Portugese Coastal route starting March 3

[annandrews]

Dear members

This is an awesome place, where past pilgrims seem to give guidance and share experience.

I am planning to walk to Santiago on the Portuguese central route starting next week for 21 days (February 2020)
This is my first time and there are many questions in my mind, hoping to find some answers

1. Is it better to start at Porto or Tui for a fulfilling experience? What is recommended for 1st time?
2. I generally dont like cold weather. Will the temperature of 60s combined with brisk/intermediate walking generate enough body heat to keep warm?
3. How does one plan air travel? I am coming from New York. If I get a round trip to Porta, how do I get back to Porta once I walk and reach Santiago?

All my best wishes to all of you pilgrims out there!

 

[peregrina2000]

Dear members

This is an awesome place, where past pilgrims seem to give guidance and share experience.

I am planning to walk to Santiago on the Portuguese interior route starting next week for 21 days (February 2020)
This is my first time and there are many questions in my mind, hoping to find some answers

1. Is it better to start at Porto or Tui for a fulfilling experience? What is recommended for 1st time?
2. I generally dont like cold weather. Will the temperature of 60s combined with brisk/intermediate walking generate enough body heat to keep warm?
3. How does one plan air travel? I am coming from New York. If I get a round trip to Porta, how do I get back to Porta once I walk and reach Santiago?

All my best wishes to all of you pilgrims out there!

Hi, @annandrews,
Welcome to the forum! The Portuguese route has a lot of confusing terminology. The title of your thread said “interior route”, but I don’t think that is what you are considering. So I deleted the term, but will change back if I misunderstood, just let me know. But the Interior route goes from Viseu up through Chaves and into Spain through Verín and then joins the Camino Sanabrés.

Some reactions to your questions. Tui to Santiago is a 4-6 day walk for most people, so you should definitely start earlier if you want to walk for 21 days. Take a look at the stages on the Gronze website
Depending on how many actual walking days you have, starting even a few days earlier than Coimbra would be doable. Tomar is a wonderful city to visit, but you’ll have to make a guess about how far back you want to start.

You can get back to Porto easily from Santiago. Daily buses, in fact direct from Santiago to Porto, according to this recent comment. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/porto-to-sarria-travel-advice.66422/#post-823018

I would check your flight options carefully because this is low season and you might snag a bargain. Think about the “multi-city” option — that is, into Lisbon or Porto, and out of Santiago. I always bus a ticket that way and when you add up the total cost and weigh it against the total convenience, I always find it is a good deal. From NYC you should have many more options than those of us from small town America.

Body temperatures are so individual that it is hard to say what your sweet spot it. But even though I generally get cold easily I am comfortable walking in any temperature above 40 F. So assuming 60s is the normal average now in that part of the world, it sounds like perfect temperature.

You might also want to scroll through some of the many threads in the Camino Portugues sub-forum. The search function also works really well if you want to narrow your question to specific topics. Lots of info here and lots of people happy to help. Bom caminho, Laurie

 

[Peter Wright]

Dear members

This is an awesome place, where past pilgrims seem to give guidance and share experience.s
I am planning to walk to Santiago on the Portuguese interior route starting next week for 21 days (February 2020)
This is my first time and there are many questions in my mind, hoping to find some answers

1. Is it better to start at Porto or Tui for a fulfilling experience? What is recommended for 1st time?
2. I generally dont like cold weather. Will the temperature of 60s combined with brisk/intermediate walking generate enough body heat to keep warm?
3. How does one plan air travel? I am coming from New York. If I get a round trip to Porta, how do I get back to Porta once I walk and reach Santiago?

All my best wishes to all of you pilgrims out there!

I walked from Porto to Santiago at the end of September 2019 in 12 days. I slowed down in the second half to spend more nights in small towns than Santiago at the end. I am a reasonably fit 69 year old and could easily have done it in the10 days of the guide book. I flew air Canada from Toronto to Porto, Iberian air from Santiago to Madrid and on to the UK, Air Canada home. As mentioned in another reply booking flights in advance was good value. The Porto to Tui section was wonderful and I would reccomend it. Bon Camino

 

[lt56ny]

