Portuguese Camino

[Martin&Yvonne]

Hello all,

We are avid hikers from Canada, in our late 40's and early 50's. Our plan is to walk the camino to Santiago from Porto next September 2019 and haven't made up our mind yet which route to take, Inland, Coastal or a combination of the 2. I'm sure we will figure that out with all the advice on this forum.
A few questions we would have tho is some feedback from all of you on using an agency over organizing and booking our own itinerary. My Dutch background always has me looking for the best bang for my buck and to save a few dollars (-:

Here are some questions;
1) Seeing that we want to walk the camino in September 2019 (6th to 20th approximately) would we need to prebook accommodation? We would want our own room (no dormitory style) so is there enough hotels or guesthouses available?
2) Do you find that paying by credit card (Visa and/or MC) is widely accepted in hotels and restaurants?
3) Is there anyone that traveled the camino route from Porto without pre booking accommodation and any feedback you can share?
4) Where and on which route is the best and most interesting place to take a 1 day break from hiking?
5) Anyone that thinks they have the best route suggestion and is willing to share this from town to town?

Appealing to us is the luggage transfer offered by some agencies, and it doesn't seem there is another way around that if you don't want to carry things other then a small daypack. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated

 

[ConnieAdriano]

Hi Martin&Yvonne,

We finished our Portuguese Caminho just this August. We went by the central route from Lisbon.
1& 3. We never pre-booked accommodation but did stay in dormitory rooms (ages 47 & 49 costing 6 - 15 euro each. Some albergues did have single rooms but at double the price. We did not look for hotels or guesthouses so I can't answer that question. Porto was the only place we thought we might not get a room. If you are starting there I would pre-book so you can relax before you start.
2. We used a multi currency passport card which was effectively a MC without the fees and being attached to our home accounts. We had one major issue with this. In smaller places the ATMs would not accept our card. So we learned to plan and get extra money out in the larger places.
4. We LOVED the central route. Lots of farmland, villages, cornfields, tomato fields, forests, hilltops, just stunning and quite peaceful walking. A one day break...We changed our end of day destination from the Brierley suggested endings after Porto as the path became very busy with pilgrims. And since we were not booking we worried we might not get a bed. For a day rest perhaps Barcelos or Ponte de Lima - both quite beautiful with a lot of history. Redondela & Padron likewise. Do some research and see which fulfils your curiosities.
5. Like I stated earlier we LOVED the central route and followed Brierley. The route was great and well marked. We met wonderful people and made life long Caminho family members.

Whichever route you chose it will be the right one for you. Caminho is an amazing experience. Planning is half of the enjoyment in anticipation. Have fun, good luck and Bom Caminho. Connie and Adriano.

 

[John Sikora]

1) Seeing that we want to walk the camino in September 2019 (6th to 20th approximately)....

Contrary to many, I have always prebooked. That way, I know I can just enjoy the walk without worrying about where I'm going to stay. That said, I don't think you'll have much of a problem. I walked during that same time period and there were many vacancies (even at the better hotels).

2) Do you find that paying by credit card (Visa and/or MC)....
Hotels - mostly yes. Restaurants vary. If it's a larger restaurant they usually do but smaller town restaurants often only accept cash. That said, in those restaurants meals are usually under 15E per person.

4) Where and on which route is the best...
It depends on what you like. The national park off the coast of Baiona (or Vigo) is very nice to spend a day (you can also talk the ferry company into letting you take the ferry to the island from Baiona and then another ferry to Vigo if you want to). Caminha is also a nice town to spend some time in. Baiona and Vigo are both larger cities that have the amenities and places to just stroll.

5) Anyone that thinks they have the best route....
This really depends on what distance you want to walk each day. Having walked the Camino Frances, I found the inland portions of the Portuguese not as nice. I did enjoy the coastal portions (particularly those just outside Porto and up to Esponsende (although the fog got in the way). I used a service to set up the hotels and routing based on my limitations and interests and didn't regret it at all. They provided excellent accomodations, luggage routing, and a little route assistance but nothing else so I was on my own.

