Sending my post-camino clothes from Lisbon to Santiago

[Tazz]

I am walking from Lisbon (actually Fatima) to Santiago in mid April.
I would like to forward a small bag of clothes to Santiago for some post-camino R and R.
I have used the Correos and Express Bourricot on the Camino Frances but can't seem to find any way to send excess luggage in Portugal, other than using CTT (Post). Their website is not easy to navigate. Does anyone have experience with this service and can they offer some advice? Thanks.

 

[FrankWall]

No experience but will have next week! If you don’t get any answers here I will post our experience (plan on using the postal service). We have 2 medium sized bags to post from Lisbon.

You are right, the Portuguese postal service website is a bit dodgy.

I fould this site that might help: https://www.expatica.com/pt/living/...es-ctt-post-tracking-and-postal-codes-871640/

See you around!

 

[peregrina2000]

Here is some commentary by Ivar

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/how-much-does-it-cost-to-ship-luggage-from-portugal-to-santiago-with-the-post-office.45909/

https://www.caminodesantiago.me/community/threads/problems-send-luggage-from-portugal-to-the-santiago-post-office.33446/#post-683391

 

[t2andreo]

1. Download the CTT app for your smartphone.
2. Locate a CTT office near where you will be in Lisbon before you start.
3. Send your parcel to Santiago. They have boxes for sale. Recommend a partial small role of 3M shipping tape as they seem to have none for your use.
4. Pray...

I have sent things from Portugal to Ivar at Santiago several times. ALL the parcels sent from Lisbon arrived fairly fast. All the parcels sent from places to the north, like Coimbra or Porto, took relatively longer. This is only a problem if you get to Santiago from Porto faster than your parcel.

It happens. In 2017, a medium sized box sent from Porto the morning before I left, arrived five days after I departed Santiago for the US. That meant a transit time of 16 days to go the same distance that I WALKED in 10. I tracked it as it moved, and did not move, first all over Portugal, then eventually straight to Santiago from Madrid.

In my experience, a parcel sent from Lisbon takes about a week to travel to Santiago. Bear in mind that all EU countries still maintain separate, national post services. Like pipes on a organ, this means that your parcel is still treated as an international shipment in terms of the logistics process.

So, all parcels sent from anywhere in Portugal go first to an international export portal at Lisbon, then to the internal shipment in portal at Madrid, then they go into the Spanish distribution system. This explains why things from Lisbon arrive relatively fast and easy, whereas something sent from the north of Portugal, like from Porto, can take longer.

The best thing about the app is that, once you send your parcel, you will have a tracking number. You can use the app to track your parcel... DO IT.

Fred Smith (the fellow who invented FedEx in the 1970s) could help them a lot. But, I think the national governments across Europe are simply protecting hundreds of thousands of civil service jobs. It does make logical sense... unless you are trying to get a package from point A to point B.

This said, within each country, Portugal or Spain, the postal services are a wonder. Services are inexpensive fast and efficient.

Also, unless his practice has changed, Ivar will usually send you a quick e-mail note to tell you he received your parcel.

Hope this helps.

 

[wanderfrau]

Why is fedex better than dhl?

 

[t2andreo]

FedEx was merely the first “hub and spoke” express parcel delivery service invented. All the other firms followed or copied this model. Later, passenger airlines copied the “hub and spoke” concept we have all come to loathe.

What works well for inert packages is not necessarily people friendly.

IIRC, Fred Smith wrote a paper while a student at the Yale University in the mid 1970s. He recalled receiving a “C” or average grade. The professor was convinced it could never work. After graduation Mr. Smith got some venture capital and created FedEx. The rest is modern business history. You can read more here:

FedEx Express - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Hope this helps.

 

[Former member 22438]

The day before yesterday someone else asked the same questionhere on the forum

 

[evanlow]

Here's what I encountered last year when I was helping another pilgrim who had to do the same a few days in the Camino Portuguese from Lisbon.

At the post office, she got choices for different boxes. However, they seem to be very fixated on return address (in Portugal) as they keep saying the address is needed in the case the parcel gets returned to sender. They emphasize that Spain's post office will return it if it was not picked up within 5 days.

I know that the post office in SDC will keep it longer (nominal charges) but since a return address is needed the post office in Valenca (last city before Spain) was given.

 

[peregrina2000]

I looked at the prices from the post office site and they seem very expensive. Would it be cheaper to use a courier service (one of those 'transport your pack ahead ' services ) which I would never ordinarily use? Would they take a bag all the way from Lisbon to Santiago? My box won't be particularly huge.

The only bag transport system I know of in Portugal starts from Tui, tuitrans is its name. There may be others. I say this only half in jest -- it may be much easier and cheaper to buy a couple of outfits once you are in Santiago, since the contents of this box are going to be for post-camino travel.

 

[Ferenjinan]

Ah, well, Peregrina 2000, you are assuming the items to be sent for post Camino life are clothes ('outfits').
Think outside the box.
It is mainly a wood flute case. I am taking the flute along as I walk, well padded in sleeping bag etc ( the case would add a prohibitive amount of weight) but when life becomes post Camino it goes back in case for 'normal' travel.
Agreed about clothes... not worth fussing about. Anyway, I have a new plan- will just mail the box from India, no need to schlep the stuff to Portugal and go to the hassle of post office. Here it is cheap if not easy, and there will be plenty of time IF I get off me arse and do it tomorrow!
So listen up for some music along the way...

