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Start them Young !! Advice for Walking Camino Portugese with Young Family

Ian @ Camino Ramblings

Camino Rambler - CaminoRamblings.com
Time of past OR future Camino
Camino Francés-Sept '23
Tall Ship Ingles-June 24
Hi - booked to walk Porto to SdC - end of May 2019 with my wife and 2 daughters - 11 & 13 . We have 10 walking days . Any advice please on the Portugese central or coastal routes as a preference ? what would suit the younger family members ? and Preferred overnight stopping places / Alberques. We are a sociable group and i hope to show them the same wonderful people and experiences i had when completing Camino Frances in July 2018 .

Many thanks
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
Hi Ian!
I walked the Portuguese in August this year with my two daughters and four of my grandchildren (17, 15, 13 and 10). For one week another granddaughter (15) could come along as well. We walked the Litoral. I started from Porto with the granddaughter who could not come the whole way and the others flew to Porto airport which is well north of the city and joined us by taxi from the airport in Povoa da Varzim. We follwed the coast up to Caminha on the river Minho, border with Spain, then on the cycle track along the river to Valença, and across the river to Tui. From there it was the Central or Interior camino. The whole walk was fabulous and it you like you can read about it in my blog “Ina with family on coastal portugues”.

Happy planning and bom caminho!
 
Personally, I prefer the central or traditional route as it has more of the conveniences that most pilgrims desire. The walking is easy, with one exception. But, that exception is only a few hundred meters long, and steep, but manageable.

Hope this helps.
 
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The advantage of the Litoral when walking with the young is the proximity of the beaches. And there are beaches along the river Minho as well. However I do not know about accommodation in albergues. We were so many and it was the hight of high season (first half of August) that I booked every night almost a year before and even then it was not easy.
 
Thank you so much for your advice - I’m unfamiliar with this route after 2 years of being CF focused - I’m now going to order the necessary guides to make it work . Thx again .
 
Thanks - good advice on booking early - not something I did on the CF - will do on this trip . Like the beach idea for the children . X
 
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Thanks - this really helps - its a tall order to keep a wide age range happy . X
 
I don't know if the Portuguese Central route has the farm animals that the rural CF route does. (I haven't walked it yet. About 10 days to go until I start.) Perhaps others can say. But if it does, that might be as attractive as day after day of beaches will be to the younger set. You can always start with the Litoral and switch to the Central to give them a taste of both.
 
That is of course a consideration since Ian thinks of walking in May. We walked in this heat wave with 40 degrees in shadow. However I have walked the Central camino from Ponte de Lima which has beautiful landscape, but not see anything like farm animals to keep youngsters amused. So after all, I think I would opt for the beaches. But then I am not the one who is going to do the camino.

One more thing about the Camino Litoral - we followed the river rather than continuing from Caminha by ferry across to Vigo because I had read that the camino then goes for miles through urban areas.....

 
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...and ship it to Santiago for storage. You pick it up once in Santiago. Service offered by Casa Ivar (we use DHL for transportation).

Thanks - Animals always provides happy distraction - beaches too if we are in front of our schedule - we should be as we’ve allowed 10 days - thx again
 
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