Planning Porto to Santiago in late May. Is my plan feasible?

womps said:

Just wondering if my plan is feasible. My girlfriend and I are flying to Lisbon (cheaper flight location at $340!!) from NYC and taking the bus/train to Porto. From there we will walk to Santiago de Compostela in potentially 9 days.

My questions are, what is the best way to get to Porto from Lisbon, and is 9 days feasible for an enjoyable Camino? We would like to think we're in fairly good shape in our early 20's. This will be our first Camino, is it a good route to start on? What are your overall impressions? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Look at http://www.cp.pt. On top at right side you'll see an icon by form of the British flag to change the language.
A few times a day there will be a high velocity train connection between Lisbon and Porto.

Look at Skyscanner for any domestic flights.

Probably we will meet up somehere around Porto end of May.

we will follow the coastal route up to Vigo and so on to Santiago and our pace is much slower

Due to John Brierley's guide , a pilgrim guide to the camino Portugués , it will take you 10 days 240 kms.

Bom caminho

There are regular trains form Lisbon to Porto. 9 days should be OK for 2 fit people. Don't rush away from Santiago, there's plenty to enjoy there. The Camino Portugues is a delight ,lovely scenery ,villages ,towns to pass through. The John Brierley guide is very helpful. the locals are friendly too regards Robin Dorkings

Albertinho said:

womps said:

Just wondering if my plan is feasible. My girlfriend and I are flying to Lisbon (cheaper flight location at $340!!) from NYC and taking the bus/train to Porto. From there we will walk to Santiago de Compostela in potentially 9 days.

My questions are, what is the best way to get to Porto from Lisbon, and is 9 days feasible for an enjoyable Camino? We would like to think we're in fairly good shape in our early 20's. This will be our first Camino, is it a good route to start on? What are your overall impressions? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Look at http://www.cp.pt. On top at right side you'll see an icon by form of the British flag to change the language.
A few times a day there will be a high velocity train connection between Lisbon and Porto.

Look at Skyscanner for any domestic flights.

Probably we will meet up somehere around Porto end of May.

we will follow the coastal route up to Vigo and so on to Santiago and our pace is much slower

Due to John Brierley's guide , a pilgrim guide to the camino Portugués , it will take you 10 days 240 kms.

Bom caminho

Click to expand...

We will be leaving Porto round about 4 June. I have the badge of this forum on my bag and that of the South African Confraternity. So looking forward to the walk.

Some advises for you to reach Porto:

You can go either by bus or by train, the time difference it’s not so big as that. What is very different it’s the value of the ticket.
Has Albertinho said, visit cp.com to see the average price for the train ticket between Lisbon and Porto. I advise you to take the IC train (Inter-Cities), because the AP (Alpha-Pendular) it’s much overpriced for the service that they offer. Train it’s probably the best way to go to Porto, because from Lisbon airport, it’s just 2 stops until the Oriente Station where you can catch it.

For the BUS, visit either http://renex.pt or http://www.rede-expressos.pt/ to see prices and schedules. Notice that for the Bus, you might have to go to other part from Lisbon not near the Airport.

About the 10 days, I think it’s perfect. I will do it May, and my plan it's this:
Day 1: Póvoa do Varzim > Barcelos (+- 25km)
Day 2: Barcelos > Ponte de Lima (+- 32km)
Day 3: Ponte de Lima > Valença (+-38km)
Day 4: Valença > Mós (+-23km)
Day 5: Mós > Pontevedra (+- 30km)
Day 6: Pontevedra > Caldas de Reis (+- 23km)
Day 7: Caldas de Reis > Padrón (+- 18km)
Day 8: Padrón > Santiago de Compostela (+- 22km)

I will do this with my best friend and we will stay two days in Santiago to see the town and to attend to the masse of the pilgrim. As far as you can see, 10 days could be perfect to do it.

Best Regards
Diogo Martins

Ola Diogo,
Thanks for the extra infomation of the busses. I did mention the existance of the high velocity train in my answer.
Information of the busses I could not find on the internet. My knowledge of your beautiful language is very primitive but I can help myself out with my spanish, I learned during my 3 year stay in Barcelona .
But I am going to research the website of the busses because sometimes the distances between 2 places is to much for us and we want to shorten it by using public transport especially on the trail between Lisboa and Porto. Muito obrigado para a informacâo utile.

Outro pedido Diogo !

On which website I can find information about busses between Lisboa -Tomar-Coimbra and Porto ?

F.ex between Azambuja and Santarém The distance is too big + 30 kms. We donot want to walk more than 20 kms a day and the only possibility is to sleep in Cartaxo but this out of the track .so better is to find any public transport solution .

