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Which route to take on Portuguese camino?

Sacha

Peregrina
Time of past OR future Camino
05/24 C. Portugues
09/25 CF Ponferrada - Fisterra
I have done the Frances a couple times and loved it. Now I will be taking my mother along for her first time.

I would love your opinions on which route is best to take. We want to start in Porto.
I am quite confused and overwhelmed by all the different routes to take! The only thing I really don't like is walking too often along busy roads and along industrial zones.
I love the coast, but am afraid it can get a bit boring after a while? We live on the Costa Blanca (east coast of Spain) and we do miss the abundance of green nature there.

We are planning to go beginning of May.

My mom will be sending her luggage via mail along the route.

Thanks in advance everyone!
 
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How old and in what shape is your mother?

I wouldn't walk the central Portuguese route for any amount of money, myself.
I found it dangerous with no shoulder to walk on, sharp curved roads, and crazy Portuguese drivers!
I haven't walked the coastal route yet, but I were taking my mother, it would be the coastal route.
 
My wife and I have hiked Camino Frances four times - from St Jean to Santiago. Two years ago she developed a severe stress fracture. It has healed but she decided to stay home looking after our two beagles and her 90 year old mother who is ailing and lives nearby. I decided to hike this fall, but take a shorter and different route. I decided to start in Porto, hike the coastal route several days, then cross over to the central route. To my surprise, there is no easy way to cross from Viana do Castelo to Ponte de Lima. I decided to take a rest day and took a taxi.

Having hiked CF four times, I was less satisfied with CP. The hiking stages often had long stretches with few cafes / bars, few / no rest areas, water fountains. In one stretch, I hiked four hours and there were only two cafes - jam packed with bikers and pilgrims so I didn't bother to stop. Along the coast several cafes did not have "sello" stamps. I was surprised how many church doors were locked. And it seemed that biking pilgrims prefer the hiking paths even with streets / roads adjacent. It was nice to hike with views of the Atlantic and sandy beaches and hiking on boardwalks was interesting. The food was delicious and I stayed in several private rooms that were excellent. All things considered, my wife and I will return to Camino Frances in 2025 most likely hiking from Leon to Santiago.

Bob
 
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I’m interested in your post because I have bad knees but want to walk another Camino so have decided on the CP next May as well. My tentative plan is a hybrid. From Porto walk on the litoral then the Coastal til Caminha then inland to Tui on the Central. At PontevedrA will go on the Espiritual. I’m just starting to plan, would love to hear from anyone with suggestions…
 
Hello fellow Peregina,

I recommend as I did this July: from Porto to Caminha on the Coastal, after that I had to change (overcrowded, no beds due to the catholic youth assembly in Lisbon) my plans and walked to the Central via Tui. It was a very pleasant walk, especially the part from Tui on!

Many changing views even on the Coastal!

HTH
 
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It's interesting to read so often that the CP is a familiar 'next camino' choice for those who have already walked the CF. And yet there are so many other routes to pick from. Is it perhaps that the CP seems to offer the same level of infrastructure and services that the CF does?
 
Robo I’m not sure, I wasn’t planning on any more Caminos until a friend just did the CP in September. It seems a bit easier for my knees and is now calling my name…
 
Having done both coastal and central...I think you have the perfect plan....if you have the time make a short day after Pontrevedra and stay in Combarro....
 
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I thought the Camino Portugues from Porto was lovely and I found that there were plenty of accomodations and services along the way. It was a fairly easy walk. I walked it in June, 2019 and - at least then - it wasn't crowded at all. I took the bus in Porto to Matosinhos on the coast and walked on the Senda Litoral for the first couple of days. From my research, it sounded like the prettiest route from Porto. It hugs the shore along wild beaches and part of it is on a long boardwalk, which is pleasant walking (except there was a huge storm with punishing rain and wind for part of it. That was kind of exciting.). Around Vila do Conde, as I recall, I walked inland to join the Central Route. There was a short hairy section along a narrow busy road, but soon after that, I saw the site pictured here. Somewhere near Rates. To find that route connecting the coast to the Central Camino, I followed the directions on the Wise Pilgrim app on my phone. That app also has updated info. on accomodations and you can book your stays along the way if you want to. I highly recommend it.
There were a couple of short climbs, but mostly, the camino wound through attractive villages, where I came across at least three small local festivals that were fun. The food was good, I met some nice people and - call me crazy - but I recommend this route. I hear it's a lot more crowded now, so you might want to book your accomodations ahead, but then you are free to walk during the times of day when it's more peaceful.
 

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It's not bad, but not as good as on the CF (before the bug).
Next to come for me is Norte or the Via de la Plata, depending on my vacation possibilities.
 
