Coveys Portuguese Camino, Porto to Santiago

[Covey]

World War III commenced at around 10.30pm on 16th Sept at the Albergue at Redondela and had two groups of protagonists.

The good guys were a collection of Italian, German, Dutch, French Canadian and a lone Grumpy Brit long distance Baggage Mules who had been together since Porto, and the opposing side were two large Spanish family groups who had started at Tui that morning and who were doing the last 100kms in to Santiago.

The Spanish were not in the best frame of mind because their baggage service had gone astray and their packs did not turn up until 2155hrs. and of course lockup was 10pm!

Those who have walked the Camino Frances before will recognize the usual pattern of most being in bed come 10pm and the lights going out shortly afterwards.

Our Spanish families however felt that 10pm was the time to settle down for their evening snack and discussion of their days progress all at maximum volume out in the common room. Finding that the rest of the Albergue were trying to sleep was of little consequence to them and the constant procession of people walking in to the sleeping area and switching on all the lights and continuing their conversations with those in the other room seemed quite natural to them, but was increasingly unappealing to the rest of us.

The Italian ladies appointed themselves guardians of the light switch and as they were all exceedingly good looking and appropriately dressed for Italian Ladies at bedtime, provided endless amusement for your Moderator as they lept in and out of bed in somewhat immodest attire, especially for a Pilgrim!

The Spanish got very bad tempered and announced they were not living in a monastery, whereupon the Italians mentioned that it was unlikely they would be allowed in to a monastery with their behavior.

At this point doubts were raised as to whether some of the Spanish might not have known their parents and the whole affair degenerated in to an international slanging match which seemed a long way form the Christian charity and ideals which normally guide those along the Way.

Eventually peace was restored when the Albergue Hospitialiero threatened to evict the Spanish families, but they settled down and that was the last we saw of them, which was a great relief!

My Portuguese Camino started in Lisbon at the beginning of the month and the Lisbon to Porto stage is not for the feint hearted.

The first 8 days are 30+km days with NO albergues and basically little in the way of assistance. The route is well marked, but almost nobody does Lisbon to Porto. The Tourist Office in Santarem reported that they had 8 Pilgrims in August.

UNLESS you are very fit and accustomed to solo long distance hiking do not even think of walking the Lisbon to Porto stage. Apart from the odd Tourist Office, almost nobody speaks English, so your Portuguese needs to be pretty good. There are very few café's along the marked route and accommodation is whatever you can find by way of small hotels, of which there are very few.

Walking 30+ km days means walking in the late afternoons and in the first two weeks of September it was 32-35c . The Camino Frances has one 30+km day in the standard plan, followed by an 18km day. 8 consecutive 30km+ days is very draining in that heat.

Frankly, the route from Lisbon to Porto seems to have little to do with where ancient pilgrims walked and more to do with modern expediency. The Portuguese appear to think like their Spanish cousins that Pilgrims really love walking through industrial estates.

Mr Brierley's Guide contains a number of errors which should not appear in a version which was published in 2011. Distances should be taken as approximate and little reliance placed on recommendations for accommodation.

Porto to Santiago was very enjoyable. My Camino Frances family member who joined me at Porto thought the coast route looked interesting and we spent the first day walking up a fantastic pathway along the beach for about 20kms. Excellent places for lunch of freshly caught and grilled sardines.

Next day we crossed inland and stayed at the Albergue at Rates run by a volunteer group who organized a meal on the Sunday evening. The Albergue is very nice and the volunteers deserve a lot of credit for the way the Albergue is run.

The rest of the Portuguese albergues were very nice and modern and with the exception of Ponte DE Lima ( this albergue does not open until 5pm and takes an age to check people in so no time for laundry!!), are all built on the top of hills and nowhere near any shops or places to eat!

Porto to Santiago is a very pleasant Camino, not that busy, and well worth doing. Lisbon to Porto should be avoided in my humble opinion.

[Lipka149]

Welcome back, Mr. Covey ! So glad to hear you had a month filled with international friendship (in all its forms), good exercise, and appropriate time for reflection. Ha !

Anyway, your Forum Family has missed you and we look forward to hearing more about your latest Camino.

Welcome home, buddy.

[HuskyNerd]

Dear Mr. Covey it's wonderful to have you back. Thanks for your humor and your helpful advice about Lisbon to Porto. I've been toying with starting at Fatima this spring, which would only remove 2-3 of the dreary and difficult days you've described. It may be time to look at Plan B (the Camino del Norte) a little more seriously. Again, welcome back!

[Covey]

The Camino to Fatima follows the Camino Portuguese route out of Lisbon and then branches off to Fatima at Santarem.