 

[David Manzo]

Having wanted to stay in hotels we used the booking.com app. It worked perfectly. Easy to book. Easy to cancel. Reviews at the fingertips. I’d suggest a rest day in Tui. It’s about 1/2. Tui, Spain and it’s neighboring town of Valenca, Portugal are fabulous. We stayed at a small hotel that was just perfect called Hotel a Torre do Xudue. This is on the central route. We walked along the coast day 1 and then to the central route http://www.booking.com/Share-Gnavp2

 

[David Manzo]

Also regarding the baggage transfer service: We carried the first 100 miles and then after developing some leg issues we used Correos which is run by the Spanish postal service. So worth it. About 6 Euros per day and they took our packs from hotel to hotel. Never an issue

 

[dfox]

Hello all,

Here are some questions;
1) Seeing that we want to walk the camino in September 2019 (6th to 20th approximately) would we need to prebook accommodation? We would want our own room (no dormitory style) so is there enough hotels or guesthouses available?

My CP trip will be May 12 to 30, 2019. Except in Porrino, all hotels are booked with free cancellation either through booking.com, expedia, or directly with the hotels whichever offer the best prices.

I guess hotels in Porrino do not accept reservation till the new season (April, 2019. )

Air Transact from Toronto directly to Porto was C$633.00 purchased in May this year.

 

[Bill Krueger]

We walked the Coastal Route in June, 2018. And we loved it. We would call ahead each morning to book beds but had no trouble whatsoever. The Camino is typically a cash society especially in the smaller towns. If you are aware of that and plan ahead some, you will be able to find plenty of ATM's. Plan to stay a couple of days in Porto before starting out. It is a beautiful city with much to see. We did not find the Brierley book particularly helpful so find something that breaks down the coastal route with much greater detail.

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

Hi Martin&Yvonne,

We finished our Portuguese Caminho just this August. We went by the central route from Lisbon.
1& 3. We never pre-booked accommodation but did stay in dormitory rooms (ages 47 & 49 costing 6 - 15 euro each. Some albergues did have single rooms but at double the price. We did not look for hotels or guesthouses so I can't answer that question. Porto was the only place we thought we might not get a room. If you are starting there I would pre-book so you can relax before you start.
2. We used a multi currency passport card which was effectively a MC without the fees and being attached to our home accounts. We had one major issue with this. In smaller places the ATMs would not accept our card. So we learned to plan and get extra money out in the larger places.
4. We LOVED the central route. Lots of farmland, villages, cornfields, tomato fields, forests, hilltops, just stunning and quite peaceful walking. A one day break...We changed our end of day destination from the Brierley suggested endings after Porto as the path became very busy with pilgrims. And since we were not booking we worried we might not get a bed. For a day rest perhaps Barcelos or Ponte de Lima - both quite beautiful with a lot of history. Redondela & Padron likewise. Do some research and see which fulfils your curiosities.
5. Like I stated earlier we LOVED the central route and followed Brierley. The route was great and well marked. We met wonderful people and made life long Caminho family members.

Whichever route you chose it will be the right one for you. Caminho is an amazing experience. Planning is half of the enjoyment in anticipation. Have fun, good luck and Bom Caminho. Connie and Adriano.

Hello Connie and Adriano. Thank you for your reply! Really appreciated. Kudos to you guys for sticking it out in a dorm. It would bring us right back to our backpacking days 25+ years ago in your home country but nowadays prefer to stay away from the sounds and smells that come with that. Having said that, if need be we wouldn’t be opposed to an occasional dorm.

About the style of CC you mentioned we are not familiar with it but reading through all the comments, paying for accommodation and in many cases food at restaurants shouldn’t be a problem. And then there is always the option of the ATM machines.

Thank you for the route suggestion. It’s going to be a toss up which route to take.