I think everyone's definition of a full experience is different. Some people feel that they get alot out of just a week of walking others need greater distances. I for one need alot more time to walk. The shortest camino I have done is from Lisbon to Santiago. The longest one was starting in Le Puy to Santiago. I need a few weeks to get all the junk out of my head. Alot of people talk about being mindful and practicing mindfulness on the Camino. I try to be mindless and practice mindlessness. I need to get rid of everything before good things can come into my mush filled brain. But I do think the more time you have to walk the better it would be for everyone.
If there are no real adverse conditions such as heavy rain and winds or extreme cold, I mean well below 0C/32F, I would not worry about it. Your body will heat up nicely and you should not have any issues walking. I walked this November and December on the Camino Frances and it was cold with lots of rain, snow, and wind. I have lived in Mexico for 7 years after living in a cold climate and my tolerance for cold went way down. Having said that I had no problems with the cold at freezing temperatures once my body warmed up to walking. It was at night that it was cold in many albergues. Even though they had heat they tended to turn it off early, sometimes as early as 8 or 9PM. I had a light sleeping bag and luckily every albergue except a few had blankets so I was ok.
I think the advice Perigrina 2000 gave regarding transportation was very sound. I fly from Mexico and I know it is different everywhere but I have found the cheapest flights, for me, to be on Iberia. I would also check TAP Portugal also besides the normal airlines you would look at. Maybe Easyjet flies there.I would check Lisbon too. If it is significantly cheaper you may want to go there. Portugal is a small country and easy to get from Lisbon to Porto and back. After my winter Camino last year I met my daughter in Porto. It was an easy bus ride to Porto. You can do the train too. If I remember correctly the only way to get to Porto from Santiago by plane was going through Madrid and that would be a big drag.
I would say the more time you can walk in Portugal the better. I think the nicest, kindest, most generous people I have ever met are the Portuguese. I also (my personal opinion) like the food more in Portugal. Part of the reason for this is Portugal is cheaper and I am on a budget usually and I think you can get better food in neighborhood restaurants in Portugal than in Spain.

 

[RodlaRob]

Hi annandrews
21 days... that is a good walking time to enjoy. You are lucky to do this.
...but 31 days from Tui???? please use the forums on this website to access the info you are looking for.
So much info is there from our experienced colleagues on the very questions you ask?

 

[David Tallan]

I can't speak to the temperatures in February as I walked in April. I had about 21 days when I walked. I did a quite leisurely walk from Porto in 13 days, so two weeks will give you plenty of time to get to Santiago. With the extra week you could walk on to Finisterre and/or Muxia. Or you could spend the extra days in Santiago and Porto. There is plenty to see in those cities. It is easy to get from Santiago back to Porto by bus, which is how I did it.

 

[annandrews]

Hi, @annandrews,
Welcome to the forum! The Portuguese route has a lot of confusing terminology. The title of your thread said “interior route”, but I don’t think that is what you are considering. So I deleted the term, but will change back if I misunderstood, just let me know. But the Interior route goes from Viseu up through Chaves and into Spain through Verín and then joins the Camino Sanabrés.

Some reactions to your questions. Tui to Santiago is a 4-6 day walk for most people, so you should definitely start earlier if you want to walk for 21 days. Take a look at the stages on the Gronze website
Depending on how many actual walking days you have, starting even a few days earlier than Coimbra would be doable. Tomar is a wonderful city to visit, but you’ll have to make a guess about how far back you want to start.

You can get back to Porto easily from Santiago. Daily buses, in fact direct from Santiago to Porto, according to this recent comment. https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/porto-to-sarria-travel-advice.66422/#post-823018

I would check your flight options carefully because this is low season and you might snag a bargain. Think about the “multi-city” option — that is, into Lisbon or Porto, and out of Santiago. I always bus a ticket that way and when you add up the total cost and weigh it against the total convenience, I always find it is a good deal. From NYC you should have many more options than those of us from small town America.

Body temperatures are so individual that it is hard to say what your sweet spot it. But even though I generally get cold easily I am comfortable walking in any temperature above 40 F. So assuming 60s is the normal average now in that part of the world, it sounds like perfect temperature.

You might also want to scroll through some of the many threads in the Camino Portugues sub-forum. The search function also works really well if you want to narrow your question to specific topics. Lots of info here and lots of people happy to help. Bom caminho, Laurie

Thank you Laurie! Apologies for the late reply. I got a one way ticket to Madrid for next Tue and am thinking of taking a flight to Porto to start my journey there. Porto-Santiago-Finisterre is what I am hoping to do. I did ask this question prematurely, there is a lot of content out there which answers most questions. I will start my camino on Feb 27th/28th from Porto and let the camino guide me for the rest of my path.

 

[annandrews]

I can't speak to the temperatures in February as I walked in April. I had about 21 days when I walked. I did a quite leisurely walk from Porto in 13 days, so two weeks will give you plenty of time to get to Santiago. With the extra week you could walk on to Finisterre and/or Muxia. Or you could spend the extra days in Santiago and Porto. There is plenty to see in those cities. It is easy to get from Santiago back to Porto by bus, which is how I did it.