It is well marked, but according to the Tourist Office in Santarem, the Camino de Tejo (Fatima) is really only walked in May when Pilgrims head for Fatima on the anniversary of the sighting of the Virgin Mary.

Day 2 out of Lisbon includes a "memorable" 9km walk down the side of the main non-motorway truck route from Lisbon to Porto. If you like Extreme Sports, then this is up there in terms of excitement! You watch the on-coming trucks starting to cross the white line in to your walking space at 70km/hr whilst the driver is conversing on his mobile phone with whoever. A headlong dive in to the drainage ditch is not an appealing prospect, but neither is ending up stuck to the front of a speeding truck like some Pilgrim mascot!!

[zenb]

Ha great read. I did Porto-Santiago in August.
I can relate very much to your experience in Redondela! Once we hit Spain, there was the infamous influx of Spanish tourist families walking the last 100km with no baggage and support vehicles, getting to albergues early and taking up 45 of the 50 beds.

Let's just say not all long-distance pilgrims took much of a liking to our new travel partners... and although there was not such a row as you've described... often somebody had to tell the Spanish to quiet down at 11pm (usually the more bold Australians).
But the thing that really drove my new Australian pals up the wall was how the Spanish would tell us off for being too loud at 4 in the afternoon! Well I guess the Spanish have different sleeping patterns.

I was more the amused by-stander of these confrontations, but I will admit to perhaps being less thean approachable to the Spanish families after being forced to more or less run to the next albergue in order to get a bed. Something about the spring in their fresh-legged-step compared to my aching ruined feet disheartened me. I guess that's my fault for walking in August.

Anyway nice to hear your experience Covey... and I agree with your review on Ponte De Lima. Despite being the only one signing in it must have taken 20 minutes in literally the hottest room in the solar-system.
But I actually loved the hill-top remote albergue's. Much preferred them to the cities.

[Covey]

My only comment about remote hilltop albergues is that when ones traveling companion mentions she has run out of tea bags, the thought of a 3km trek to the nearest shop and back tends to stretch my Christian sense of charity!!!

Those in need of Compeed etc faced an even longer walk sometimes!!

Did you walk up the central route, or take the coastal path north of Porto?

[zenb]

Yes sometimes the walk was not what I'd have in mind after a long day, but It was quite nice to have an excuse to find a restaurant/bar and just stay there to avoid going back/forth!

I actually cheated a bit and took the (excellent) metro and skipped a few km of central Porto, didn't really fancy walking through a 38degree maze all day!... but then carried on and walked the in-land route to Rates for my first albergue. I had a look at the one a few km before that, but despite tired legs I didn't much feel like staying there so carried on. Glad I did, Rates was one of my favourite stays I think.

[Covey]

Having walked out of Lisbon through all the industrial estates, the guide book suggestion to use the Porto Metro is a good idea!!

The Rates Albergue is nice and I stayed there on a Sunday. A lot of the volunteers who run the Albergue were visiting and we all ended up having a meal together and had a very pleasant evening. It might not be as smart as some of the Albergues further north, but Rates felt like I think an Albergue should be, and the lady who runs the shop and holds the Albergue key is a treasure.

[zenb]

Yes I remember the shop lady being very helpful for when I went to find myself some food. Isn't it funny 2 strangers on opposite corners of the globe can both remark on a friendly shop-keeper who lives in a sleepy Portuguese farming hamlet!

[netia]

Hi Covey!!
So glad to hear of your Portuguese Camino....since the finish of my wonderful Camino Frances, on Sept 27th, I can think of nothing more than pulling on my boots and setting off on another adventure : )
I was thinking of walking the Portuguese way next year...but after reading your commentary,maybe just from Porto. How far is Porto from Santiago? Lots of hours spent researching, on this computer, is in order for me!
Oh and by the way....got lots of hugging done on the Camino frances......... I've never before, met so many huggable people in the one place.. : )
Netia

[Covey]

On my way home, I had a few hours to kill between flights in Madrid so hopped on to the Metro and went to the center of Madrid to see the sights.

Alongside all of the normal tourist tat were a group of young men in tee shirts bearing the slogan Free Hugs and that is what they gave!! Mostly, I must say, to ladies of a certain age, but everyone seemed to smile!!

Maybe I should add Free Hugs to the skills base of the legendary Camino Grandfathers and thus extend our usefulness!!

Welcome back Netia.