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

1) Seeing that we want to walk the camino in September 2019 (6th to 20th approximately)....

Contrary to many, I have always prebooked. That way, I know I can just enjoy the walk without worrying about where I'm going to stay. That said, I don't think you'll have much of a problem. I walked during that same time period and there were many vacancies (even at the better hotels).

2) Do you find that paying by credit card (Visa and/or MC)....
Hotels - mostly yes. Restaurants vary. If it's a larger restaurant they usually do but smaller town restaurants often only accept cash. That said, in those restaurants meals are usually under 15E per person.

4) Where and on which route is the best...
It depends on what you like. The national park off the coast of Baiona (or Vigo) is very nice to spend a day (you can also talk the ferry company into letting you take the ferry to the island from Baiona and then another ferry to Vigo if you want to). Caminha is also a nice town to spend some time in. Baiona and Vigo are both larger cities that have the amenities and places to just stroll.

5) Anyone that thinks they have the best route....
This really depends on what distance you want to walk each day. Having walked the Camino Frances, I found the inland portions of the Portuguese not as nice. I did enjoy the coastal portions (particularly those just outside Porto and up to Esponsende (although the fog got in the way). I used a service to set up the hotels and routing based on my limitations and interests and didn't regret it at all. They provided excellent accomodations, luggage routing, and a little route assistance but nothing else so I was on my own.

Hi John,

Thanks for your reply. I take it you walked both the inland and coastal Camino ?
That’s interesting. We still haven’t figured out what to do. In a way the coastal appeals to me. I personally love the ocean and beach living in landlocked Alberta Canada. (I realize that walking the coastal doesn’t necessarily mean you are walking along the ocean mostly) But also reading a lot of good stuff about the inland.

May I ask which travel agency you used? I haven’t read much about that on the forum but we have looked into a few different ones.

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

Having wanted to stay in hotels we used the booking.com app. It worked perfectly. Easy to book. Easy to cancel. Reviews at the fingertips. I’d suggest a rest day in Tui. It’s about 1/2. Tui, Spain and it’s neighboring town of Valenca, Portugal are fabulous. We stayed at a small hotel that was just perfect called Hotel a Torre do Xudue. This is on the central route. We walked along the coast day 1 and then to the central route http://www.booking.com/Share-Gnavp2

Thanks David!

Very familiar with Booking. I’m a Genius member........
Did you find that Wifi is widely available in hotels and restaurants? Or did you have a data plan. We usually don’t buy any data for traveling oversees, just putting our phones on airplane mode and use wifi when available. Your response is appreciated.

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

Also regarding the baggage transfer service: We carried the first 100 miles and then after developing some leg issues we used Correos which is run by the Spanish postal service. So worth it. About 6 Euros per day and they took our packs from hotel to hotel. Never an issue

I find this very interesting. Do I understand it right that you were only able to use this in Spain?is that service available in Portugal as well? Any problems you ran into with language etc?would really appreciate if you could explain the process of arranging for that service. How exactly does it work? And 6 euro,s per BP per day correct?

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

My CP trip will be May 12 to 30, 2019. Except in Porrino, all hotels are booked with free cancellation either through booking.com, expedia, or directly with the hotels whichever offer the best prices.

I guess hotels in Porrino do not accept reservation till the new season (April, 2019. )

Air Transact from Toronto directly to Porto was C$633.00 purchased in May this year.

Thanks!we would be flying from Calgary. Likely Air Canada due to our aeroplan miles. But thanks for your advice.

 

[Marie Christian]

I just returned from the CAMINO Portuguese from Lisbon to Santiago. Went along the coast from Porto Northwards and it was stunning. Most of the sends litoral is finished with boardwalk and only a couple of places were on hard sand. Stunning beaches; even went swimming once(cold water though!). Did not pay with card but cash; cash machines in Portugal will give you a maximum of 200euros per transaction. Stayed in dorms, private or double or triple rooms and only booked the night before when I could; otherwise took my chance and provided I got there by 2:00pm had no problem. It was very hot early September so started sometimes at 05:30 am with friends..... Great route!
Good luck.

