Caminho Portugues – Page 2

Caminho Português Senda Litoral Route – Shoulds and Shouldn’ts PART ONE

There’s a lot of things to consider when planning your Senda Litoral Route walk of the Caminho Português. There really are no Shoulds or Shouldn’ts. I debated calling this Dos and Don’ts. In the end, this is just some advice you can either take or not take. Always remember… Your Camino, Your way!

But there are things to consider…

One of the very first is: Should I walk out of Porto on foot or should I take the street car?

I can only offer my own personal take on this, as I only walked once and we chose to walk the entire way out of the city… from the famous Dom Luís I bridge all the way to the lighthouses at the mouth of the River Douro where it meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Myself, Michael, and his sister Jenifer…with the Dom Luís I Bridge in the background. Where we began our Caminho…

There is nothing wrong with taking the streetcar along this portion of the route. Many, many pilgrims do it for various reasons. The streetcar travels alongside the river and takes you to the mouth. It will save you a few kms on your first day and it’s YOUR Camino/YOUR choice.

We walked and really enjoyed the views.

Arrábida Bridge, the last bridge on the River Douro prior to its convergence with the Atlantic Ocean. This bridge actually has a Bridge Climb. You can walk on the braces under the top spans. Check Viator or other tourist sites for info. **CLICK HERE.**

Once you pass under the Arrábida Bridge, the River Douro opens up and you’re well on your way to the lighthouses and the Atlantic Ocean.

There’s a lot to look at along the way. The walk up to the lighthouses, though, is the crown of the journey. It’s spectacular to see the waves crashing against the catwalks…and you can walk out on those catwalks and get some great shots, too!

This shot was taken from the catwalk of the bigger lighthouse, looking back at the smaller lighthouse.

So, to answer the first question… my answer would be YES. Take the walk out of the city. It’s spectacular. Again, though, it’s your walk. If you know this first day is going to be super long and you need to somehow shorten it, taking the streetcar out of town is how pilgrims have been doing so. YOUR Camino.

Should I stay in HI Vila do Conde – Pousada de Juventude in Vila do Conde?

Obviously, I cannot recommend albergues we haven’t stayed at. But I can suggest ones we stayed at that were amazing. And, depending on how you organize your daily walks you may not even find yourself staying in the same towns that we stayed in. With our crazy 10-day schedule, your trip may not align with ours at all.

I can highly recommend the first albergue we stayed in during our September 2022 Camino. Our day one brought us to Vila do Conde. Pousada de Juventude translates from Portuguese to YOUTH HOSTEL. On the surface, this gave me cause for pause. But trust me, it’s gorgeous. And they offer a great breakfast too. If you come to Vila do Conde–on your first or second or third day–you couldn’t go wrong staying at HI Vila do Conde – Pousada de Juventude. My suggestion is YES. Do it. Click this link.

Excuse the backpack explosion in this shot. This is what the rooms look like in this youth hostel. They’re clean and super cute. They have singles and, for our purposes, 3-bed rooms. Worked out perfectly. Nice first day ending.

The breakfast seating area.

Breakfast Buffet.

Sitting room off the breakfast room.

Should I stop at the Caminho Beach Bar?

This is NOT a bad idea. We thought there would be more options on the route. We ended up leaving the route for a few hundred feet when we spotted a place later and worried there was nothing else coming. So, when you see this sign…

…take it as a sign. Unless you’re okay with leaving the boardwalk and walking a few hundred feet into a small town further along. We had a great pit stop, don’t get me wrong. But if you don’t want to leave the path, this bar is the place for you. If you keep walking, keep an eye out for the place in the next photo. It’s a little town a little ways away from the Caminho Beach Bar…on your right-hand side. Looks like a parking lot that opens to a small town. There is also a very tiny grocers, should you need supplies.

Should I enter this ocean-side haunted house prior to Esposende?

Probably not!

Should I stay at the Esposende Guesthouse?

This may have been one of my favourite albergues on the Caminho Português. The level of trusted hospitality here reminded me of the Camino Frances. A woman greeted us for check-in and gave us the lay of the land. Once all were checked in, she left for the night and the pilgrims were on our own.

The gorgeous and fun Esposende Guesthouse

I don’t know why I fell hard for this one, but I did. It was cute. Click here.

There was a cash jar on the kitchen counter, beer in the fridge, wine on the counter. It was all honor system and prices were marked.

There was a kitchen, if you wanted to save a bit on costs and make your own meal. Everything you need is there. The town filled with restaurants is just outside your door, too, should you decide to taste the local fare.

The rooms were clean and cute, and the bathroom was a dream. Towels on the beds. It was an amazing place to end the day!

