Want to walk the Caminho Portugese next May .

[Urban trekker1]

I walked the Ferrol to Santiago Camino last May (my first Camino). I enjoyed all of it, the good, the bad, and the ugly. I even enjoyed Johnny Walkers "GENTLY ROLLING HILLS". I have been reading your threads and there seems to be a lot of negativity about the Lisbon to Porto portion of the Caminho. What gives. I was going to take a total of 30 days for travel to and from Lisbon and walking the Chaminho. Bad idea?.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Hi Trekker! You and I have done the opposite things! I walked Lisbon to Porto in May, and plan the Ferrol to SdC next May! I think on most caminos there are bound to be some beautiful, some boring parts, some industrial estates to traverse. Your 30 days sounds like a good option to me. If you find Lisbon to Porto boring, catch the occasional bus! But you will have the beautiful Porto to SdC section to anticipate with joy. Links to my Diaries and over 1,000 pictures are on my web site.

Bom caminho!

 

[camino-david]

Last June I walked from Porto to Santiago and I met a few who had walked from Lisbon and they all disliked it due to the amount of road and pavement walking. Also something that never seems to get mentioned is the fact that many roads in Portugal are paved with granite cobble stones. These are as hard on the feet as concrete, and due to their slight unevenness the ankle is slightly twisting on every step, which is a nothing for a few kms but very tiring after 15 or 20 kms.

 

[Me Fein]

I walked Lisbon to Santiago April/May this year and enjoyed it all very much. I had great weather,wonderful scenery, but best of all were the people . There are areas north and south of Porto that are difficult as there are on other caminos. Whatever route you take enjoy it all. Bom Caminho
Maura

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, urbantrekker,

There is a split of opinion on this forum about the Caminho from Lisbon. There is a fair amount of road walking, but only a few of those stretches are on busy roads. Some of the industrial areas outside of Lisbon are pretty uninspiring, but almost every camino has some of those. I think that another thing that people find is that there are very few pilgrims walking south of Porto. That is changing, the numbers are growing steadily, and there are more and more pilgrim accommodations along the route. I personally agree with Maura that the route is very nice -- lots of pretty little towns, and the people are exceptionally friendly and kind.

 

[Urban trekker1]

Hi Trekker! You and I have done the opposite things! I walked Lisbon to Porto in May, and plan the Ferrol to SdC next May! I think on most caminos there are bound to be some beautiful, some boring parts, some industrial estates to traverse. Your 30 days sounds like a good option to me. If you find Lisbon to Porto boring, catch the occasional bus! But you will have the beautiful Porto to SdC section to anticipate with joy. Links to my Diaries and over 1,000 pictures are on my web site.

Bom caminho!

Hi Trekker! You and I have done the opposite things! I walked Lisbon to Porto in May, and plan the Ferrol to SdC next May! I think on most caminos there are bound to be some beautiful, some boring parts, some industrial estates to traverse. Your 30 days sounds like a good option to me. If you find Lisbon to Porto boring, catch the occasional bus! But you will have the beautiful Porto to SdC section to anticipate with joy. Links to my Diaries and over 1,000 pictures are on my web site.

Bom caminho!

Stephen, I took 6 days to do the Camino Ingles. We went from Farrol to Neda on day one. Real nice albergue there. Food close by and they had a washing machine. Day 2 we pushed to Mino, a big mistake. From Pontedeuma to Mino you climb up and down the equivalent of three 60 story buildings. I ruined my feet. Albergue in Mino was OK but a walk to food. We should have stopped at Pontedeume for the night then on to Neda. From Neda to Betanzos. The albergue in Betanzos should not be missed. Its new and built into a 14th century structure. 2 blooks off the main plaza. Per Johnny Walkers guide book, we took 2 days to go from Betanzos to Burma. There is a Pension in the guide that will pick you up from and return you to Bar Julia the next morning. Then you continue on to Bruma. The albegue in Bruma is built into a old house. Very nice place but no food. A restaurant will take orders and deliver your meal. They put on a nice spread. From Bruma you have a 30 K walk. The only Lodging is a old hotel in Sigueiro. Then to Santiago. Met wonderful people all along the way. In Ferrol a local took us in his car and covered the entire Camino in Ferrol and told us where not to go. In Betanzos we were invited into a private art school. The owner of the pension we stayed at in Ferrol let us store our luggage while we walked the Camino. He would not take a dime from us (we bought his a beer). Several bars along the route gave us free Spanish Liquor shooters. At another albergue in Ferrol the manager invited us to a old Galician pagan ceremony. Fantastic people!!!