 

[Rex]

Just finished CP from Lisbon to Santiago on Sept 15. Only place where there were zero rooms was Ponte de Lima, completely due to the giant festival that occurs on the first or second weekend of Sept each year. Note: I used private hostels and small hotels or private homes for rooms. Only stayed in one albergue, as combination of snorers/early risers seems to ensure that I can’t get enough sleep in those situations. I’ve commented on another thread about asking at bar cafes for recommendations, or if any of the locals rent rooms (when hotels are all booked). Used Booking.com for the 2 nights where it was necessary to arrange a room in advance.
WiFi is available in virtually every bar, cafe, hotel, etc... along the route, but you may have to ask. Didn’t use a data plan, just Wi-Fi (personal opinion, ATT, my USA carrier, charges exorbitant prices for any usage overseas, as the best plan (data, text and phone) they could offer would have run me almost USD200 for the trip!).

Porto and Tui/Valença are both worthy of spending an extra day to experience all the history, architecture, fortifications, etc...
Walked the central route and didn’t experience a big increase in peregrino traffic until Tui. Didn’t use a baggage service and kept my backpack to 11kg, which is a relatively comfortable load for a 70kg hiker.

Bom Caminho!

 

[mishlove]

Get the Trailsmart app...and stay at Casa Fernanda...a must.

 

[jmcarp]

Just book a hotel in the morning, or no earlier than the night before. Booking.com is as good as any. Credit cards are generally OK in hotels and big city restaurants, otherwise the Camino is a cash-based experience for albergues and smaller cafés. Use ATMs as necessary, but always have enough cash on hand for a hotel room and a couple of meals -- €100 minimum, more better. If given the option, always pay in Euros rather than Canadian or US dollars -- the exchange rate is almost always better.

 

[Stacyv]

Porto is worth spending a day or two in. I loved it and recommend the tuk tuk tour. Great way to see the city if you have limited time. I walked this route a month ago and took a mix of the coastal and Senda Litoral....this route keeps you as close to the coast as you can get. It’s beautiful...you can’t get lost, the two routes meet up. For accommodation you should have plenty. I found Booking.com excellent and booked one day out. Luggage transfer is abundant when you cross into Spain. It’s a bit harder to locate in Portugal. You certainly don’t need a travel company to arrange anything

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

Porto is worth spending a day or two in. I loved it and recommend the tuk tuk tour. Great way to see the city if you have limited time. I walked this route a month ago and took a mix of the coastal and Senda Litoral....this route keeps you as close to the coast as you can get. It’s beautiful...you can’t get lost, the two routes meet up. For accommodation you should have plenty. I found Booking.com excellent and booked one day out. Luggage transfer is abundant when you cross into Spain. It’s a bit harder to locate in Portugal. You certainly don’t need a travel company to arrange anything

Thank you Stacey (and Jim)

Seems that most experienced travellers recommend to just start walking and book accommodation on the go. We are definitely capable doing that.
So, piecing everything together we are leaning towards the coastal route from Porto. This will both be our starting point and point of return and we will definitely spend some time in the city.
Good to know about what’s possible about CC as well as to bringing sufficient cash. Only thing we would need to figure out is what to do about luggage. We could carry ourselves (I guess it would make us more of real pilgrims) or just see whats available when we would want to use luggage service.

Thanks again.