Thank you David. This is my plan as well. Porto-Santiago-Finisterre. I am starting last week of Feb, I have a rain jacket, a sun hat, a rain boots,, 2 pairs of clothes, a towel, a fleece blanket, minimal toileteries, my cellphone and powerbank in a 22L pack, I am hoping to do the trip with what I have, not buy anything and keep it minimalist. The rest, I surrender to the camino.

 

[annandrews]

I think everyone's definition of a full experience is different. Some people feel that they get alot out of just a week of walking others need greater distances. I for one need alot more time to walk. The shortest camino I have done is from Lisbon to Santiago. The longest one was starting in Le Puy to Santiago. I need a few weeks to get all the junk out of my head. Alot of people talk about being mindful and practicing mindfulness on the Camino. I try to be mindless and practice mindlessness. I need to get rid of everything before good things can come into my mush filled brain. But I do think the more time you have to walk the better it would be for everyone.
If there are no real adverse conditions such as heavy rain and winds or extreme cold, I mean well below 0C/32F, I would not worry about it. Your body will heat up nicely and you should not have any issues walking. I walked this November and December on the Camino Frances and it was cold with lots of rain, snow, and wind. I have lived in Mexico for 7 years after living in a cold climate and my tolerance for cold went way down. Having said that I had no problems with the cold at freezing temperatures once my body warmed up to walking. It was at night that it was cold in many albergues. Even though they had heat they tended to turn it off early, sometimes as early as 8 or 9PM. I had a light sleeping bag and luckily every albergue except a few had blankets so I was ok.
I think the advice Perigrina 2000 gave regarding transportation was very sound. I fly from Mexico and I know it is different everywhere but I have found the cheapest flights, for me, to be on Iberia. I would also check TAP Portugal also besides the normal airlines you would look at. Maybe Easyjet flies there.I would check Lisbon too. If it is significantly cheaper you may want to go there. Portugal is a small country and easy to get from Lisbon to Porto and back. After my winter Camino last year I met my daughter in Porto. It was an easy bus ride to Porto. You can do the train too. If I remember correctly the only way to get to Porto from Santiago by plane was going through Madrid and that would be a big drag.
I would say the more time you can walk in Portugal the better. I think the nicest, kindest, most generous people I have ever met are the Portuguese. I also (my personal opinion) like the food more in Portugal. Part of the reason for this is Portugal is cheaper and I am on a budget usually and I think you can get better food in neighborhood restaurants in Portugal than in Spain.

Thank you It56ny, I have booked a one way from New York to Madrid and plan to meander my way through the camino where it takes me. My general plan is to fly to Porto and then walk to Santiago and then onto Finisterre, back to Santiao, fly back to Madrid or London and back to New York, That said, all these tickets are yet to be booked. Once my walk is complete, I will share my experience.

 

[KariC]

1. Is it better to start at Porto or Tui for a fulfilling experience? What is recommended for 1st time?
Definitely start in Porto, or even farther south than that, since you have three weeks. Some of the most amazing part of that is south of Tui.
2. I generally dont like cold weather. Will the temperature of 60s combined with brisk/intermediate walking generate enough body heat to keep warm?
I would expect so.
3. How does one plan air travel? I am coming from New York. If I get a round trip to Porto, how do I get back to Porto once I walk and reach Santiago?
Don't get a RT to Porto - fly into something like Madrid, and either get one way flights to Porto and from Santiago, or consider bus or train, since you're going to have the time to do it, and you can see more of the country that way. I'd expect a lot of the flights from the US go through somewhere else in Europe (Madrid, Lisbon, Paris) to Porto.

 

[annandrews]

Thank you @KariC . I was supposed to fly out tonight to Madrid. While packing earlier in the day, I realized I had misplaced my Green Card. I looked everywhere it could be, but could'nt find it. And I ended up missing the flight tonight. So plans are cancelled as of now. I was really looking forward to this trip, guess it is not time yet.

 

[annandrews]

Though I was devastated ( and still am ) that I couldnt go ( and this is my first camino and it seemed a bad omen), I am a bit relieved now. Had I gone, it may have been a stressful camino, trying to make sure I get back before the ban and worrying about having a place to stay. Many say, it was a blessing in disguise. What do you think ?

 

[Anniesantiago]

Thank you @KariC . I was supposed to fly out tonight to Madrid. While packing earlier in the day, I realized I had misplaced my Green Card. I looked everywhere it could be, but could'nt find it. And I ended up missing the flight tonight. So plans are cancelled as of now. I was really looking forward to this trip, guess it is not time yet.

Providence