Also Tomar to Alvaziere is an issue as well Mealhada to Agueda so um poquinho cheeting by bus. Would be helpfull. Maybe you can help me out finding a webside of buscompanies, covering these tracks

Muito prazer e cumprimentos deste lado de Europa

Albert Weterings.Rotterdâo Holanda

Albertinho,

Try these two websites for bus service throughout Portugal.

http://www.rede-expressos.pt/ and
http://www.renex.pt/

On your camino close to the Portuguese/Spanish border at Valenca do Minho looking towards Tui in Spain the view is especially splendid at night when the hill-top Tui cathedral is lit. To cross the river border pilgrims walk on a wonderful iron bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel of Parisian tower fame.

Bom Caminho,

Margaret Meredith

Hello Albertinho

I see that you did mention it, but has I’ve said, there are two types of trains, but there are not much difference in time. However, in price, that’s a huge difference for just 10/15 minutes. At least for us, here in Portugal, it's too much

The problem sometimes to find some Bus here in Portugal it’s that every region has 2 or 3 companies that operate inside it, and then you have companies that work outside it (like Rede Expressos, that you can find at rede-expressos.com). I really don’t know the actual Lisbon to SdC route, but I think that you should adapt it to sleep in Cartaxo. Until you reach the Porto region, you will find sometimes difficult to find a place to stay. Not impossible, but difficult.

But, since I’m a nice guy, and you want to take the bus and I understand why (I could explain it later ), here are the timetable between Azambuja and Santarém:

07:40 > 08:13 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
08:05 > 08:48 = At Saturdays, except in Holidays - All Year_ 0736
08:05 > 08:43 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
09:05 > 09:23 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
10:20 > 10:53 = At Saturdays, except in Holidays - All Year_ 0736
10:20 > 10:53 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
11:30 > 12:08 = At Saturdays, except in Holidays - All Year_ 0736
13:00 > 13:40 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0522
13:05 > 13:43 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
14:35 > 15:08 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
15:45 > 16:23 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
15:45 > 16:50 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holiday s- All Year_ 0522
16:40 > 17:18 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
17:33 > 18:11 = At Saturdays, except in Holidays - All Year_ 0736
17:40 > 18:18 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
18:35 > 19:18 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736
20:05 > 20:33 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0736

From Tomar to Alvaiázere:
10:30 > 11:23 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - All Year_ 0570
14:00 > 14:53 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - School Period_ 0570
14:00 > 14:53 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays- School Holidays_ 0570
17:30 > 18:30 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - School Period_ 0071
17:30 > 18:33 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - School Holidays_ 0071
18:15 > 19:08 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - School Period_ 0570
18:15 > 19:08 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - School Holidays_ 0570
18:50 > 19:43 = Except Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays - School Period_ 0570

(The numbers in the right side represent the Bus number)

The only ones that I can’t find it’s from Mealhada to Águeda.

About the language, since I work in a Hotel at the Front Desk, I usually advise people from abroad to learn these simple things from Portuguese:

Obrigado > Thank You
Bom Dia > Good Morning
Boa Tarde > Good Afternoon (starting 12:00pm)
Boa Noite > Good Evening/Night (starting 18:00pm)
Por Favor > Please
Water > Água
I’m searching for > Procuro…

Best Regards
Diogo

Muito obrigado pelo a informacāo . Muito prazer !
It must have been a lot of work for you to find out all this information.
Thanks for the Portugese first lesson . I think I can handle with my spanish but definitively will start learning portugese
Muito obrigado outra vez e se calhar até a vista uma vez no Portugal.

Cumprimentos deste lado de Europa ( muito frío aquí agora )
Albertinho

Actually, I’ve done my search in 5 minutes. I’m used to do this kind of searches so, most of all of your questions, were easy to answer.

We could probably meet each other, depending when you are doing your Camiño. Has I’ve said on my presentation in the Forum, I live nearby the route from Lisbon to SdC, in a place called Castanheira do Ribatejo. If you need something, just send me a PM and I’ll be there for you

We are also having that problem here in Portugal, rain and cold, and that for a person who suffers from sinusitis and has to catch public transportations that use air conditioning it’s not very good, but I’m trying to handle it.

Cheers!
Diogo

P.S: I don’t know if your are translating it with something, but your written Portuguese it’s very good

Just read this thread and am now feeling totally unprepared. I'm arriving in Porto on 16th April will stay 5days then start my walk to Santiago. Will be walking with my brother so I'm sure we will work it out and we are Portuguese although it is a language we seldom use so communication should be ok. Just worried about finding places to stay along the way.

Vasco

Vasco, send me an email do diogomartins555@hotmail.com, so I can give you some informations if you need them

Best regards
Diogo

We are looking to do the EXACT same thing! We start late June! Can you share the plan you have??? And any tips!