 

[loumura]

Hello all,

We are avid hikers from Canada, in our late 40's and early 50's. Our plan is to walk the camino to Santiago from Porto next September 2019 and haven't made up our mind yet which route to take, Inland, Coastal or a combination of the 2. I'm sure we will figure that out with all the advice on this forum.
A few questions we would have tho is some feedback from all of you on using an agency over organizing and booking our own itinerary. My Dutch background always has me looking for the best bang for my buck and to save a few dollars (-:

Here are some questions;
1) Seeing that we want to walk the camino in September 2019 (6th to 20th approximately) would we need to prebook accommodation? We would want our own room (no dormitory style) so is there enough hotels or guesthouses available?
2) Do you find that paying by credit card (Visa and/or MC) is widely accepted in hotels and restaurants?
3) Is there anyone that traveled the camino route from Porto without pre booking accommodation and any feedback you can share?
4) Where and on which route is the best and most interesting place to take a 1 day break from hiking?
5) Anyone that thinks they have the best route suggestion and is willing to share this from town to town?

Appealing to us is the luggage transfer offered by some agencies, and it doesn't seem there is another way around that if you don't want to carry things other then a small daypack. Any thoughts on that would be appreciated

Great questions and I have the same...we are going in March on the same route. Would love someone to offer answers to these questions...Thanks!

 

[kestrel39]

My husband and I recently walked the CP from Porto to SDC (Oct 1 - 18). It was our first Camino and it was a wonderful experience.

Pre-booking -- we generally did not pre-book, although we might reserve the night before or during the day as we were walking. We mostly stayed in small hotels and had no difficulty, except a Saturday in Ponte de Lima which was fully booked for an October festival. That night we were very grateful for a bed in the albuergue. I'm sure there are at least 2 schools of thought on pre-booking ... I am very much a "planner", especially in my profession, but I found it a welcome change and in some ways a helpful spiritual practice, to NOT plan too much. It allowed me to approach each day based on how I and my partner actually felt in the moment, physically and mentally. We used Gronze.com, trailsmart, wise pilgrim, and google to surface lodging options, then called them directly to reserve. It worked great and most places had availability.

We used cash all the way. We carried credit cards as a backup but many smaller places don't take them, so we kept on the lookout for ATM's to resupply our cash every few days. We ran into several people who had problems of carrying only cards and had no cash with which to eat; we helped them out by exchanging some of our currency.

We walked along the coast from Porto to Vila do Conde, then moved to the central route for the remainder. We loved the coastal part and the central -- both were very beautiful and peaceful. We did take a taxi from Vila do Conde to the join the central route, as the walk out of Vila is along a very busy road without much shoulder. I don't have anything to compare it to, so I'll have to go back and do one of the other routes.

We rested in Pontevedra -- we liked the town, and also it was the right timing for us as we had some business to take care of, and were physically tired. But there are any number of towns I would have been happy to rest in -- Barcelos, Tui/Valenca, Ponte de Lima. For me, it worked well to leave the decision about a resting location until I was out on the trail and could go by how I felt.

We carried our packs, but we did use TuiTrans to ship some other stuff that we didn't want to carry but wanted to be able to periodically access (primarily a laptop computer, to take care of some business issues, but also other stuff we would need for the non-Camino portions of our trip). They were great, handled our request perfectly (we shipped to Pontevedra, retrieved our stuff for a couple days, then re-shipped it to Ivar in Santiago).

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Nice to read the details of your experiences along the Portuguese way and it sounds like you had a leisurely walk. I will be walking this same route starting April 30th, staying the first night out of Porto in Matsinhos to break up the long first day. In looking at the other stages in Brierley's book, I am concerned about the long one going to Barcelos (30k) and the next one from Barcelos to Ponte de Lima (34k). My preference to walk is 20-25k per day, although I have gone farther when needed at times. Did you follow the stages in his book? I want to include the Spiritual Variant, and am somewhat limited on time, so feel I need to follow the recommended stages. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[ChrisT]

Nice to read the details of your experiences along the Portuguese way and it sounds like you had a leisurely walk. I will be walking this same route starting April 30th, staying the first night out of Porto in Matsinhos to break up the long first day. In looking at the other stages in Brierley's book, I am concerned about the long one going to Barcelos (30k) and the next one from Barcelos to Ponte de Lima (34k). My preference to walk is 20-25k per day, although I have gone farther when needed at times. Did you follow the stages in his book? I want to include the Spiritual Variant, and am somewhat limited on time, so feel I need to follow the recommended stages. Any advice would be aporeciated.?

