Which is cooler in July: Lugo to Santiago on Primitivo, or Tui to Santiago on Portuguese? More Beautiful?

[Kimxyz]

Hola! I want to attend the Festival of St James in SdC on 7/25/23. I would like a pilgrimage of 1-2 weeks, compadres over crowds, paths over roads! Gracias

 

[dougfitz]

Hola! I want to attend the Festival of St James in SdC on 7/25/23. I would like a pilgrimage of 1-2 weeks, compadres over crowds, paths over roads! Gracias

What a great aim. What did you want to know? If it is the question in the thread title, you might want to do some research using the climate information available on www.aemet.es.

I haven't walked from Lugo, so I cannot help you with my view of what might be more beautiful. You might help others help you by explaining what you are thinking might make one route more attractive than another, otherwise those that might have walked both will be make that assessment based on their own evaluation criteria!

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

I have walked both of these paths and I could not possibly say which is more beautiful. I walked the San Salvador and the Primitivo this year... You could do the Primitivo from Oviedo in 2 weeks, or the Portuguese from Porto in about the same time.
To see Tui at sunrise from Valença is just stupendous. And I have never met a consistently more garrulous or generous people than the Portuguese (all ages, rural or urban... could not have been more welcoming and accommodating). But for sheer views? The Primitivo is hard to beat. I'd pause at yet another outlook and say, "Oh! Spain! Stop showing off you fancy pants!"
I think from observation over many years that the climate is roughly similar from about Barcelos to Tineo. Someone here on a thread today reminded us "Pack for the climate, dress for the weather." -- so Pick a route and then pack accordingly the day before you go, with some variables in your gear.

 

[LynnT]

I would choose the Tui route for beauty. Walking from Lugo means that you join Francés in Melide - meaning you walk only 2 days on the Primitivo. Weather should be similar on both routes.

 

[LavanyaLea]

But for sheer views? The Primitivo is hard to beat. I'd pause at yet another outlook and say, "Oh! Spain! Stop showing off you fancy pants!"

Walking from Lugo means that you join Francés in Melide - meaning you walk only 2 days on the Primitivo.

I loved walking the Primitivo but in my opinion, the beauty/nature/etc ended in Lugo. In fact, the warning signs started from O Cadavo (the stage before Lugo) where the route flattens out and became more roads.

Coming out of Lugo to Ferreira, the route follows the national road LU-P-2901 starting from KM0 to KM25 in Ferreira. The highlight of this route was taking the detour to Roman temple in Santa Eulalia de Boveda (which, I didn’t see anyone else took it and we were there for nearly an hour!) and the Roman signpost in San Romao.

compadres over crowds, paths over roads!

So… if you were initially attracted to the Primitivo for these reasons, then starting from Lugo won’t be such a good idea.

If you can’t do the full Primitivo because of time constraints, but have a bit more time than 4 days…. You can start a bit further back: if you start from Grandas de Salime… you will go up the Acebo Pass, beautiful views over Penafonte, cross from Asturias into Galicia so you’ll do the whole Galician part of the route… A Fonsagrada has the historical sacred fountain (as per the name).

But if you say you have up to 2 weeks then you can do the whole Primitivo!

 

[jungleboy]

Echoing others to say that by starting the Primitivo in Lugo, you will miss the best the Primitivo has to offer.

 

[Kanga]

Agree that the best of the Primitivo is before Lugo, although there are some lovely bits after. As a straight answer to your question, I'd probably opt for Tui.

You might also consider Ourense to SDC, on the Sanabrés. Or the Inglés.

 

[peregrina2000]

I loved walking the Primitivo but in my opinion, the beauty/nature/etc ended in Lugo. In fact, the warning signs started from O Cadavo (the stage before Lugo) where the route flattens out and became more roads.

Agree that the best of the Primitivo is before Lugo, although there are some lovely bits after.

I agree with these comments. But if you are going to walk from Lugo, don’t miss the short detour to the Roman site at Santa Eulalia da Bóveda (3rd C, beautiful wall paintings, unknown whether the building was religious, medicinal, or something else). And Ton and Ria’s albergue in Ponte Ferreira is a beautiful, relaxing place.

 

[cardifflad52]

I have walked both of these paths and I could not possibly say which is more beautiful. I walked the San Salvador and the Primitivo this year... You could do the Primitivo from Oviedo in 2 weeks, or the Portuguese from Porto in about the same time.
To see Tui at sunrise from Valença is just stupendous. And I have never met a consistently more garrulous or generous people than the Portuguese (all ages, rural or urban... could not have been more welcoming and accommodating). But for sheer views? The Primitivo is hard to beat. I'd pause at yet another outlook and say, "Oh! Spain! Stop showing off you fancy pants!"
I think from observation over many years that the climate is roughly similar from about Barcelos to Tineo. Someone here on a thread today reminded us "Pack for the climate, dress for the weather." -- so Pick a route and then pack accordingly the day before you go, with some variables in your gear.

