Porto to Vila do Conde

[ColletteMa]

Hello all!
I am doing my first Camino with my two adult children travelling from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. I'm reading John Brierley's book. It looks like the Senda Litoral route to Vila Do Conde might be a better way to go than the traditional Camino da Costa.
I'd love to hear people's opinions about this.
Thank you!
Collette

 

[Rachel from Seattle]

100 percent yes.

 

[jungleboy]

I haven’t walked the traditional stage but the fact that many take the metro from Porto to Matosinhos indicates that it may not be a great walk. The Litoral is along the river and then the coast and is very pleasant (although personally I didn’t think much of Matosinhos).

Here are my musings from that stage:

Day 1: A pre-dawn departure from Porto and it’s exciting to be back on the camino and to walk through a virtually empty city after it was bursting at the seams with tourists yesterday afternoon.

I take the alternative river exit and I’m glad I did, even though the absence of arrows at the outset of a camino is slightly disconcerting — not for wayfinding, because that’s quite obvious, but because it doesn’t help you land on the right side of ‘Does this feel like a camino?’ when there are no arrows. But soon I pass three Italian pilgrims and we exchange ‘bom caminhos’, and a camino it is.

Where the river meets the ocean at Foz do Douro is my favourite part of the stage, because there are lighthouses and fishermen and a surprisingly interesting fort to explore all to myself (not to mention the fabulously-named Instituto de Socorros a Náufragos — something like the ‘Shipwreck Rescue Institute’). Foz feels like a real place, unlike Matosinhos, which comes soon enough and is quite the shock.

There are beaches by now and it’s August so they’re jam-packed with holiday-makers, even though the beaches aren’t especially nice and are surrounded by industrial cranes and silos and ugly modern buildings. The beaches and umbrellas and people and development seem to go on forever, and by 9:15am I’ve already seen two Pizza Huts and this isn’t the Portugal I know. But there are arrows and a Lidl in Matosinhos so I take those little wins, stock up, and move on.

Then the boardwalks begin and the rhythm for the rest of the stage is set. Walking a camino on wooden planks is new for me and not my preferred surface but it’s still pretty easy walking because it’s not hot and you can’t exactly get lost on boardwalks. As I approach São Paio the holiday crowds start thinning out a bit and it seems more low key and there’s a nice estuary full of bird life, all of which is more to my liking.

Before I know it, I reach my destination, the fishing village of Vila Chã, and it’s not even 2pm yet and if that was really 26km, it was as much of a breeze as the one coming off the ocean.

View attachment 131809

 

[Jodean]

My albergue, Lost Inn, was located directly below the cathedral. It was easy to walk out the door in the morning and be at the river in about 10 min. Walking along the river to the ocean at sunrise was great. There were so many birds. I really enjoyed the walk along the coast to Matosinhos and liked staying overnight there. There were lots of restaurants and cafes and the walk out of town the next day was cool, as you go over a bridge that lifts. Seeing the cruise ship and barges at sunrise was kind of special.
I was glad not to have taken the metro. Walking to Matosinhos was a good start to my Camino.

 

[Roland49]

Hello all!
I am doing my first Camino with my two adult children travelling from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. I'm reading John Brierley's book. It looks like the Senda Litoral route to Vila Do Conde might be a better way to go than the traditional Camino da Costa.
I'd love to hear people's opinions about this.

Yip! Walked via the cathedral to Foz de Douro and from there up to VdC, lovely!

 

[Martyduc]

My albergue, Lost Inn, was located directly below the cathedral. It was easy to walk out the door in the morning and be at the river in about 10 min. Walking along the river to the ocean at sunrise was great. There were so many birds. I really enjoyed the walk along the coast to Matosinhos and liked staying overnight there. There were lots of restaurants and cafes and the walk out of town the next day was cool, as you go over a bridge that lifts. Seeing the cruise ship and barges at sunrise was kind of special.
I was glad not to have taken the metro. Walking to Matosinhos was a good start to my Camino.

Totally agree!!

 

[Former member 22438]

The difference between the so called senda literal ( I hate that word) and the caminho da costa is a distance of about 500 meters. The senda, in Portuguese “Beira Mar, follows the coastline as close as the sea itself so this walk is as flat as a pancake
More from the coast start some hills and the waymarked caminho path goes through the hills sometimes over slippery cobblestones.
I did both during my 4 caminhos from Lisbon and Porto. The 5th was the original caminho out of Porto by Maia and Vairão

The Beira Mar and the Coastal come together in every place like Vila Praia de Âncora
Along the Beira Mar are some (workers) restaurants where you can have a menu do dia ( better than a Pilgrims menu). The coastal leads through small hamlets where hardly is to find anything

 

[rainswift]

I'm planning on a short day to Matosinhos only for my first day on the Camino out of Porto. So, I'm going to go have pancakes at O Diplomata for breakfast, then take a casual saunter of 12 km out along the river via the Senda Litoral. ^_^ I'm looking forward to it.

