Step by Step (Oh, Baby), Gotta Get to St. James...
Almost exactly this time last year I laid out my very early Camino Portuguese plan and then refined it further one month later. These have easily been my most popular posts to date. In the intervening days, weeks and months I've been tinkering away, flicking through my guide books, trawling through blogs and albergue websites and can now happily announce that I have finalised the itinerary complete with accommodation, so I've done all the hard work for you! Without further ado, I present my finalised itinerary:
It's all pretty self explanatory but let's break it down. We will be kicking things off in Porto and will walk for 17 days, starting with the Senda Litoral alongside the coast out of Porto to avoid the industrial areas and then we'll be heading inland and connecting with the Central Route at Arcos. From there we continue along the Central Route until we reach Pontevedra, at which point we will head towards the coast via the Variante Espiritual until we reach Vilanova de Arousa. From there we will catch a boat, along the route which St James' remains were said to travel to his final resting place, Santiago de Compostella. We will disembark at Padron and then make the final push to Santiago de Compostella, where we will spend a night, and then hit the road the next day bound for the end of the earth, Finisterre via Muxia. We will then return to Santiago de Compostella by bus and spend two nights relaxing before boarding our plane back to Sydney, Australia. Phew!
I will have three Camino virgins along for the journey, my mum and two sisters, so I've tried to keep the kilometres fairly low in the opening stages. The daily average works out at a very doable 22.5Km with the longer days being towards the end of the trip, by which time our legs will have the distance in them.
I will have three Camino virgins along for the journey, my mum and two sisters, so I've tried to keep the kilometres fairly low in the opening stages. The daily average works out at a very doable 22.5Km with the longer days being towards the end of the trip, by which time our legs will have the distance in them.
Because there will be four of us I've bucked my normal trend of not booking accommodation and have booked ahead where possible to ensure that we stay at the same accommodation. I have marked the albergues/hostels/hotels that accept bookings or reservations in green whereas the ones that don't I have marked in red. You can click on each place for further information. The accommodation I've selected is a good mix of private and public albergues with a little luxury thrown in every now and again, which you need to do on the Camino. Luxury can be as extravagant as you'd like or as simple as clean sheets and towels, no bunk beds, a private bathroom, whatever your budget allows. It's amazing how wonderful the simple things are after you've been on the road for a while.
You'll notice on Day 13 the "Padron (by Ferry)" note. I'm probably being generous by calling it a ferry as it's not the world's largest vessel. You can click on the link next to it for pics and more information. In a nutshell, it runs between Vilanova De Arousa and Padron and passes the only maritime Via Crucis in the world where 17 centennial cruceros can be admired. The departure times do depend on the tides and it's advised that you book tickets a couple of days ahead, which your albergue should be able to help you with if you're not too confident doing it yourself. You can walk the stretch between Vilanova de Arousa and Padron however the stretch is not supposed to be too picturesque.
That pretty much covers everything, guys, but if I've forgotten something and you have any questions, feel free to give me a shout and I'll help you where I can.
And finally, Happy New Years, y'all! I hope this year is filled with health, prosperity, all the good stuff AND Camino adventures for all:)
You'll notice on Day 13 the "Padron (by Ferry)" note. I'm probably being generous by calling it a ferry as it's not the world's largest vessel. You can click on the link next to it for pics and more information. In a nutshell, it runs between Vilanova De Arousa and Padron and passes the only maritime Via Crucis in the world where 17 centennial cruceros can be admired. The departure times do depend on the tides and it's advised that you book tickets a couple of days ahead, which your albergue should be able to help you with if you're not too confident doing it yourself. You can walk the stretch between Vilanova de Arousa and Padron however the stretch is not supposed to be too picturesque.
That pretty much covers everything, guys, but if I've forgotten something and you have any questions, feel free to give me a shout and I'll help you where I can.
And finally, Happy New Years, y'all! I hope this year is filled with health, prosperity, all the good stuff AND Camino adventures for all:)
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