I have not done neither myself , but in middle of planning the Portuguese camino , is it true then that the Portuguese are more welcoming for the Peregrino than the Spanish

I have walked both of these paths and I could not possibly say which is more beautiful. I walked the San Salvador and the Primitivo this year... You could do the Primitivo from Oviedo in 2 weeks, or the Portuguese from Porto in about the same time.
To see Tui at sunrise from Valença is just stupendous. And I have never met a consistently more garrulous or generous people than the Portuguese (all ages, rural or urban... could not have been more welcoming and accommodating). But for sheer views? The Primitivo is hard to beat. I'd pause at yet another outlook and say, "Oh! Spain! Stop showing off you fancy pants!"
I think from observation over many years that the climate is roughly similar from about Barcelos to Tineo. Someone here on a thread today reminded us "Pack for the climate, dress for the weather." -- so Pick a route and then pack accordingly the day before you go, with some variables in your gear.

I am planning the Portuguese Camino myself , are you saying that the Portuguese people are more welcoming towards the pilgrim than the Spanish ?? And is the coastal route better than the central route ??

 

[LTfit]

I've done both 2x and would say (although the Primitivo is my favorite) that the route after Lugo is not very interesting except of course for my friends' albergue in Ponte Ferreira as Laurie pointed out.

Tui to SdC will be quite busy in July which would not be high on my list, actually the last 100 km of any route will be busy as crowds want to arrive in Santiago for the festivities.

If I had 2 weeks to walk I would personally start further back. Porto to Santiago is doable in that time frame.

 

[Perambulating Griffin]

I have not done neither myself , but in middle of planning the Portuguese camino , is it true then that the Portuguese are more welcoming for the Peregrino than the Spanish
I am planning the Portuguese Camino myself , are you saying that the Portuguese people are more welcoming towards the pilgrim than the Spanish ?? And is the coastal route better than the central route ??

I do not think it is a mater of being more welcoming per se. I have always felt extremely welcomed on any camino route in Spain... I think it's that the Portuguese cultural character is just more "outgoing". I had many more people my vintage and up who would come to talk with me while I walked and on learning I could not speak Portuguese they would be very happy to carry on in French. Thus did I learn a fair amount of 'street level' history from older Portuguese people. But I cannot say that this is *more* welcoming than has been the gently offered plums from an old man's hand, indicating they had come from his garden... or the silently offered vegetable gardens and fruit trees grow purposely on the camino side of a suburban fence (I've seen this many times now in Spain). I don't know, there is just a funny kind of bashful but extroverted effort in Portugal (will you have the wine with your lunch? Oh, surely you do not want our sparkling red -- we locals like it it, but the pilgrims... no so much..... You *would* like to try it??? Oh... you like it? Well you must try my white... and let me show you my grapes out back...]. And the young people are proud to be able to speak quite lovely English, and to understand my French... Thus were many things just more fluid/easy on my Portuguese. Now that I have conversational Spanish, that distinction matters less and is entirely on my shoulders as an experience.

The coastal route is not, in my opinion, better than the central. Both my husband and I have walked on the coast a bit, and here's the thing: we both love the ocean... are from coastal areas ourselves. But that's it: ocean on your left. Look left... it's water. Yup... still water. Oh... look, now the water is getting angry... and, yeah... all the shops have battened down... let's head inland. Inland: Oh look! An archeological site! Oh... another museum! Wow... fantastic pastry! Kiwis by the hectare! (who knew?).... And the thing is, if you are a seafood fan, it's still fresh. Nowhere in Portugal is *far* from the coastline.

As to the Primitivo... the ups and the downs are *tough* and the weather can be quite a challenge, and if you aren't able to arrive at the correct times, you'll definitely miss the small museums that started around Tineo. So you really have to like cows and sheep and views into valleys. But from Oviedo to Tineo was fantastic... and the fresh, local cheese was great in the little towns... Then from Borres to Fonsagrada (lovely!) it's, well, more hills and valleys, cattle and sheep. There are more "serious hikers" out there (not necessarily interested in the pilgrimage aspect). Castroverde has the most charming fountain in its main square, and the spookiest exit out of any town I've ever been in (why is there a door into the mountain??!!!) . Dinner was grand and well-priced; my pension more than comfortable. But nobody could not tell me anything about the medieval period guard tower up the hill, and my own guidebook said nothing about it either, so I can only speculate that at one time the town was more like Salas and less like a large bus-stop in cattle-region.