I finished the route from Porto in mid October and having followed the Brierly stages I needed a rest day in Ponte de Lima. I found it hard to start with the distances on the first 3 days. Had they been the last 3 days it may not have been an issue. It wasn't a problem as Ponte de Lima is lovely and I enjoyed my time there but I took the decision to rest as there is also a huge hill on the section after Ponte de Lima. Im glad I did.

 

[Elle Bieling]

Martin and Yvonne - Do it yourselves! Sometimes we pre-booked if there was a holiday or something like that. I hear the Coastal is getting busier and busier, but we saw more pilgrims on the Central than the coastal in the two springs we did them of 2017/18. However, you never really know. You will have to use your judgement. As for cash there are ATM's everywhere, and it is the way to go. Porto is a fabulous place, but so is Ponte de Lima, Valenca, Tui and Pontevedra on the Central Route. On the Coastal Route, we loved Oia and Baiona. What the coastal lacks in big historic cities, it makes up in lovely seaside boardwalks and views. You can look at my blog to see the routes we took, our recommendations, and maybe it will help you choose! Good luck! The Many Ways on the Camino Portugues

 

[loumura]

My husband and I recently walked the CP from Porto to SDC (Oct 1 - 18). It was our first Camino and it was a wonderful experience.

Pre-booking -- we generally did not pre-book, although we might reserve the night before or during the day as we were walking. We mostly stayed in small hotels and had no difficulty, except a Saturday in Ponte de Lima which was fully booked for an October festival. That night we were very grateful for a bed in the albuergue. I'm sure there are at least 2 schools of thought on pre-booking ... I am very much a "planner", especially in my profession, but I found it a welcome change and in some ways a helpful spiritual practice, to NOT plan too much. It allowed me to approach each day based on how I and my partner actually felt in the moment, physically and mentally. We used Gronze.com, trailsmart, wise pilgrim, and google to surface lodging options, then called them directly to reserve. It worked great and most places had availability.

We used cash all the way. We carried credit cards as a backup but many smaller places don't take them, so we kept on the lookout for ATM's to resupply our cash every few days. We ran into several people who had problems of carrying only cards and had no cash with which to eat; we helped them out by exchanging some of our currency.

We walked along the coast from Porto to Vila do Conde, then moved to the central route for the remainder. We loved the coastal part and the central -- both were very beautiful and peaceful. We did take a taxi from Vila do Conde to the join the central route, as the walk out of Vila is along a very busy road without much shoulder. I don't have anything to compare it to, so I'll have to go back and do one of the other routes.

We rested in Pontevedra -- we liked the town, and also it was the right timing for us as we had some business to take care of, and were physically tired. But there are any number of towns I would have been happy to rest in -- Barcelos, Tui/Valenca, Ponte de Lima. For me, it worked well to leave the decision about a resting location until I was out on the trail and could go by how I felt.

We carried our packs, but we did use TuiTrans to ship some other stuff that we didn't want to carry but wanted to be able to periodically access (primarily a laptop computer, to take care of some business issues, but also other stuff we would need for the non-Camino portions of our trip). They were great, handled our request perfectly (we shipped to Pontevedra, retrieved our stuff for a couple days, then re-shipped it to Ivar in Santiago).

Wonderfully helpful info for us, thank you! I will be doing the exact same route in March 2019 and I was wondering what to do with our suitcases that we will have with us. We had to take a suitcase a piece as we will be traveling in Europe for 4 months and the Camino will be just a portion of our adventures! So mentioning the luggage service was so helpful. Do you suppose that we would be able to utilize them from the start in Porto? Because we'd like to give up our suitcase there and access it a bit sooner than Pontevedra (maybe twice during the hike). Happy to hear you were satisfied with the trail and we are looking forward to it!

