Camino Portugues, the Portuguese part of the Way of St. James

The Camino de Santiago are, as you probably know, pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela, which, along with Rome and Jerusalem, is one of the three great Christian shrines. The most famous of these Camino de Santiago routes throughout Europe is probably the Camino Francés, which Chizuru has already walked alone in 2019.

Since Chizuru walked this Camino, we had the idea in our heads to walk a Camino together one day. Since we had time at short notice in April 2022, we decided to fulfill this desire spontaneously. But since we only had two weeks available, we had to decide which Way of St. James it should be.

Among the Camino de Santiago with the destination Santiago, which can be walked in less than two weeks, are:

1. the last 200 to 250 km of the Camino Francés
2. walking the Portuguese Way from Porto
3. walking the Camino Primitivo from Oviedo
4. walking the English Way to Santiago, then to Finisterra.

We decided to go the Portuguese way from Porto.

The Portuguese Way is actually a 615 km pilgrimage route, which already starts in Lisbon, the capital of Portugal, and goes north to Santiago de Compostela in Spain. However, the majority of pilgrims start the Portuguese Way from Porto, the second largest city in Portugal to Lisbon. The Portuguese way from Porto is also popular with many Camino beginners, because it runs relatively flat compared to other Jakobswegen and can be easily mastered in two weeks.

So for me Camino beginners, the ideal choice!

Central or Coast?

The Portuguese Camino de Santiago is divided into two main routes. One is the Camino Portugues de la Costa, which follows the Atlantic Ocean, and the other is the Camino Portugues Central, which follows the inland. Normally, the central inland route is the traditional Camino de Santiago, but the coastal route along the sea is also and increasingly popular. At certain times of the year, there are now significantly more pilgrims walking there than on the traditional path!

It’s not an easy decision: to walk the Camino while enjoying the sound of the waves, or while experiencing smaller towns and villages.

The good news is that the central path and the coastal path can be combined through several variants, giving you the opportunity to change routes at will.

The most popular are the variants below, to change to the Portuguese Way of Saint James inland.

1. Villa do Conde – Rates
2. Povoa de Varzim – Rates (preferable to the 1st variant)
3. Fão – Barcelos (Caminho de São Bento)
4. Viana do Castelo – Ponte de Lima
5. Caminha – Valença

We decided to take the route recommended in the guidebooks, i.e. first walk a bit on the coastal path and then switch to the central path. April is actually not a good month weather-wise on the Atlantic, but we hadn’t seen the sea for a long time and the first one or two sections of the central path from Porto were also said to be very lengthy, with too much annoying road traffic.

What follows is a summary of our first Camino together, with some hopefully useful information about the Portuguese Way of St. James. So, happy reading!

Travel Camino Portugues

Many roads lead to the wonderful city of Porto.

Airplane
The easiest way to get to Porto from Germany is by plane. Direct flights to Porto are offered from many major airports. There are also low-cost airlines to Porto from smaller regional airports such as Frankfurt-Hahn and Memmingen. We flew with Ryanair from Memmingen to Porto.

Train
Unfortunately, getting from Germany to Porto by train is not that easy and also expensive. Many connections go from Germany to Paris, from Paris on to the south of France, and then via Madrid and Vigo towards Porto.

Bus
Flixbus offers a direct bus from Paris to Porto that takes 23 hours without changing buses. There are connections to Paris from various German cities. So if you like to travel by bus for more than a day and a half and don’t feel like flying, we recommend this option.

Day 1 Porto – Angeiras

Distance 23.3km – elevation gain 90m ascent, 140m descent

The starting point of our Camino Portugues is Porto Cathedral in the old city. We had not yet prepared a pilgrim’s card (credential) to buy here and get our first stamp. We set off for the cathedral shortly after 8am, as we unfortunately did not know that the cathedral does not open until 9am.

Therefore we could explore the city of Porto around the cathedral and the famous Ponte Dom Luís I again. We were last in Porto before Corona, but since then the number of cafes and restaurants that have closed and the number of empty and dilapidated buildings seems to have increased significantly.

