Camino Portuguese 2017

The Camino Portgues runs from Lisbon to Santiago a distance of 620km although most pilgrims choose to start in Porto which is 230km from Santiago. The route runs close to the coast (indeed there is a possibility to walk along the coast for some of the route) and the route leads you through Barcelos (where there is another version of the Pilgrim and the Cockerel story), Tui and Padron (famous for its peppers and as the spot where the stone boat carrying Saint James was supposed to have landed). Historically this was the route used by Queen Isabel of Portugal when she made a Pilgrimage to Santaigo.

Image from http://www.gregspurgin.com/walking-the-camino-in-portugal/ (a blog written by a couple who walked from Lisbon to Santiago)

Initially from Lisbon there is a lot of road walking and some of the Way after Porto is on cobbled roads which are tiresome on the feet. It is well waymarked after Porto from where you will also see blue arrows pointing towards Fatima another centre for Pilgrimage.

As this route is close to the Atlantic the weather can be changeable so it can be just as wet as Galicia although it is quite hot during Summer so Autumn and Spring are better times to go.

Before Porto Pilgrim accommodation is more sparse but after this there are albergues in Rates, Barcelos, Ponte de Lima, Rubiaes, Valenca de Minho, Tui, Porrino, Mos, Redondela, Cestantes, Pontevedra and Padron. The Portuguese pilgrims’ Association Via Lusitana has a list of accommodation in both countries at http://www.vialusitana.org/en/albergues_eng/

In 2015 43, 137 Pilgrims (16.44% of the total) arrived in Santiago having walked the Camino Portugues compared to 172, 206 (65.61%) who travelled on the Camino Frances making the Camino Portugues the second most popular Camino (statistics taken from   http://peregrinossantiago.es/eng/pilgrims-office/statistics/?anio=2015&mes=).                 

For this Camino I walked with my Mum from Valenca (just inside Portugal) a distance of about 120km. This was a different type of Camino for me - my Mum has a bad back and so is unable to carry her own bag so we used the Spanish Post Office to mover her bag. Municipal albergues within Galicia (possibly in other areas as well) will not accept bags that have been brought by any carrier so we stayed in pre-booked hotels the whole Way meaning that we knew exactly where we were staying each night.

Over the next few weeks I'll be writing about this Camino but if there is anything in particular you would like to know then please ask in the comments and I'll answer here or include my answer in the appropriate post.