 

[Former member 22438]

I'm planning on a short day to Matosinhos only for my first day on the Camino out of Porto. So, I'm going to go have pancakes at O Diplomata for breakfast, then take a casual saunter of 12 km out along the river via the Senda Litoral. ^_^ I'm looking forward to it.

Walking on top of the pancake though. The real Beira Mar and Coasta route starts past Viana do Castelo
To Matosinhos it is an urban walk. From there it is partly a boardwalk walk .
Be carefull for recreatic bikers which come from behind. It is very narrow. And if you walk with poles, take off the rubber tips They can be lost between the planks of the boardwalks

 

[Johnnyjenga]

Yes, I walked this stage in April and it was very pleasant. It's a relatively long stage, so I walked to Matosinhos the day I arrived and took the metro back to my hotel in Porto. The next day, I took the metro back to Matosinhos, with my pack and walked to Vila do Conde. The walk from Vila do Conde to Arcos, was not terrible and once there, you can stay in Arcos, Rates or Pedra Furada. Buen Camino!

 

[lgj]

Hello all!
I am doing my first Camino with my two adult children travelling from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. I'm reading John Brierley's book. It looks like the Senda Litoral route to Vila Do Conde might be a better way to go than the traditional Camino da Costa.
I'd love to hear people's opinions about this.
Thank you!
Collette

I loved the Senda Litoral route. The first stage is quite long if you haven’t been doing some training. You’ll walk through sand off and on, as well as boardwalks. It rained most of my first day & that does sort of slow down the pace. Great meal at the beach restaurant in Labruge. There are hostels there & at Mindelo as well.

 

[jondeane]

Yes, I walked this stage in April and it was very pleasant. It's a relatively long stage, so I walked to Matosinhos the day I arrived and took the metro back to my hotel in Porto. The next day, I took the metro back to Matosinhos, with my pack and walked to Vila do Conde. The walk from Vila do Conde to Arcos, was not terrible and once there, you can stay in Arcos, Rates or Pedra Furada. Buen Camino!

Any issues with the transit? how long did it take? I'm considering this option as well. I land in Porto at 10 AM.
I'm time constrained for this Camino, so I'm considering a few options like this.

 

[Johnnyjenga]

Any issues with the transit? how long did it take? I'm considering this option as well. I land in Porto at 10 AM.
I'm time constrained for this Camino, so I'm considering a few options like this.

Any issues with the transit? how long did it take? I'm considering this option as well. I land in Porto at 10 AM.
I'm time constrained for this Camino, so I'm considering a few options like this.

No, none at all. The metro takes about 30 minutes from town center. I used the Mercato station in Matosinhos. You have to purchase a ticket plus your fare for the first ride. After that, just top it up. There is a placard with all of the stops. But the zone indicated next to the stop name.

Buy two tickets when you return to Porto the first evening, so you don’t have to lose time the following morning. For your walk from Vila do Code, download a map app. I used mapy.cz and it worked great. It’s free and they have an outdoor layer which show the entire Camino.

 

[ColletteMa]

Hello all!
I am doing my first Camino with my two adult children travelling from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. I'm reading John Brierley's book. It looks like the Senda Litoral route to Vila Do Conde might be a better way to go than the traditional Camino da Costa.
I'd love to hear people's opinions about this.
Thank you!
Collette

Thank you all for your help! I'm looking at all your comments and soaking it all in!
Collette

 

[grdemedeiros]

I asked a similar question a few weeks ago and got a lot of great info. See thread 'Breaking Up the Walk from Porto to Vila do Conde' https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...p-the-walk-from-porto-to-vila-do-conde.86800/

 

[ColletteMa]

I asked a similar question a few weeks ago and got a lot of great info. See thread 'Breaking Up the Walk from Porto to Vila do Conde' https://www.caminodesantiago.me/com...p-the-walk-from-porto-to-vila-do-conde.86800/

Thank you very much!

 

[TomCole]

I loved the Senda Litoral route. The first stage is quite long if you haven’t been doing some training. You’ll walk through sand off and on, as well as boardwalks. It rained most of my first day & that does sort of slow down the pace. Great meal at the beach restaurant in Labruge. There are hostels there & at Mindelo as well.

I'm going from Matisinos to Labruge for my first day. Is that an easier day then?

 

[Roland49]

I'm going from Matisinos to Labruge for my first day. Is that an easier day then?

Lovely morning stroll

 

[TomCole]

Lovely morning stroll

That sounds like a good first day then!