From the cathedral, yellow arrows point to the Camino, so you can’t really get lost. If you take the central path, you head behind the cathedral toward the city center; if, like us, you follow the coastal path, you head from in front of the cathedral toward the Douro River.

Once at the Douro, we continue along the river until the Atlantic Ocean appears. We had already walked this route during our previous stay in Porto (although we didn’t know then that this was part of the Camino), so we decided to take the rustic streetcar for the first 6.5 km in comfort.

When you arrive at the Atlantic Ocean and see Farolim de Felgueiras, a lighthouse known for being built on a very rough stretch of coastline, turn right and just walk straight along the boardwalk.

It is often written that the Camino Portugues de la Costa is a path where it is impossible to get lost. In fact, even without the yellow arrows, it is unlikely that you will get lost, because when the sea is on the left, the direction is correct.

After getting a first stamp at the tourist information office in Matosinhos, you cross an area where numerous fish restaurants line a huge port industrial area.

Behind this area begins the wooden jetty on the beach, which we were looking forward to. A typical image for the Portuguese coastal path.

Our restaurant tip, Santo Burga
R. Helena Vieira da Silva 52, Leça da Palmeira, Portugal
Really good burger place with fun owners. Reasonably priced and just right for a lunch on the Camino de Santiago.

April is apparently the blooming season of the Atlantic, we were greeted by a colorful array of wild flowers. However, when the sun is already shining so strongly in April, walking the Camino in mid-summer is likely to be a very hot experience.

The coastal path is flat and therefore easy to walk, but it took a surprisingly long time to finally reach our destination, Angeiras. I guess we had to find our rhythm, with backpacks on the beach and constant crosswinds.

Day 2 Angeiras – Rates

Distance 23.3km – elevation gain 90m ascent, 140m descent

Actually, we wanted to take the coastal path until Fao and only then turn inland, but we were now already tired from walking on the flat path by the sea.

If you live in the Alps like we do and you’re in the mountains a lot, flat roads feel more tiring than climbs. Therefore, we decided to go along the coast to Villa do Conde and already then inland to Rates.

The coastal path to Villa do Conde is a beautiful nature reserve with gorgeous beaches all along the way. However, it is also bordered by an industrial area, so you walk through a strange landscape with the dream beach on the left and a huge refinery on the right.　

Today’s section along the coast is also eminently walkable, with boardwalks covering almost the entire route.

After a lunch break in Villa do Conde, which by the way is a small town worth seeing, we said goodbye to the Atlantic Ocean and made our way to Rates.

The road from Villa do Conde along the aqueduct to Rates is only maintained as a footpath for the first few kilometers, so it’s a bit of a nerve-wracking stretch as you have to share the road with cars.　

Portuguese road traffic is very fast-paced, to say the least, and the already narrow roads feel quite uncomfortable because both sides of the road are surrounded by stone walls.

And then there are those damn cobblestones！

Although Portuguese cobblestones are medieval and beautiful to look at, they are a horror to pilgrims and the number one topic of discussion at Rates hostels.

More than 95 percent of the way to Rates was over cobblestones. Even the section which runs through a beautiful eucalyptus forest forces you onto miles of cobblestone roads.

Once we arrived at our destination, we were completely exhausted and our legs ached, something we’ve never felt even after harder and more challenging hikes.

We highly recommend taking the bike path (a former train route) from Povoa de Varzim if you want to cross inland to Rates. This path is a bit longer, but it is paved, flat, and according to what we have heard and read from other pilgrims, much more pleasant to walk.

Day 3 Rates – Barcelos

Distance 17.4km – Elevation gain 340m ascent, 350m descent

Although we were so exhausted the previous evening that we thought we wouldn’t be able to walk the next day, we were able to start the next stage fresh thanks to a restful night’s sleep in comfortable lodging.

Our destination today is Barcelos, a town about 16 km away that is supposed to be absolutely worth seeing. We had completely forgotten that it was Good Friday, so we quickly got ourselves some accommodation in Barcelos in the morning. (And this room was the last one bookable at Booking).