Last June I walked from Porto to Santiago and I met a few who had walked from Lisbon and they all disliked it due to the amount of road and pavement walking. Also something that never seems to get mentioned is the fact that many roads in Portugal are paved with granite cobble stones. These are as hard on the feet as concrete, and due to their slight unevenness the ankle is slightly twisting on every step, which is a nothing for a few kms but very tiring after 15 or 20 kms.

Last June I walked from Porto to Santiago and I met a few who had walked from Lisbon and they all disliked it due to the amount of road and pavement walking. Also something that never seems to get mentioned is the fact that many roads in Portugal are paved with granite cobble stones. These are as hard on the feet as concrete, and due to their slight unevenness the ankle is slightly twisting on every step, which is a nothing for a few kms but very tiring after 15 or 20 kms.

Camino David, thanks for the response. As my handle would indicate, I walk on pavement (black top or concrete) all the time. The few dirt trails here a rutted, steep, and covered with dirt bikes or 4 wheelers. I have more problems off pavement than on.

 

[Urban trekker1]

Hi, urbantrekker,

There is a split of opinion on this forum about the Caminho from Lisbon. There is a fair amount of road walking, but only a few of those stretches are on busy roads. Some of the industrial areas outside of Lisbon are pretty uninspiring, but almost every camino has some of those. I think that another thing that people find is that there are very few pilgrims walking south of Porto. That is changing, the numbers are growing steadily, and there are more and more pilgrim accommodations along the route. I personally agree with Maura that the route is very nice -- lots of pretty little towns, and the people are exceptionally friendly and kind.

I guess I'll have to walk it myself and find out. Road walking doesn't bother me. All my training walks are on pavement. I have more trouble walking off pavement than on.

 

[Urban trekker1]

Thank you all for your responses. If I start in Lisbon then I fly to Lisbon. Now, what's the best way to get home. Do I take a bus from Santiago back to Lisbon and fly home or do I take the train from Santiago to Madrid and fly out of there. Suggestions

 

[John Holland]

Hi, One additional point abut getting out of Lisbon. It is not just about walking on uninspiring roads. Sections of the roads are downright dangerous - no footpaths and you have traffic (cars plus plenty of big trucks) thundering along. When I did it in April this year I had to be extremely vigilant and a couple of times was literally forced off the road into bushes. Some blind bends were also very treacherous. If you do it, take care. But I would strongly recommend walking as far as Orientale (7 km) and then catching the train to Azambuja and starting the walk from there.
Bom Camino.

 

[Urban trekker1]

Thanks John. That's the kind of information I'm looking for.

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

I guess this topic just goes on and on - and it depends what you, individually, would prefer. I walked from Lisbon Airport to my first night stop - yes it was along main roads, but most had pavements. I wore a fluorescent waistcoat and never felt in danger. But if you are worried, then take a bus to Azambuja! I stayed in the Flor Primavera in Azambuja - smashing cafe directly under it.
Full details in my Diary III on the website.
Buen camino!

 

[Former member 22438]

We enjoyed walking from Lisbon to Santiago last may and june. 32 days
Mind from Lisbon places to sleep are at a distance of about 30 kms each. The nasty pieces f.ex.Alverca to Azambuja we skipped and took the train. Nice place is Coimbra to stay for an extra day ! And so is Tomar
From Santiago we took the Alsa bus to Porto and flew home from there.

 

[stevenjarvis]

I've walked Tui to Santiago de Compostela and recommend it to you. There are of course challenges,including roads, roundabouts, railways to deal with, but the people places and atmosphere I found, ( and miss ) wonderful. You mention having some trouble off road, so do beware that most of this section is off road although the paths are good, if sometimes (often) wet / flooding in winter and (from memory - see the excellent CSJ guide - downloadable when you make a donation http://www.csj.org.uk/ ) there is a 5k climb after Arcade and the impressive Ponte Sampiao which is uneven and rocky. All the information you could wish for is accessible either here or via links from here . Bom Caminho

 

[mspath]

I heartily agree with what Stevenjarvis wrote above!!

In December 2011 after finishing the Camino Frances I continued to Finisterre, per usual, and then walked to the Portuguese border at Tui/Valenca de Minho. The weather was cold and very WET. The Galician albergues were great and generally well heated; often I was the only pilgrim. I particularly enjoyed walking across the river Minho from Tui on the 19th century bridge designed by Eiffel of tower fame to Valenca de Minho and its Vauban fortress.

The walk involved going " backward " along the Camino Portuguese from Santiago. To go backward is more complicated than you might think; since this path is not abundantly marked, searching for the famous yellow arrows pointing opposite my direction wasn't easy. Viewed backwards the arrows resembled anchors. Thus it all was a bit of a treasure hunt!