Lugo... I intend to get back as soon as possible!! Not only for the Roman walls still surrounding the old city, but also because I loved seeing the old city's main square absolutely stuffed with elderly people out enjoying a fine evening (silk scarves around every neck...). I enjoyed seeing a young couple having breakfast in the wee bar the following morning before parting ways to go to work, and then seeing them followed by a group of friends doing the same. Young people where I live have no "time luxury" for such things and drive everywhere -- usually more than an hour to get to work. And the final shot Melide to Santiago.... well, it's not new to me, but I found joining it brought a nice feeling of the familiar to end my most recent camino.

I will say that if you are not a regular walker in daily life (and not on the flats), then you are best to take 2 weeks on the Portuguese. It's not flat by any means, but it's not the constant gain and loss on step hills that the Primitivo is.

 

[cardifflad52]

Thank you for the info .. I started the CF in late March and finished it in the first week of May without any training beforehand and had a lovely experience ..This time round I have decided to start from Lisbon and use the guide book which Ivar kindly sent me along with the passport ..the book is for looking out for certain landmarks en route as I split my days in three , tea break , lunch break before pressing on to my final destination .. I have the weekend to sort out my departure date for next month and be taking my tent but plan to book in somewhere once or twice a week to do my washing and charge my batteries etc looking to take approx 4 weeks

 

[Bob Chambers]

I agree with these comments. But if you are going to walk from Lugo, don’t miss the short detour to the Roman site at Santa Eulalia da Bóveda (3rd C, beautiful wall paintings, unknown whether the building was religious, medicinal, or something else). And Ton and Ria’s albergue in Ponte Ferreira is a beautiful, relaxing place.

The route gpx at the Ponte Ferreira website is the route I'd planned for my cancelled 2018 Camino, (apart from the start from the Albergue Ponte Ferreira). Is the route through Sobrado to the Norte on the Verde, then turning off at Biomorto to join the Frances at Santiago Airport an official route which permits a Compostela?

 

[LavanyaLea]

The route gpx at the Ponte Ferreira website is the route I'd planned for my cancelled 2018 Camino, (apart from the start from the Albergue Ponte Ferreira). Is the route through Sobrado to the Norte on the Verde, then turning off at Biomorto to join the Frances at Santiago Airport an official route which permits a Compostela?

Hi Bob, this is what I did last month… did the Salvador then Primitivo. At Ferreira I followed the alternative route to Sobrado (GPX from the albergue). After Sobrado I followed del Norte until Boimorto and rather than heading to Arzua, I chose the Lavacolla route (this is still an official Camino del Norte route, there were mojones along the way). And then at Orxal I turned left to join the Frances in A Brea (there were some yellow arrows here and there but not always, so again I think this wasn’t really official).

So I think the issues with the Compostela are:
- the route connecting Ferreira to Sobrado is not a Camino route. It’s not even the Camino Verde (CV is Lugo-Friol-Sobrado), which has green arrow markers but as far as I know, still not recognised as official Camino route
- Sobrado is less than 100km from Santiago, the 100km point for del Norte is Baamonde I think? 40km back from Sobrado
- So if someone is being pedantic, following this routing would mean one is not walking the last 100km on an official Camino route.

It would depend who you met at the pilgrim’s office I suppose. I went there and got my compostela, the woman at the desk didn’t ask any questions about the routes I’ve taken.

I’ve also written up report on the route from Ferreira to Sobrado, it can be overgrown in places, check here.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

When I walked the Primitivo I ended it in lovely Lugo with the amazing walls because most comments when I researched ahead of time were the same as on this thread. It was easy to hop the bus to Santiago after an extra day walking those amazing walls and poking around the city.

I basically agree with @Perambulating Griffin regarding the Portuguese about the Coastal route being less interesting than the Central route although I only walked a few days on the fun boardwalks before turning inland. I don't live near the ocean, but I had just finished walking the stunning Fisherman's Trail on the Rota Vicentina with its many gorgeous bays viewed from high cliffs, so I was ready for more of a "Frances feel" for the remainder of my time.

EDIT- As far as cooler weather, who can predict. One year it could be Lugo to Santiago; another year Tui to SdC.
All routes are beautiful in their own way, depending on what you are looking for.

 

[Rebekah Scott]

Just pick one, and leave your expectations at home. You won't be disappointed.