 

[kestrel39]

Camino Chris, we didn't follow Brierly -- 35 or even 30 km would have been too long for me, particularly at the beginning (I started with 10-12 km, and built up to 20 - 24 max). For me personally, if I had a limited number of days, I would shorten my overall route (maybe start somewhere north of Porto, or skip a stage by taking a bus) rather than push myself to do longer stages. But that's just me. My stamina did build over time, and I can imagine on a longer Camino I might build up to longer distances, but I just wouldn't want to pressure myself into that.

loumura, I believe TuiTrans does start from Porto, per their website (tuitrans.com). There is another service called TopSantiago that we didn't use, but a fellow pilgrim had good experiences with them.

I looked again at my journal and I had mis-remembered ... we actually shipped our extra bag of stuff first to Tui (not Pontevedra), and then on to SDC. But the services will ship to any town along the Camino -- one just has to give them a destination (typically a hotel at which you plan to stay). Actually we shipped our bag to the TuiTrans office in Tui (because we hadn't reserved any lodging there), and that worked fine. And then to Ivar's place in SDC (which you can read about on this forum -- very helpful service).

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

My husband and I recently walked the CP from Porto to SDC (Oct 1 - 18). It was our first Camino and it was a wonderful experience.

Pre-booking -- we generally did not pre-book, although we might reserve the night before or during the day as we were walking. We mostly stayed in small hotels and had no difficulty, except a Saturday in Ponte de Lima which was fully booked for an October festival. That night we were very grateful for a bed in the albuergue. I'm sure there are at least 2 schools of thought on pre-booking ... I am very much a "planner", especially in my profession, but I found it a welcome change and in some ways a helpful spiritual practice, to NOT plan too much. It allowed me to approach each day based on how I and my partner actually felt in the moment, physically and mentally. We used Gronze.com, trailsmart, wise pilgrim, and google to surface lodging options, then called them directly to reserve. It worked great and most places had availability.

We used cash all the way. We carried credit cards as a backup but many smaller places don't take them, so we kept on the lookout for ATM's to resupply our cash every few days. We ran into several people who had problems of carrying only cards and had no cash with which to eat; we helped them out by exchanging some of our currency.

We walked along the coast from Porto to Vila do Conde, then moved to the central route for the remainder. We loved the coastal part and the central -- both were very beautiful and peaceful. We did take a taxi from Vila do Conde to the join the central route, as the walk out of Vila is along a very busy road without much shoulder. I don't have anything to compare it to, so I'll have to go back and do one of the other routes.

We rested in Pontevedra -- we liked the town, and also it was the right timing for us as we had some business to take care of, and were physically tired. But there are any number of towns I would have been happy to rest in -- Barcelos, Tui/Valenca, Ponte de Lima. For me, it worked well to leave the decision about a resting location until I was out on the trail and could go by how I felt.

We carried our packs, but we did use TuiTrans to ship some other stuff that we didn't want to carry but wanted to be able to periodically access (primarily a laptop computer, to take care of some business issues, but also other stuff we would need for the non-Camino portions of our trip). They were great, handled our request perfectly (we shipped to Pontevedra, retrieved our stuff for a couple days, then re-shipped it to Ivar in Santiago).

Great stuff!! Along the lines of what we have in mind and thanks to all the advice on this forum. Very helpful!

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

Martin and Yvonne - Do it yourselves! Sometimes we pre-booked if there was a holiday or something like that. I hear the Coastal is getting busier and busier, but we saw more pilgrims on the Central than the coastal in the two springs we did them of 2017/18. However, you never really know. You will have to use your judgement. As for cash there are ATM's everywhere, and it is the way to go. Porto is a fabulous place, but so is Ponte de Lima, Valenca, Tui and Pontevedra on the Central Route. On the Coastal Route, we loved Oia and Baiona. What the coastal lacks in big historic cities, it makes up in lovely seaside boardwalks and views. You can look at my blog to see the routes we took, our recommendations, and maybe it will help you choose! Good luck! The Many Ways on the Camino Portugues

Thank you Elle! We have come full circle on our plans from going organized and using luggage transfer, to take it day by day and carrying our own packs.
We are really looking forwards to it!