Bom Caminho,

Margaret Meredith

 

[peregrina2000]

Thank you all for your responses. If I start in Lisbon then I fly to Lisbon. Now, what's the best way to get home. Do I take a bus from Santiago back to Lisbon and fly home or do I take the train from Santiago to Madrid and fly out of there. Suggestions

I'm not sure where you are flying from, but I think it's always worth it to find out the cost of doing what they call an open jaw ticket -- flying from home to Lisbon and then from Santiago to home. In your case it would probably involve a round trip to Madrid, with an extra flight to Lisbon in the beginning and from Santiago at the end. You usually can't find these ticket online and have to get help from a real person on the phone, I believe. I have found on several occasions that the additional cost of those extra segments is trivial. For instance, last year I flew from US to Valencia and Santiago to US for $100 more than it would have cost me to fly round trip from US to Madrid.

There is a bus from Santiago to Lisbon, it is a LONG boring ride, with a 45 minute stop in an uninspiring highway cafeteria. The bus leaves around 11 in the if my memory is right and gets to Lisbon around 6 or 7 hours later.

I think that many of the different experiences on the roadside stretches have to do with time of day and day of week. I, like Stephen, always felt like I had a wide paved shoulder on the busy roads and never felt like my life was in danger. But as they say on TV, your results may be different. Buen camino, Laurie

 

[Diogo92]

I haven't done the Portuguese Caminho from Lisbon, so I can't tell you what are my opinion's between starting in Porto or in Lisbon.

But what I really know it's that the Caminho at least until you reach Porto will pass through roads and other so called difficult areas. But hey, even from Porto, you will pass through some! The "problem" in here, it's that the Caminho Português it's marked following the version of an old priest from the 15th or the 16th century (I'm not sure). The roads came after the first "marking" of the Caminho.

I'm with the opinion that you should try it, and see it for yourself

This year I've started in Póvoa do Varzim. Next year, I'll start from Ponte de Lima. I don't want to miss the Labruja section

Best Regards
Diogo Martins

 

[Urban trekker1]

I'm not sure where you are flying from, but I think it's always worth it to find out the cost of doing what they call an open jaw ticket -- flying from home to Lisbon and then from Santiago to home. In your case it would probably involve a round trip to Madrid, with an extra flight to Lisbon in the beginning and from Santiago at the end. You usually can't find these ticket online and have to get help from a real person on the phone, I believe. I have found on several occasions that the additional cost of those extra segments is trivial. For instance, last year I flew from US to Valencia and Santiago to US for $100 more than it would have cost me to fly round trip from US to Madrid.

There is a bus from Santiago to Lisbon, it is a LONG boring ride, with a 45 minute stop in an uninspiring highway cafeteria. The bus leaves around 11 in the if my memory is right and gets to Lisbon around 6 or 7 hours later.

I think that many of the different experiences on the roadside stretches have to do with time of day and day of week. I, like Stephen, always felt like I had a wide paved shoulder on the busy roads and never felt like my life was in danger. But as they say on TV, your results may be different. Buen camino, Laurie

I live just outside of Reno, Nv. I'm familiar with the subway, bus, and train system in Madrid and Santiago. So I'm thinking fly into Lisbon to start my walk and take the train from Santiago to Madrid and home to the US. Abregato

 

[mariposa627]

My hubby and I walked from Valenca to Santiago. We stayed at municipal albergues in Porriño, Redondela and Briallos. In Caldas de Reis we stayed in a hotel and did spa pool in thermal waters. ... highly recommend! We stayed at a lovely pension in Areal called A Milagrosa...lovely. You can check out my blog at www.michelesway.weebly.com

Buen Camino.

 

[Urban trekker1]

My hubby and I walked from Valenca to Santiago. We stayed at municipal albergues in Porriño, Redondela and Briallos. In Caldas de Reis we stayed in a hotel and did spa pool in thermal waters. ... highly recommend! We stayed at a lovely pension in Areal called A Milagrosa...lovely. You can check out my blog at www.michelesway.weebly.com

Buen Camino.

Mariposa, thank you for your post and sharing your blog with me. More names to wright down and research. I'm pretty sure I'm going to walk all the way from Lisbon to Santiago. Do you mean Valencia just outside of Lisbon? Where did you get the map I saw in your pictures.

Bom Cominho

 

[mariposa627]

Urban trekker, the map was ripped from the Brierley book, the Camino Portuguese. It was a good guideline... if you have any more questions feel free to ask!

 

[mariposa627]

Valenca is right on the border of Spain and Portugal... way north of lisbon.

 

[Urban trekker1]

Valenca is right on the border of Spain and Portugal... way north of lisbon.

Thank you for the info.