train out of Porto

[ruthieg]

Hello all, I'm new to this, so bear with me. My friend and myself are doing the Camino from Porto in September.
We are going to catch the train out of Porto for the first part to avoid all the traffic etc. I have read that you catch the train to Mosteiro, but in the guide book by John Brierley, he suggests getting off at Vilar do Pinheiro. My question is: are both places reasonably close to each other? Does the train stop at both places? Are there signposts or similar once we get to this point to commence us on the trail? Or perhaps there is a bus that goes in that direction? Thanks for any advice, Ruth.

 

[auburnfive]

Another option is to take the metro to Matosinhos and walk along the coast ( on a lovely boardwalk) to Vilo do Conde. Then you rejoin the central route through Rates, it is well marked, there is a good map in the Brierley book

 

[trecile]

Another option is to take the route along the river and up the coast to Matosinhos. I enjoyed the walk.

 

[RJM]

Hello all, I'm new to this, so bear with me. My friend and myself are doing the Camino from Porto in September.
We are going to catch the train out of Porto for the first part to avoid all the traffic etc. I have read that you catch the train to Mosteiro, but in the guide book by John Brierley, he suggests getting off at Vilar do Pinheiro. My question is: are both places reasonably close to each other? Does the train stop at both places? Are there signposts or similar once we get to this point to commence us on the trail? Or perhaps there is a bus that goes in that direction? Thanks for any advice, Ruth.

Smart to avoid the walk through town. I did not enjoy it. You do not have to go to the coastal route to get out of town. Take the metro from town to station at Vilar do Pinheiro. It is very close to Mosteiro. A short walk. Reference the map. You can then get on the central route from there and a short walking day to Vairao or Vilarinho. The Brierley guidebook depicts it accurately. The old monastery at Vairao a cool place to stay. I really liked it.

 

[ruthieg]

Thank you so much. It makes things so much easier when you know where you're going. We are walking to Arcos on that first day from Mosteiro.

 

[Former member 22438]

Smart to avoid the walk through town. I did not enjoy it. You do not have to go to the coastal route to get out of town. Take the metro from town to station at Vilar do Pinheiro. It is very close to Mosteiro. A short walk. Reference the map. You can then get on the central route from there and a short walking day to Vairao or Vilarinho. The Brierley guidebook depicts it accurately. The old monastery at Vairao a cool place to stay. I really liked it.

Beware. It is not the train to Vilar do Pinheiro but as mentioned in this answer above mentioned the Metro to Vila do Conde and Póvoa do Varzim. The train-also named Comboios de Portugal or CP does not stop around the Vilar do Pinheiro area.
Besides that take care that Mosteiró is nearby Vilar do Pinheiro Mosteiro is written with an accent on the last o ! Mosteiro without the accent is the name for two places somewhere else in Portugal . That can be very confusing
So as been advised take the Porto Metro to Vilar do Pinheiro and walk about 8 kms to Vairão where is the albergue in a former monastry on the waymarked path or 2 kms further is Casa da Laura in Vilarinho. From there is an easy and beautiful walk to São Pedro de Rates , Pedra Furado or even to Barcelos

 

[Paul Michetti]

Another option is to take the route along the river and up the coast to Matosinhos. I enjoyed the walk.

We did the same thing last September. The walk was great. 10km from Porto to Matosinhos. Walking along the coast that first day on boardwalks was very interesting. I kept reading about how uninteresting the walk was getting out of Porto then read about this option on StingyNomads. We ended up walking to Vila Cha that first day and stayed in a private home advertising on Booking.com for about €30 including a very substantial breakfast. We then cut back to the central route to Rates for the 2nd day.

 

[RJM]

Beware. It is not the train to Vilar do Pinheiro but as mentioned in this answer above mentioned the Metro to Vila do Conde and Póvoa do Varzim. The train-also named Comboios de Portugal or CP does not stop around the Vilar do Pinheiro area.
Besides that take care that Mosteiró is nearby Vilar do Pinheiro Mosteiro is written with an accent on the last o ! Mosteiro without the accent is the name for two places somewhere else in Portugal . That can be very confusing
So as been advised take the Porto Metro to Vilar do Pinheiro and walk about 8 kms to Vairão where is the albergue in a former monastry on the waymarked path or 2 kms further is Casa da Laura in Vilarinho. From there is an easy and beautiful walk to São Pedro de Rates , Pedra Furado or even to Barcelos

The OP apparently has a Brierley guidebook as stated in her original post. The map in it clearly depicts all those locations in proximity to each other and even includes the accents on the last o....