[zenb]

Hi Covey!!
So glad to hear of your Portuguese Camino....since the finish of my wonderful Camino Frances, on Sept 27th, I can think of nothing more than pulling on my boots and setting off on another adventure : )
I was thinking of walking the Portuguese way next year...but after reading your commentary,maybe just from Porto. How far is Porto from Santiago? Lots of hours spent researching, on this computer, is in order for me!
Oh and by the way....got lots of hugging done on the Camino frances......... I've never before, met so many huggable people in the one place.. : )
Netia

In answer to your question, Porto is roughly 240/250km walk to Santiago. It can be done comfortably in 10 days walking, although I wasn't in a hurry so took a day off to relax half way through.
The walking in Portugal is very pleasant, but I would recommend planning to not arrive in Santiago in August, otherwise the second half of the journey will get very busy.

[Atlantic]

Yes the CP is a nice camino, or caminho. The noisy hassles you report in a refugio are why I take the 'road less travelled " now. But I enjoyed my CP from Porto some months ago. Lots of albergues, very few people (I walked in Nov).

If anyone is in Madrid for a bit, the Museo La Reina Sofia has free times, as do other museums. If you are aware of this, you can have quite a few freebies.

[Moira]

Thanks, this is all very helpful.
I am heading off on my first walk and am very ignorant. Do the albergues provide food or do we buy our own and cook it there?
I notice you say that they are not near any shops.
Moira

[Covey]

You buy your own usually or eat in a bar if you walk past a nice looking one! It is best to buy food when you see a shop! A number of the albergues have no shops nearby. In Spain the Albergues are usually in the middle of a town with numerous places to eat and buy food, but in Portugal they like you to walk long distances to get your food!

The Golden Rule on a Camino is "Assume nothing!!" Eat when you see food even if it might not quite seem the right time.

If you are walking Porto to Santiago, take the Metro out of Porto to somewhere unpronouncable and walk up the beach. 20kms of great walking on a prepared walkway and great fun.

Covey

[Moira]

Thanks Covey.
At the moment most places seem unpronouncable so finding somewhere won't be too hard
Along with all the menu items everyone so easily chats about......

[sean]

Hi Covey,

Welcome back.

Regards,

Sean
Dublin

[Covey]

Not sure that I am back really, but thanks for the sentiment!!

Covey

[Precious1]

"It is best to buy food when you see a shop!

The Golden Rule on a Camino is "Assume nothing!!" Eat when you see food even if it might not quite seem the right time."

Took me a couple of days to learn to look for the little supermarkets in the center of town. Cheese, pepper, chorizo became staples and nuts, yogurt and and an apples were good choices to take along and eat whenever. At first I'd start out on an empty stomach, just water, but later found fueling up before departure was better for stamina and good spirits. :] But we still stopped at great little bar/restaurants where I loved the salads or bar/cafes for a much needed "te con leche." lol That Spanish red wine now and then in the evening was not bad either. Stay away from the sangria though. lol



Covey[/QUOTE]

[Covey]

Darling!! What is wrong with sangria?

Admittedly, the tourist stuff is often very basic, but a litre of red wine, juice of an orange, a shot of brandy, tablespoon of sugar and a modest slug of lemonade/7UP/Sprite, ice and a slice, and Covey is ready for another 30kms!!

[Covey]

Moira..........

The Porto Metro is excellent and you need the "A" line which goes north to Senhor de Matosinhos which is the end of the line. There is a bridge over the river alongside the Metro stop and you cross the bridge and keep walking about 400m in a straight line until you reach the beach.

Turn right at the beach and follow the path about 20kms north. Much of the way is a wooden boardwalk above the sand so you can make good time. Plan on stopping for lunch where you see the fishing boats pulled up on the beach as there will be numerous beach bars grilling sardines and squid.

Having had a leisurely lunch of fresh sardines and squid and a bottle of well chilled Vino Verde, don't forget to start walking again!!

[grayland]

Follow Covey's advice and you will be on the good track.

Good to hear from you again, Covey!!

[Covey]

Once Christmas and New Year are out of the way, then my thoughts turn to another Way and which Way to travel. I tend to like keeping my options open and as flights from the UK to Spain/Portugal are cheap it is easy to book flights a long way in advance, but which I can skip if necessary and not lose too much money.

I booked a ticket yesterday from London Gatwick to Biarritz for £50 one way for the 31st July so I can start the Camino Frances on the 1st August which is my birthday if I want to, but I might decide to take another route at another time! I have been thinking of Madrid to Santiago, but then all roads lead to Santiago!!

I am very lucky in living in London and being able to get to Biarritz for £50 or London to St Jean in 6 hours, when most have to travel half or most of the way around the world which is not cheap or quick.

[HuskyNerd]

Graham, it's nice to hear your voice. I've missed you!

[Covey]

Glad to see you are still fighting the Good Fight! My voice is just a whisper for the time being.

Take care Rock Star!