There were communal crash places aplenty, either indoor or out!

Should I stop to look out across the ocean and snap a selfie after the rain?

An emphatic YES. Stop and smell the roses. You are walking alongside an immeasurable vastness. Take it in. Immerse yourself in it!

Should I stay in HI Viana do Castelo – Pousada de Juventude in Viana do Castelo?

There are options in this bigger town. We chose the first ‘albergue’ once you cross the bridge into town. Should you stay there? That’s entirely up to you. This one lives up to the name of YOUTH HOSTEL. Click Here. The rooms were clean. It had breakfast on offer. It had a large communal room where you could eat an evening meal, should you bring one in. We got a pizza from a local pizzeria…using UberEats to get it delivered.

It was one of those ‘what-you-need’ places, whereas the Esposende Guesthouse was a ‘what-you-want’ place. This place had everything we needed and it was cheap and just inside town. Should you stay here? Entirely up to you and your expectations. WiFi was great, no issues. I believe their pilgrim offer was 14,00€. Link above.

I really wish I could recommend our next stay! It was in Caminha and it was an apartment and it was BEAUTIFUL! Sadly, I noticed that it is no longer on offer. It was a definite SHOULD. Very close to the town circle where the restaurants were and only two minutes from the boat launch in the morning. I would live there if I could.

Should I use Xacobeo Transfer to get from Caminha, Portugal to A Guarda, Spain?

Yes. Absolutely. It was a breeze to book the evening before. The boat met us and the driver had a manifest of passengers and consulted the manifest for our names. We didn’t even have to show a ticket on our phones or anything. Just get on the boat and get off at the other side. It was a quick 5-8 minute ride.

Here’s the link to their website: Xacobeo Transfer.

Tip to remember if your phone doesn’t automatically change, or if you don’t use a phone: A Guarda is ONE HOUR AHEAD of Caminha. So, though the ride takes a few minutes, you lose an hour. A Guarda is the beginning of Spain and they are an hour ahead of Portugal.

This ends Part One. Click here to JUMP TO PART TWO.

If you want to see our 10 day journey in full, here is the link to DAY ONE. At the end of every day, you will find a link to the next day. After those, you will also find a couple of posts on what to do in Porto before and after the Caminho.

If you’ve found this series on our Camino Portuguese helpful and would like to support this page, you can do so by buying me a coffee! KevinCraig-BuyMeACoffee

I’m also an author. One of my novels, a young adult story, is set on the Camino Frances route of the Camino de Santiago. THE CAMINO CLUB. It follows six teens on their journey from Ponferrada to Santiago de Compostela. The teens walk with court appointed counselors in a juvenile delinquent program that will see them free of their records once they make the journey to Santiago…a clean slate. Think of a more diverse The Breakfast Club, but on the Camino de Santiago over two weeks instead of in a school library on a Saturday. Give it a look! It’s available wherever books are sold. Here’s the Amazon USA link.

Pilgrims Who Start Their Camino in Sarria…

35% of all pilgrims who receive their compostela certificate (this is the certificate that authenticates the fact that you completed the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route in Spain) in Santiago de Compostela begin their pilgrimage in SARRIA.

My compostela certificate, issued to me in September, 2019, after I walked a portion of the Camino de Santiago from Astorga to Santiago de Compostela.

That’s AWESOME! Good for them! So THRILLED they had this experience!

Michael and I waving our tubed compostela certificates in the air in front of the Cathedral in September, 2019. Victory!

There is a lot of talk in Camino groups around the internet that disparages this 35%. They even give them derogatory names likes Touragrino and suggest that they are destroying the Camino. Peregrino is the Spanish word for Pilgrim, so those who walk the Camino are known as peregrinos (peregrina is the feminine word, but en masse peregrino refers to all…much like actresses are also grouped in to the collective of actors). Calling pilgrims who only walk the last 100km Touragrinos suggests that they are merely tourists out for a stroll, and that they don’t experience the ‘actual’ Camino. Don’t listen to these people!

Michael, Jenifer and I in front of the Cathedral soon after arriving from walking the Senda Litoral Route of the Caminho Portuguese in September, 2022.

What the Camino snobs either ignore or don’t seem to take into consideration is that a LOT of people don’t have the option to take the amount of time off work that it would take to walk the entirety to the Camino Frances (or any of the other routes that take 30 or more days to walk). They have their heads stuck so firmly up their arrogant asses, that they don’t realize that others are not as privileged as they are when it comes to having free time away from their workaday lives.

A pastoral scene somewhere around the 50km mark between Sarria and Santiago de Compostela.