 

[Michael-FL]

Hi Martin & Yvonne, I was on a very short schedule last year and did not want to leave anything open to chance, so I booked through an agency and stayed in hostales/hotels along the way. All accommodations were fine, save one or two. I took the Central Route and thoroughly enjoyed the countryside, traveling through farmland, the air heavy with the scent of ripe grapes and figs. Wildflowers that bloomed like well tended gardens. Just enough up and down slopes to give it interest.
Ponte Vedra might be worth a longer stay. I was just sorry I could only stay there one night because of my timeline. I just loved the Camino Portugues.

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

***UPDATE***

Booked our flights this past weekend and will arrive in Porto on Sunday September 8!
We will start the coastal route on Monday September 9!
We are excited to get started!

 

[The Kolbist]

Last 2016, we did Lisbon to Fatima. Back then, this stretch was so thin in accommodation that we have to book hotels and albergues out of the way. Then we did Porto to Santiago, we didnt have a problem in finding albergues except for Ponte de Lima because I believe there were just 2(?) albergues and everyone was crammed into those 2 albergues. In all of our caminos, cash is king. Buen Camino

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

Hello all,

It’s getting closer, and we are all prepped! Flying into Porto Sept 8, 2019 and walk to Matsoinhos that same day. We will save discovering Porto on our way out of Portugal.

Thanks for all your advice and tips. We have taken everything into consideration and made our plan accordingly.

We have decided to carry our own backpacks, should be doable without luggage transfers. Made our itinerary and decided to pre book al our accommodation and walk according to our stage plan. Reason for this is that we want to make sure we have our own room each day and avoiding the dormitories.
Other then that we are really looking forward to the journey!

 

[Martin&Yvonne]

***FINISHED***

Well, we did it and we loved it!
Thank you to all that responded to our questions, it has been very much appreciated and very helpful. We felt that we were very well prepped and had no issues whatsoever. And above all we were very fortunate with the weather, 25 degrees + on virtually all our walking days, short and shirt was all we needed and rain gear stayed in the backpack. Only times we got wet was from swimming in the ocean or laying beside a hostel/hotel pool

Few remarks we would want to make now that we have (limited) experience ourselves walking a Camiño.
Those cobblestones are indeed rough and tough, as well as the asphalt on those hot days. Good shoe wear in our opinion is key. Just wanted to point that out in case you are wondering about hikers or runners. Not saying it can’t be done on runners, but don’t underestimate the surface you walk on.
We witnessed many people with blisters, some very bad to the point they had to give up or take taxi or public transport, due to bad shoe-wear, and equally contributing to injury are the long stages some do. Sure, if fit, you can do those 35 km days, it’s a personal choice I would say, but it doesn’t give your feet the rest they need for next days stage. We did on average 22/23 km per day, we had a good steady pace and often started around 7.30-8 am and finishing our stages around 1-2 pm. We usually made 1 coffee and 1 lunch stop and a few short water breaks.

The right preparation and a decent fitness level are key. And for us, a good nights rest was also high on our list so we stayed away from staying in dorms and have no regrets about that. We did pre book all our accommodation 2 to 3 months before we started and found it rather relaxing not having to deal with that during our days on the Camiño.

We loved the vibe on the Camiño, met many interesting and fun people and had great talks along the way.
Besides that we learned a few more things about the history of the early days of Christianity.

For the rest we don’t really have anything to add as virtually everything is covered on the forum.

So, yup we will very likely do another Camiño somewhere in the future.

Kind regards