I did from Ponte Le Lima on the central and then did the variant. It was all amazing and didn’t have the busy roads . Just a thought! I think it was approx 160kms
 
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Wow, that’s quite a first day to start a Camino, well done! Ponte was a mid way point for me, as I prefer staying in between stages, but I loved the walk in and the vibe of the town, did you enjoy it?
 
I have walked both the Senda Litoral and the Central out of Porto. I was 60 when I walked the coastal, 64 when walking the central - which I did from Lisbon. I enjoyed both routes, although they are very different, & I found both routes easy to walk, but I am fairly fit.
If you walk the coastal, or senda, I really recommend you walk out along the river. It's a beautiful walk, with only a small amount of industrial area.
If you take the central out of Porto, you have a lot of commercial, residential & some industrial.
This year on the central I walked the Espiritual Variante, which I loved. It has some steep hills, but they're manageable..
Both routes you're mostly on paths or trails, although there is some road walking. I don't find that difficult, as all my walking at home is on narrow rural roads with cars travelling at 80-100km/h.
Whichever route you choose, you're likely to find things you love, then others not so much.
Buen Camino

Jen
 
Spiritual variant is beautiful
 
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I have walked the Portuguese Camino from Lisbon like five years ago. The walk from Lisbon to Porto is not that great. A lot of highways and paying attention to not get killed by cars. Very little space to feel comfortable.

My personal recommendation is to start your hike from Porto. I personally walked the Coastal route and loved it. Its a newer route and has somewhat less accommodation options etc. than the main route. I have not done the main route, but they connect in Spain anyways. I have heard it from pretty much everyone that the Spiritual variant in Spain is highly recommended to take. It will add like +2 days to your hike.

If you want to get a better understanding for yourself how Camino Portuguese feels like, then I suggest you watch videos from Efren on Youtube:
  • Main route playlist from 2023:
  • Coastal route playlist from 2019:
I hope this helps I also wrote down my experience in Portugal in blog format:
https://caminopilgrim.travel.blog/camino-de-santiago/camino-portugues-2019/
 
We walked the CP this year. Partly coastal, partly central.
in Portugal the coastal from Porto to Caminha (Border)
I live near the coast in the Netherlands and wondered too if it wouldn’t be boring, but it was just so different. The Atlantic is very different from the mediterranean sea too. It has such power and impressive waves. Not boring at all. And its called the coastal but the route goes up into the hills a lot too. There is some green, but mostly you walk on boardwalks or through cute small villages.

From Caminha we took the train to Valenca and walked the central.(you can also walk along a bike path) but that will take two days) It was a lot more crowded, also because there are many groups walking the last 100 km. More nature, but overal the cp is walking a lot on concrete.
The cp is not hard but does have some steep parts once in a while. Especially From O Porrino to Redondela there is a knee crusher. My knees never give me problems but after leaving Mos you come across a road that is very very steep going down (beautiful view) and really hurt my knees too.

There are more parts where you canswitch from the coastal to the central
- in Villa do Conde, but that’s along a road.
-Recently there’s a bike path from povoa de Varzim to Rates, for a more relaxed walk.
 
JacquelineA said:
There are more parts where you canswitch from the coastal to the central
- in Villa do Conde, but that’s along a road.
-Recently there’s a bike path from povoa de Varzim to Rates, for a more relaxed walk.
Click to expand...
I walked from Caminha via Valenca to Tui and really did like that part. It was very quiet (Sunday) and fun to walk up the river Miño, getting to know that on the more rural parts you can meet traditionally clothed churchgoers.

The big fiesta in the fortress of Valenca was a nice surprise, but the overcrowded city of Tui was annoying, I had to call several albergues to get a bed on the outskirts of Tui. Even to find a place to eat was hard.

From Tui I walked I walked to Redondela without stopover.
 
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My mom (76 years old)and I did Portuguese route this past May. We walked out of Porto along the coast to Caminha, then took a train from Caminha to Valencia and continued walking Central route from Valencia to Santiago. My mom was able to do the route without any issues. There were a few spots of long stretches along the boardwalk that didn't have any place decent to sit and rest. There was one day (I can't remember what part at the moment) my mom just couldn't do it because it was one of those long stretches, lucky we were able to call an Uber to pick her up and take her to our next lodging. There were a few stretches on the Central route that my mom found difficult - we just took it slow and when she got tired or felt unable to walk anymore for the day - we were able to get an Uber or a taxi. We had a couple days of rain - those days if we were to be walking on a trail through the wooded areas, she didn't feel comfortable walking - afraid of slipping/falling - so we just arranged for a taxi to take her to either meet up with me farther down the trail skipping the wooded areas or take her to our final destination for the day.
 
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