 

[mferrara]

I am walking from Lisbon (actually Fatima) to Santiago in mid April.
I would like to forward a small bag of clothes to Santiago for some post-camino R and R.
I have used the Correos and Express Bourricot on the Camino Frances but can't seem to find any way to send excess luggage in Portugal, other than using CTT (Post). Their website is not easy to navigate. Does anyone have experience with this service and can they offer some advice? Thanks.

When my husband and I did the Camino from Porto in Sept 2005, we just brought our unneeded items to the post office and mailed them to Ivar in SdC. They arrived there the next with no problem.

 

[Anniesantiago]

It would probably cost less to simply buy new clothes in Santiago.
It's a wonderful place to shop!

 

[Nordbo]

I am walking from Lisbon (actually Fatima) to Santiago in mid April.
I would like to forward a small bag of clothes to Santiago for some post-camino R and R.
I have used the Correos and Express Bourricot on the Camino Frances but can't seem to find any way to send excess luggage in Portugal, other than using CTT (Post). Their website is not easy to navigate. Does anyone have experience with this service and can they offer some advice? Thanks.

Try Tuitrans.com

 

[Tazz]

Thanks for your all of your responses.
I looked into both sending my clothes with Tuitrans vs buying new clothes.
Tuitrans only operates from Porto to SDC, so I will have to get my bag to Porto from Lisbon. My wife also told me that I should simply buy new clothes, however, last year I went to buy a pair of jeans at Corte Ingles in SDC and the cheapest pair was around 100 Euro, realizing of course that Corte Ingles may not be the cheapest store in town. It cost me around 70 Euro to send my small duffle bag from SJPDP to SDC last year with Express Bourricot.

I think the best idea may be to send the package to Ivar. That way I don't have to worry about the post office being open when I need to get my clothes.

My only other question is: Does anyone know if the CTT will be open on Thursday April 18th given that it is Holy Thursday? I couldn't find the hours on the web page.
In Canada everything is open except on Good Friday.

I really appreciate the posts.

Jamie Tazzeo

 

[PeteAJ]

I'm flying in and out of Lisbon so my plan is still to do luggage storage there. Not sure if this is your speed, Tazz, but I had a camino friend last year pick up a few things to wear at Zara in Santiago. It looks like they'd do a pair of jeans for 35 euros.

 

[frida1]

My experience was that sending a couple small boxes from the Lisbon post office to Ivar worked very well. The post office supplied the boxes, although I had come prepared with boxes, scissors and tape from home. As for shopping in Santiago, I did that after my first camino, because I was desperate for something other than what I'd been wearing every day. For the type of thing I like, shopping in Santiago was far more costly than the mailing method.

 

[Friend from Barquinha]

I'm flying in and out of Lisbon so my plan is still to do luggage storage there. Not sure if this is your speed, Tazz, but I had a camino friend last year pick up a few things to wear at Zara in Santiago. It looks like they'd do a pair of jeans for 35 euros.

The C&A in Vigo has quite inexpensive, reasonable-quality clothes for men and women, in plenty of sizes. Big German chain. Almost at Santiago. (Also in Santiago. https://www.tiendeo.com/Tiendas/santiago-de-compostela/c-and-a-avda-camino-frances/193536 )

 

[Tazz]

I thought I would offer follow-up on my postage experience.
While in Canada I printed out Ivar's address on a piece of paper with bold ink the way he suggests on his web page.
I brought my small bag to the CTT office in the Lisbon Airport (up the stairs in T2) and
I took Frida1's advice and brought my own tape which they greatly appreciated as they don't have tape (for some reason). I boxed my small pack using one of the boxes they supply and taped Ivar's address to it with my clear boxing tape. I completely covered Ivar's address with the clear tape so my paper would not be torn in the postage process. I picked up my box exactly 2 weeks later at Ivar's. No problems at all. I would certainly use CTT at the Lisbon Airport and Ivar's service again. It was nice to wear comfortable clothes on the plane from Canada then change into my hiking gear in the washroom and send my comfy clothes forward to enjoy after my Camino.
Regarding tracking my package, I did try to use the CTT app to track my package but it didn't work on my cell phone. It kept stating it was looking for my package. I sent my tracking # to my wife in Canada and using her lap top she let me know that my package had been delivered.
Hope this helps future pilgrims.

Jamie.

 

[NobleSpaniard]

I thought I would offer follow-up on my postage experience.
While in Canada I printed out Ivar's address on a piece of paper with bold ink the way he suggests on his web page.
I brought my small bag to the CTT office in the Lisbon Airport (up the stairs in T2) and
I took Frida1's advice and brought my own tape which they greatly appreciated as they don't have tape (for some reason). I boxed my small pack using one of the boxes they supply and taped Ivar's address to it with my clear boxing tape. I completely covered Ivar's address with the clear tape so my paper would not be torn in the postage process. I picked up my box exactly 2 weeks later at Ivar's. No problems at all. I would certainly use CTT at the Lisbon Airport and Ivar's service again. It was nice to wear comfortable clothes on the plane from Canada then change into my hiking gear in the washroom and send my comfy clothes forward to enjoy after my Camino.
Regarding tracking my package, I did try to use the CTT app to track my package but it didn't work on my cell phone. It kept stating it was looking for my package. I sent my tracking # to my wife in Canada and using her lap top she let me know that my package had been delivered.
Hope this helps future pilgrims.

Jamie.

I know it has been a while, but do you remember at all roughly how much it cost to do this (and roughly how much your box weighed, if you remember)?

I really appreciate all of the posts of people sharing information on their various experiences shipping things to SdC. For some, reason, though, nobody ever shares how much it cost to ship however much weight they shipped. And for a number of people planning their Camino, that would be a great help.