Walking from Sarria to Santiago de Compostela does not make a pilgrim any less of a pilgrim. It doesn’t mean these peregrinos appreciate the Camino less than those who begin in Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France. Quite often it means they would much rather walk the entire Camino, but that their circumstances will not allow it. That the ‘true pilgrim’ snobs add insult to their injury is just deplorable.

Michael and I, at the 100km milemarker on the Camino Frances. September, 2019.

The Camino should be a place of no judgement. Sadly, that’s not the case. Those who have the privilege to walk the entire walk often mock those who cannot. So not cool. Each pilgrim makes their own way. Your Camino, your way.

A collection of old walking sticks left behind at the old pilgrim’s office in Santiago de Compostela. May, 2014 from my Camino from Ponferrada to Santiago de Compostela.

If you can only take a week (or two) away from your world, you have a couple of Camino options. ONE is to walk the last part of the Camino, where you get to experience walking to the Cathedral and all that that uplifting experience can bring you. ANOTHER is that you can walk the first part of the Camino Frances from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, get all your stamps and come back the next year to continue where you left off…doing a portion every year until you get to the end. ANOTHER is that you can walk any ole part of the Camino you wish to explore. The choice is yours, not some loudmouth internet troll’s who is trying to tell you you’re not a pilgrim if you don’t walk the entire pilgrimage route. You don’t need those people in your life.

There are a myriad of reasons that not everyone can do a full Camino, and it’s nobody’s business but theirs. If you’re considering doing a Camino pilgrimage and can’t do the whole thing, please don’t listen to naysayers! DO YOUR CAMINO YOUR WAY. Enjoy every minute of it! Don’t let them steal your joy.

There is NO SHAME in not doing the entire pilgrimage route. The joy is in experiencing what you can of this unique path. Whether you do it for religious reasons, spiritual reasons, or just because you want to go for a walk…all reasons and all distances are valid. ENJOY!

Senda Litoral Route – Caminho Português – September 2022 – Day 10

Day 10! A Picaraña to Santiago de Compostela!!

Of course we set out in the dark. The race was on! Santiago de Compostela or bust!

The first thing to peek up out of the darkness at us was a little…bizarre to say the least.

But we soon had daylight…just in time to see our first milemarker that broke the 10km mark!

It felt like it took us no time at all to get to the city limits.

Again, a glorious day filled with sunshine!

Making our way into the city was a little misleading. We kept thinking we were going to turn a corner and be there…only to find one neighbourhood after another…staying forever on the outskirts.

But we were definitely getting there.

Less than 5km to go, and it still felt like we were so far away…

Then we hit this little earworm and I knew exactly what song I’d be humming for the rest of the morning. Thank you, Freddie Mercury!

How about one more gorgeously picturesque bridge to walk over before reaching the cathedral? Don’t mind if we do!

One quick stop as we reach the town proper…to get our first stamp of our day!

One last piece of street art before we finish our last day…

One last moment of confusion…

One last hórreo…

I had the great idea of walking AROUND the cathedral so we could come in at the same place as the Camino Frances and see the pipers in action before taking in the cathedral’s facade.

For the first time, we walked into this little covered part not to the sound of a piper, but to a guitar.

WE MADE IT!

Three very tired but accomplished pilgrims! Senda Litoral Route – Portugues Caminho – 280km in 10 days!

We quickly made our way to the pilgrim’s office to queue up for our compostelas (the certificates of completion)!

Compostelas in hand, we made our way to the very first cafe we came to and rewarded ourselves with a full breakfast each! One of the best breakfasts I have ever eaten!
We were fortunate enough to get to see the Botafumeiro swing during mass that afternoon! It doesn’t always happen, so we were thrilled to witness it!

So ends another Camino! There was more, of course…but the finish line was crossed! The next day we even took the rooftop tour of the cathedral. If you ever do the Camino, make sure to look into taking the rooftop tour! The views are amazing. Just being on the roof of the cathedral is quite spectacular in itself!
Thinking of doing the Camino? Do it! You’ll love it, even if it nearly kills you or your feet. It’s an experience of a lifetime!

You might even go back for more. This was my 3rd Camino. Loved every minute of it, even when I wanted to cry over the absolute PAIN my feet experienced. When it’s all over, the foot pain becomes a distant memory. You remember the moments and the beauty.

Senda Litoral Route – Caminho Português – September 2022- 280km in 10 days! PORTO, PORTUGAL to SANTIAGO DE COMPOSTELA, SPAIN.

Click here to jump to PORTO – BEFORE AND AFTER THE CAMINO PART#1

If you’ve found this series on our Camino Portuguese helpful and would like to support this page, you can do so by buying me a coffee! KevinCraig-BuyMeACoffee