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As I have only walked Caminos in Spain up to now and found the Pilgrim Menus and Menus Del Dia wonderful opportunities to eat a robust meal with a drink for a very reasonable amount. But what about Portugal? Do the restaurants and bars offer a Menu Del Dia just like Spain or is there another budget alternative that exists? And Pilgrim Menus...are they on offer anywhere? Any help with this information would be gratefully accepted as I like to know roughly how much to budget for on a daily basis. I'm due to fly out to Lisbon on 9th April 2024 and arrive in Santiago De Compostela around 14th May.
Many thanks in advance.
I have to strongly disagree. It is a lovely place and the area along the bank of the river is special. To avoid the tourist trap, go to the grocery store and make a bocadillo for lunch and then cook in the albergue in the evening. you can enjoy a nice lunch by the river and meet other pilgrims for dinner in the albergue.Except Ponte de Lima. I try to not stop there anymore: too many tourist traps.
I just saw you are a near neighbour!As I have only walked Caminos in Spain up to now and found the Pilgrim Menus and Menus Del Dia wonderful opportunities to eat a robust meal with a drink for a very reasonable amount. But what about Portugal? Do the restaurants and bars offer a Menu Del Dia just like Spain or is there another budget alternative that exists? And Pilgrim Menus...are they on offer anywhere? Any help with this information would be gratefully accepted as I like to know roughly how much to budget for on a daily basis. I'm due to fly out to Lisbon on 9th April 2024 and arrive in Santiago De Compostela around 14th May.
Many thanks in advance.
Your name 'Kirkie' did give me pause for thought! I may change my name to 'Lennie'!!I just saw you are a near neighbour!
Above I referenced something more recent than my own CP, as that is history in terms of cost. However, the quality, for hungry pilgrims, should still be something the Portuguese can be proud of. Most of the crowd who kept the same stages ate in the same restaurants, and it was well worth it, and not outside normal budget, as in lower level normal. Adjust the cost if that is what you like to do, but we got fantastic meals for an average of €7 at the end of a day's walking. I know that could be €10 today, but still, it will more than supply your need for sustenance.
When I compare the three caminos we completed in the last three years, France is expensive, Spain much cheaper and Portugal the cheapest. But...you get what you pay for. I recall joining a French couple in Portugal for dinner one evening. They snarled at Portuguese cuisine other than the fish along the coast. Can't say I disagree with them. But...no pilgrim meals in Portugal, but we found combinados (same word in Spanish and Portuguese) plates very reasonable. Supermarkets, even small ones, are not as plentiful as in Spain, but we never had too much trouble putting together a much needed lunch or dinner from various markets.As I have only walked Caminos in Spain up to now and found the Pilgrim Menus and Menus Del Dia wonderful opportunities to eat a robust meal with a drink for a very reasonable amount. But what about Portugal? Do the restaurants and bars offer a Menu Del Dia just like Spain or is there another budget alternative that exists? And Pilgrim Menus...are they on offer anywhere? Any help with this information would be gratefully accepted as I like to know roughly how much to budget for on a daily basis. I'm due to fly out to Lisbon on 9th April 2024 and arrive in Santiago De Compostela around 14th May.
Many thanks in advance.
Honestly I do not think you looked too hard for a grocery store as there are lots of them. I remember that there was a big one about a 10 minute walk from the albergue. I remember because a Polish couple and a Mexican woman went with me to shop and we cooked dinner together. I ate my lunch alone by the river and loved it. Google and ye shall find hahaI don’t disagree that it’s a pretty view by the river. But I’d no luck finding that grocery store, except one that was a few km off the line. Everyone’s camino is different of course.
Yes, Pilgrim menus are available in restaurants throughout the Portuguese Camino from Porto, same low prices. As on the French Camino, the menus are posted at the entrance to the restaurants, you just have to look for them.As I have only walked Caminos in Spain up to now and found the Pilgrim Menus and Menus Del Dia wonderful opportunities to eat a robust meal with a drink for a very reasonable amount. But what about Portugal? Do the restaurants and bars offer a Menu Del Dia just like Spain or is there another budget alternative that exists? And Pilgrim Menus...are they on offer anywhere? Any help with this information would be gratefully accepted as I like to know roughly how much to budget for on a daily basis. I'm due to fly out to Lisbon on 9th April 2024 and arrive in Santiago De Compostela around 14th May.
Many thanks in advance.
I ate lunch every day on Camino Portuguese this October and spent anywhere between €15 and €35 (special meal). Count on €15 to €20.As I have only walked Caminos in Spain up to now and found the Pilgrim Menus and Menus Del Dia wonderful opportunities to eat a robust meal with a drink for a very reasonable amount. But what about Portugal? Do the restaurants and bars offer a Menu Del Dia just like Spain or is there another budget alternative that exists? And Pilgrim Menus...are they on offer anywhere? Any help with this information would be gratefully accepted as I like to know roughly how much to budget for on a daily basis. I'm due to fly out to Lisbon on 9th April 2024 and arrive in Santiago De Compostela around 14th May.
