spend a few hours in Tui. One of our most delightful days was walking west all along the Minho River from Valenca/Tui to A Guarda. It's a wonderful path and the only day of a our camino walk when were the only peregrinos. The coastal path from A Guarda is gorgeous. If you have time, walk the Variante Espiritual which includes the boat ride to Padron.

Thank you so much for this info. I've photographed your message and will use your suggestions as a guide

 

[trecile]

There is a forum for CP starting from Porto. I believe this forum is for those doing the CP starting from Lisbon.

Actually this subforum is for all of the Central route and includes those starting anywhere along it - Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto, Tui, etc.
There is another subforum for the Coastal route, which starts in Porto.

 

[Ruchira]

Actually this subforum is for all of the Central route and includes those starting anywhere along it - Lisbon, Coimbra, Porto, Tui, etc.
There is another subforum for the Coastal route, which starts in Porto.

Thank you!

 

[kristenwalks]

I appreciate the question and all the responses, I am also planning the Portuguese Camino the end of May, This will be my first trip I’m looking for all the help I can get. Thank you everyone.

I am also planning the Portuguese Camino end of May following these posts…

 

[Brenlea]

I am also planning the Portuguese Camino end of May following these posts…

Maybe we will cross paths, I am flying into Lisbon for a day or so, then I think the train to Porto to begin.

 

[Lleslie]

Starting in Lisbon 14th May so if anyone who has done this recently has any advice it would be most welcome Linda

 

[dougfitz]

I walked out of Porto on the Central Route. It took the best part of the first day to walk through the urban and some light industrial areas, but after that one is in a semi-rural environment. I had no difficulty walking through these areas where so many people live and work. It mightn't have the same aesthetic appeal as the historic centre, or the relaxing charm of more rural places, but I found it an interesting walk nonetheless.

 

[Ruchira]

I walked out of Porto on the Central Route. It took the best part of the first day to walk through the urban and some light industrial areas, but after that one is in a semi-rural environment. I had no difficulty walking through these areas where so many people live and work. It mightn't have the same aesthetic appeal as the historic centre, or the relaxing charm of more rural places, but I found it an interesting walk nonetheless.

Thank you! It's good to hear directly from a person who has experienced walking directly out of Porto, on the central route, finding it agreeable. More to think about.....

 

[David Tallan]

I spent my first day leaving Porto on the Senda Litoral (coastal route) ending in Matosinhos. I continued the following day as far as Vila do Conda and stayed the night before turning inland to join the central route; all was quite lovely and I thought it was a good decision.

That was what I did, too, and didn't regret it. All roads in Portugal are not equal, and not all are equally painful. It's the cobblestone roads you've got to watch out for, which seem more prominent in Portugal.

 

[peregrina2000]

There is a forum for CP starting from Porto. I believe this forum is for those doing the CP starting from Lisbon.

That’s not quite right. Not that it really matters, but there is a sub-forum for the “Coastal route from Porto” and there is also a sub-forum for the Central Route (which starts in Lisbon and goes through Porto). Inevitably some of the threads discussing walking from Porto meander back and forth between Coastal and Central routes, so strict categorization is impossible.

 

[Marla in CA]

Thank you so much for this info. I've photographed your message and will use your suggestions as a guide

I took a picture of it too!!

 

[Jmhilde]

Our first two days out of Porto on the central route were absolutely miserable, even though we ended up at nice places to stay. Too much road walking, first seemingly forever on the streets of Porto, then later with no shoulder. This is true, unfortunately, for much of the central route as well the Camino Portugues before Porto. We ended up zigzagging after that, putting together a delightful camino. On the central, Ponte de Lima is a jewel. We stayed in Valenca and loved it, walking across the bridge to spend a few hours in Tui. One of our most delightful days was walking west all along the Minho River from Valenca/Tui to A Guarda. It's a wonderful path and the only day of a our camino walk when were the only peregrinos. The coastal path from A Guarda is gorgeous. If you have time, walk the Variante Espiritual which includes the boat ride to Padron.

We are looking at the Minho River walk, too, but someone elsewhere said there was very little shade and no cafes along the trail, yikes! So now we're thinking we'll do the Lima River walk from Ponte de Lima to Viana do Castelo. Would love to hear from anyone who has walked either of these river trails!

 

[Anthony Rocco]

We are looking at the Minho River walk, too, but someone elsewhere said there was very little shade and no cafes along the trail, yikes! So now we're thinking we'll do the Lima River walk from Ponte de Lima to Viana do Castelo. Would love to hear from anyone who has walked either of these river trails!

Minho River walk memory: I don't recall a lack of shade, but my memory of the walk from Valenca on the south side of the river is vague. It was an early morning start. Nothing memorable. When we got to the bridge that crosses into Spain, we continued a bit further on the Portuguese side to grab a coffee in the lovely town that had homes stretching from the water up the hillside. Lovely. Once you cross the bridge to the north side into Spain, it's a lovely shaded walk all the way to A Guarda, with a mountain in the distance for much of the way providing a perfect backdrop for photos. The Spanish side is essentially one long park. There were cafes as one would expect in here and there along the way. What would a Spanish park be without a cafe???