Start in Baiona or Valença (or other ideas)?

toddmbaker · Jun 18, 2024

Hello! I have 8 walking days on the camino beginning July 27. I will be taking my family of seven (kids are 14-21). I am trying to decide on our starting point. I was originally thinking we would do Sarria, but then decided on the Portuguese way to avoid some of the crowds. This is a religious pilgrimage for my wife and I (we are practicing Catholics), but the kids are less so - spiritual for sure but more about personal growth for them. We all like history, beautiful old towns, good food, and peaceful places.

I definitely want to do the spiritual variant to stop in the monasteries and take the boat ride, but not sure what to do before that. I thought we would start in Baiona, but have heard great things about Valença. We will be flying into Madrid on the 25th so will have some time to get to either city (probably via train to Vigo and minibus shuttle from there).

What do you all think? Thanks in advance!

Peace,
Todd

Grousedoctor · Jun 18, 2024

toddmbaker said:
Hello! I have 8 walking days on the camino beginning July 27. I will be taking my family of seven (kids are 14-21). I am trying to decide on our starting point. I was originally thinking we would do Sarria, but then decided on the Portuguese way to avoid some of the crowds. This is a religious pilgrimage for my wife and I (we are practicing Catholics), but the kids are less so - spiritual for sure but more about personal growth for them. We all like history, beautiful old towns, good food, and peaceful places.

I definitely want to do the spiritual variant to stop in the monasteries and take the boat ride, but not sure what to do before that. I thought we would start in Baiona, but have heard great things about Valença. We will be flying into Madrid on the 25th so will have some time to get to either city (probably via train to Vigo and minibus shuttle from there).

What do you all think? Thanks in advance!

Peace,
Todd

Hey Todd. I don’t think you can go wrong with either starting point. However, since you will be taking the train to Vigo, arrive there early enough to explore the city and overnight there. The next day, travel to Valença/Tui. These are both spectacular cities that merit a visit and this way you get to see parts of both. So, I’d walk the Central Route from Tui. As the route to Redondela is long, I’d break it up with a night in O Porriño. Glad to hear you want to include the VE. It’s quite a good trek up to the monastery and the boat ride to Padrón is very special. The kids will love it. Buen Camino!

auburnfive · Jun 18, 2024

FYI, there is very limited accommodation in Armentiera, for a group of 7 might be worth planning ahead. You can’t book at the monastery, they take pilgrims at times but other times they have retreats going on.

toddmbaker · Jun 19, 2024

Grousedoctor said:
Hey Todd. I don’t think you can go wrong with either starting point. However, since you will be taking the train to Vigo, arrive there early enough to explore the city and overnight there. The next day, travel to Valença/Tui. These are both spectacular cities that merit a visit and this way you get to see parts of both. So, I’d walk the Central Route from Tui. As the route to Redondela is long, I’d break it up with a night in O Porriño. Glad to hear you want to include the VE. It’s quite a good trek up to the monastery and the boat ride to Padrón is very special. The kids will love it. Buen Camino!

Thank you! Good idea to take advantage of the travel day to see Vigo.

Camino Joe 2021 · Jun 19, 2024

In March 2022, I started the Portuguese coastal with Espiritual Variant in Baiona. It started with a flight to Madrid, a train to Vigo and the bus to Baiona. Traveling alone, it was no problem. The transfer in Vigo was a two minute walk outside the train station and paid the driver directly. The bus ride from Vigo, a true local experience, took about an hour. Baiona is a lovely old town with a nice church to stamp credentials and a wonderful priest, who is very interested in recording my information in his records. The beach walk to Vigo on boardwalks was interesting and might appeal to your children if they like sand and surf.

toddmbaker · Jun 19, 2024

Camino Joe 2021 said:
In March 2022, I started the Portuguese coastal with Espiritual Variant in Baiona. It started with a flight to Madrid, a train to Vigo and the bus to Baiona. Traveling alone, it was no problem. The transfer in Vigo was a two minute walk outside the train station and paid the driver directly. The bus ride from Vigo, a true local experience, took about an hour. Baiona is a lovely old town with a nice church to stamp credentials and a wonderful priest, who is very interested in recording my information in his records. The beach walk to Vigo on boardwalks was interesting and might appeal to your children if they like sand and surf.

Thanks for the report! This was my exact plan and it sounds like it would be a great camino. I just heard great things about Valença as well. We will be meeting up with more family in Barcelona after our camino so the kids will get plenty of sand and surf on the trip.

John Sanderholm · Wednesday at 1:35 PM

Hi experienced camino hikers, I am thinking of hiking Camino del Norte between mid december 2024 and mid january, is this to be recommended? Or even possible? John

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