Many thanks in advance.
This past October while walking from Lisbon I spent €15 to €20 daily for lunch.As I have only walked Caminos in Spain up to now and found the Pilgrim Menus and Menus Del Dia wonderful opportunities to eat a robust meal with a drink for a very reasonable amount. But what about Portugal? Do the restaurants and bars offer a Menu Del Dia just like Spain or is there another budget alternative that exists? And Pilgrim Menus...are they on offer anywhere? Any help with this information would be gratefully accepted as I like to know roughly how much to budget for on a daily basis. I'm due to fly out to Lisbon on 9th April 2024 and arrive in Santiago De Compostela around 14th May.
Many thanks in advance.
Yes, I ate well. But, I only ate lunch while drinking breakfast and snacks.NYSE, that sounds about right after living in Estoril for the past year.
Sunday lunch in many small (and possibly large) cafes and restaurants really seems to be a ‘thing’ and can be spectacular home cooking. I recall seeing a good number of single older people meeting up obviously on a regular basis.I didn't find the evening pilgrim menus that you get in Spain on the Portugues Central earlier this year. But as others have pointed out all-in menus in the middle of the day are plentiful, delicious and good value. If you prefer to eat your main meal in the evening restaurants in Portugal were generally able to provide something from 7 or 7.30.
Your post is informative and ought to help the OP. Your costs were more or less as I imagined they might be this year. I remember the food as being home cooked, wholesome and as another forum member describes sometimes, copious amounts! It is ten years since I walked the CP but I have not forgotten the open and generous attitude of the owners and those who served us.I asked exactly the same question before my September/October Camino Portugues. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/pilgrims-meal-on-cp.83234/#post-1184874
I had a 3 course menu do dia lunch for 10 Euros in Vila do Conde (forget the name of the restaurant, 1st one I came to south of the river, just next to the little St Sebastian chapel where I got a sello). Food was OK (caldo verde, small pork chops & chips, some sort of apple cake or tart & ice cream IIRC) rather than great. Other places in Vila do Conde in the little main square north of the river near an albergue advertised pilgrim menus.
I had a 3 course pilgrim menu (I forget if if it was 10 or 12 Euros) in a large cafe/restaurant in Sao Pedro de Rates. The cafe had a TV screen showing football.
The restaurant in Rubiaies which organised a shuttle minivan to and from the various local hostals and albergues offered pilgrim menus, including a generous carafe of wine. I had soup, fish (I think this was a bacalhao not merluza night) & I forget what dessert.
Pilgrim menus/menus de dia were more obvious in Spain. I had a good 10 Euro one in Tui at Taperia O Albergue (Padron peppers, chorizo, egg & chips and Santiago Tart).
The O Encontro restaurant in Caldas de Reyes which hands out leaflets to pilgrims heading to the town on the Camino (mentioned in a previous thread) also did a pilgrim menu - Caldo Gallego, the ubiquitous in Spain merluza (hake) and Santiago Tart.
Yes indeed. I stopped for a coffee on the way to the supermarket and left the cafe with a huge portion of takeout soup, baguette, wonderful pastry for dessert and also the coffee for the huge sum of euro 4.40. The whole day including the albergue cost 9.40. No issues with Ponte de lima. Eitherway the albergue has a great kitchen and supermarket 5 mins awayI have to strongly disagree. It is a lovely place and the area along the bank of the river is special. To avoid the tourist trap, go to the grocery store and make a bocadillo for lunch and then cook in the albergue in the evening. you can enjoy a nice lunch by the river and meet other pilgrims for dinner in the albergue.
I have walked from Coimbra and also from Porto. The average was 40 euro per day because some towns before Porto the accommodation was more expensive. All Portuguese restaurants have a menu during the day which is generally inexpensive and generally cheaper than Spain. Obviously beware of high end restaurants and you should be fine. Very few actual pilgrim menus. Coffee and pastries are so cheap in Portugal so enjoyAs I have only walked Caminos in Spain up to now and found the Pilgrim Menus and Menus Del Dia wonderful opportunities to eat a robust meal with a drink for a very reasonable amount. But what about Portugal? Do the restaurants and bars offer a Menu Del Dia just like Spain or is there another budget alternative that exists? And Pilgrim Menus...are they on offer anywhere? Any help with this information would be gratefully accepted as I like to know roughly how much to budget for on a daily basis. I'm due to fly out to Lisbon on 9th April 2024 and arrive in Santiago De Compostela around 14th May.
Many thanks in advance.
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