Basically, you can actually find a bed on the Camino Portugues without booking in advance. However, when you come to a city during the Easter season that is also a tourist destination, as is the case today, booking affordable accommodation turns out to be a bit more difficult.

Today’s stage is along the busy main road, as it was yesterday. At least the amount of cobblestones seems to decrease a bit.

The route to Barcelos splits halfway into two variants: one is the normal Camino route through the town of Pereira to Barcelos, the other via the church Ermida de Nossa Senhora da Franqueira, built on the mountain.

We preferred to hike through the mountains, even though there was a small elevation gain, rather than continue on the narrow path along the main road that could hardly be called a footpath.

It was also so hot that day that it was hard to believe it was only mid-April. Walking through the cool eucalyptus forest, instead of the less shady main road, was therefore a welcome change!

From the church built on the summit, you can usually see all the way to the Atlantic Ocean and far into the surrounding area. Unfortunately, the air wasn’t very clear that day due to the hot temperatures, but the view was still a fine one.

From here it was another 6 or 7 kilometers to Barcelos, which should have been no problem on the map since it was all downhill. However, these last kilometers were very exhausting and dragged like chewing gum due to the heat.

On the way to Barcelos we passed through several small towns, but there were hardly any places to take a break. There are no cafes or stores, and parks and benches are completely lacking. The Portuguese seem to have a great fondness for stone walls, and even open spaces with trees where you could have had a good rest are inaccessible thanks to these walls.

Here is the biggest difference with the Camino Frances. According to Chizuru, on the 800 km Camino there was never any difficulty in finding a shady place to rest.

Barcelos

The city of Barcelos was as beautiful as we were chosen, and there was much to see. During the Easter season, there was a large festival in the center of town that was well attended.

Even if you are tired after a busy day, we recommend at least a short walk in Barcelos, because the city really has a lot to offer.

If you want to learn more about the legend of the black rooster, which can be found everywhere in Barcelos, you should stop by the Museu Arqueológico, a small open-air museum. The legend of Saint James is often heard on the Camino, but the legend of Barcelos is also interesting as a story.

Day 4 Barcelos – Vitorino dos Piães

Distance 22km – elevation gain 340m ascent, 250m descent

We set off in the dense fog for our next destination.

The weather forecast for today predicts clear skies and temperatures up to 25°C, just like yesterday. So we want to make as much progress as possible while it’s still cool and foggy.

In today’s stage there is also the option of walking via Abade de Neiva, a variant that starts on the outskirts of Barcelos, but we chose the regular Camino.

There are not many opportunities to stop for coffee in the first 10 km, except on the outskirts of Barcelos.

The restaurant, about 10 km from Barcelos, is incidentally the only one in the area and right on the Camino. As expected, it was accordingly full of pilgrims. So if you wanted to open a café on the Portuguese Camino, this section would certainly be the place to do it.

Most of today’s walk was again just along the side of the road, but it wasn’t that busy so we didn’t mind.

As predicted, the fog lifted completely before 11:00 and it was warm enough to continue hiking again in just a T-shirt.

The last 6 km to our destination today, Vitorino dos Piães, were very pleasant on a road between fields, but the heat pulled the last energy out of our limbs and we arrived again completely exhausted at our hostel.

The path was completely without shade, so that we really had to put on sunscreen several times. A Czech fellow pilgrim, whom we met later in the hostel, had gotten a strong sunburn on this day – the calves are always gladly forgotten – and looked very worn out.

Day 5 Vitorino dos Piães – Ponte de Lima

Distance 12km – Elevation gain 80m ascent, 200m descent

This was the first time on our Camino that we stayed in a hostel rather than a private room, and for Olli it was not a very pleasant night.

For people over 1.90m, the walls around the beds that the hostels have erected to protect privacy are apparently just a hindrance to a comfortable night’s sleep.

Fortunately, today’s route is only 12 km long and is by and large on flat roads. The banging to celebrate Easter, which suddenly started out loud the previous evening, continues intermittently today. Easter seems to be an important holiday in Portugal as well, as we met many people on the road dressed up and happily going to church.

The weather on this day was also similar to before. The sun shone steadily and it got hotter and hotter after the morning fog lifted.

Although we walked quite slowly, we reached Ponte de Lima, our destination for the day, just after 12:00. Ponte de Lima is, as the name suggests, a dinky town on the banks of a bridge over the Lima River.

Since it was Easter Sunday, the town was very busy and long lines formed in front of all the restaurants. Fortunately, we were able to reserve a table at one of the restaurants in the old town, so we relaxed and made our way to our lodging today to drop off our backpacks.

Day 6 Ponte de Lima – Rubiães

Distance 18km – elevation gain 430m ascent, 240m descent

The section from Ponte de Lima to Rubiães, today’s destination, has a slight elevation change, a rarity for the otherwise flat Camino Portugues. For us, this was a very welcome change!

As we had been told many times before, it was the most beautiful stage so far, and we really enjoyed walking among nature and the small settlements along the way.

The trail to Alto da Labruja, the highest point, was generally a pleasant hiking trail, although it was a bit steep and rocky in places.

Attention. After the small bar in the Bandeira district, just before the climb, there is no way to refill one’s water until the summit.

In general, there were again few opportunities to eat, and the café in Agualonga, a few kilometers below Alto da Labruja, is already almost besieged by pilgrims.

The prices were quite high for a simple café in a small Portuguese village, but business seemed to be booming and you don’t really have a choice.

Our impression so far is that the Camino Portugues passes through many towns, but offers few places to stop and rarely anything specifically for pilgrims.

Day 7+8 Rubiães – Tui

Distance 20km – elevation gain 250m ascent, 420m descent

.

We plan to walk to Tui today, the first town in Spain. As big fans of Spain, we were really looking forward to this day.

The weather seems to have changed from yesterday’s clear skies. The clouds are increasing and the wind is getting cooler again. Galicia, where there are not 100 words for rain for nothing, is approaching.

In fact, it was so cold in the morning that we all had to put on our clothes in layers. Onion system! We thought until the last minute about bringing a long-sleeved shirt, saving weight and all, but it was the right decision to pack it after all.

Today’s route took us on an excellent hiking trail through the forest to the border town of Valença in Portugal.

We arrived in Valença around 2:00 pm and decided to have lunch on the Portuguese side. This is because there is a one hour time difference between Spain and Portugal. So if you go to the Spanish side now, the restaurants will already be closed because of the siesta.

The old town of Valença is inside the walls of an old fortress, with a narrow entrance and traffic lights that must be respected even by pedestrians. Because no human being fits between the car and the tunnel wall, and certainly no pilgrim with a backpack.

The restaurants in Valença were full of Spanish tourists, perhaps because it is also an attractive city for Spaniards to have lunch during the siesta.

We had a seafood soup with rice, and it was the best dish we had on the table in Portugal. In the last Portuguese city, we also finally managed to order the right amount for two people. Just everywhere, we were always served huge portions.

If you cross the old town of Valença and now the bridge over the river Minho, on the other side is already Spain.

So far the weather has been good, albeit very cloudy, but as soon as we reached Spain, light rain set in. Welcome to Galicia！

The first part of our Camino together took us from Porto to the Spanish border.
The weather in northern Portugal is unpredictable in April, even for locals, and the German saying “April makes what it wants” applies there as well.

However, we were lucky enough to walk through Portugal in the best weather and unusually high temperatures for April, for which we are very grateful.

Actually, we decided to hike the Camino Portugues to leave everyday life behind us, to switch off a bit and relax. However, during the first week we felt quite strongly how quiet and close to nature is the environment in which we live and were then quite agitated by all the impressions and events around us.

In general, the Way of St. James in Portugal is not necessarily a meditative walk, because it often runs along and on busy roads, which can be dangerous if you do not follow your path with concentration.

However, the many charms around us also helped us to refresh our, let’s call it, travel skills, which had become a bit rusty in recent years due to the relaxed country life, away from any stress.

In the next article we will summarize the Spanish part of our Camino, which is quite different from the Portuguese part.

Buen Camino!