Camino Portugues Itinerary

16 Days and 343 kilometers later, we have completed the Portugues Camino from Porto to Santiago de Compostela!
343 kilometers?
"But John," you say, "most guidebooks say the route should only be 260 kilometers." That would be true, if I was a bird, had food delivered to my albergue, and never veered from the Camino to explore the beautiful towns and cities we passed through. Even if we did those things, we did walk a couple days on the coastal route, then cut over to the Central Route, took a side trip to Bom De Jesus in Braga (in a taxi from Barcelos), then walked and boated the Spiritual Variant, and finished back on the Central Route. Here is our itinerary, with mileage per day:

Over the next few months, I will write blog posts or upload vlogs taken on our May Camino as I work on my next book. If you are planning your own Camino, I hope you find the stories and information helpful. If you are not planning a Camino, I hope you find my stories entertaining and perhaps insightful as we met many interesting people, overcame a myriad of challenges, and saw amazing sights.

Buen Camino!
P.S. The link to my about about our first Camino, From Sarria to Santiago: With Family and Friends, is at the top of the top.

New Video: Camino Portugues Reservations

Debating whether or not to make reservations for your Camino Portugues? Watch my video about what I have found so far in my planning for my Camino starting in Porto this Spring.

Books to Prepare for the Portuguese Camino

I have done a lot of reading for my upcoming Camino Portugues. I had a brief visit to the country over 30 years ago and was impressed with its rugged landscapes, friendly people, and long history. Now, that I will be spending over a week in Northern Portugal, I want to arrive prepared and have a better understanding of the country.

Two books I read that provided alot of history about Portugal, general travel insights, and great pictures were Rick Steve's Portugal and Eyewitness Travel Portugal . Unfortunately, neither book spoke about the Camino. Rick Steve's had one paragraph in the entire book about the Portuguese Camino, Eyewitness had none. However, they both provided the most comprehensive history and travel tips for the major tourists destinations like Porto and Lisbon which is most people's starting points. Also Eyewitness Travel Portugal living up to its DK brand had amazing, gorgeous pictures and diagrams and backstories of places, buildings, and people.

The two books I read that are targeted specifically for the Camino Portugues are Village to Village's Camino Portugues and John Brierly's A Pilgrim's Guide To The Camino Portugues. These two books are great resources for pilgrim's. They both have maps of the Coastal, Central and Spiritual routes. Brierly also talks about the Senda Littoral. Both books have an introduction that includes Portugual's history and customs are broken up into stages. Each stage has an elevation map and lists of places to stay and eat. Village to Village's book is 96 pages, very thin and lightweight. Brierly's book is 272 pages. It's is filled with more detailed information about the routes, places, and stages, with his personal notes, pages for you personal reflection, inspirational quotes, and messages, and more. Looking at chat boards, this is the book most pilgrim's talk about. There is a reason it is the #1 best seller in Lisbon Travel Guides on Amazon. However, it does weigh 9 oz vs Village's 3.6 oz, so if you are a lightweight backpacker it might be something to consider. Of course, you could go 0 oz with the plethora of Camino apps out there, but there is something nice about having a book in your hands.

In conclusion, all the books have their uses. I really enjoyed the Eyewitness Travel Portugal book for its great pictures, stories, and descriptions providing me with solid background on Portugal, and Lisbon and Porto specifically. Brierly's book is insightful, a great planning tool, and really has me thinking about my introspective and spiritual journey. I will probably leave it at home as it is heavy, but have not decided yet. If I carry a book, it will probably be Village's as it has the essential information. I will remove the first half of the book that covers Lisbon to Porto to cut weight.

There are so many great books out there, but only so much time to read. I do encourage you to read at least one book about Portugal before you go, as I feel it will enhance your trip by understanding a little more about the country than what is on the surface.

Bom caminho!

New Video: Portuguese Camino, why?

Posted YouTube video about my upcoming Portuguese Camino. Where my wife and I are we starting from and how it will be different from our Camino in 2022. I will be posting weekly about our upcoming Camino. If you have any questions, let me know. Bom Caminho!

Routes of the Portuguese Camino

There are many ways to tailor the Portuguese Camino to fit your needs. It has three traditional starting points and a number of popular variations. The traditional Portuguese Camino starts in Lisbon, passes through Porto, then onto the border of Portugal and Spain at Tui, ending at Santiago de Compostela after 610 km. The book Camino Portugues published by Village to Village Press breaks down the the Camino into 26 stages, or 26 days.

The most popular spot to start the Portuguese Camino is in Tui, Spain, meaning many pilgrims who walk the Portuguese Camino never step foot in Portugal. Tui is the most popular starting point becuase it sits 115 km from Santiago de Compostela: the minimum distance a pilgrim has to walk in order to earn their Compostela (Certificate of Completion) is 100 km. The other nice thing about this distance is most people can complete this walk in a week so they only have to take off a week of work. This is also the reason why Sarria, on the Camino Frances in Spain, also approximately 115km outside Santiago de Compostela is by far the most popular starting point of all the Caminos. (I wrote a book about my Sarria Camino, From Sarria to Santiago: A 10-Day Camino With Family and Friends, which is available on Amazon.com - see link in sidebar.)

Rosemary and I will be starting our Camino in Porto, 260 km from Santiago, the second most popular jump off point on the Portuguese Camino.

From Porto, there are two popular variants to the traditional or Central Route that passes through the middle of Portugal and into Spain. The first is the Coastal Route. This route has grown in immense popularity in recent years. It had an increase of over 20,000 pilgrims from 2022-2023, while the Central Route's numbers remained roughly the same. The Coastal Route follows the Douro River out of Porto to the coast, then follows the coast until Vigo, then goes upriver to Redondela where it then meets up the Central Route. Rosemary and I will walk two days along the coast before we cut over to the Central Route.

The second variant, is the Spiritual Way. It splits from the Portuguese Camino in Pontevedra, goes to Vilanova de Arousa, then connects back to the Portuguese Way at Padron. This variant adds an extra day to a pilgrim's journey, but the journey from Vilanova de Arousa to Padron is by boat along the Way of the Cross. This was the way St. James' body supposedly travelled to Padron where it was then carried to Santiago de Compostela.

To conclude, there are many places to start the Portuguese Camino, and various options to make it your own. I hope this posts gives you more options and insight into the planning your Portuguese Camino.

If you like this blog, please subscibe and check out my YouTube Channel @johnpetersii and TikTok @jp2writer where I vlog about the Camino. If there is anything you would like to know about our previous Camino from Sarria or our upcoming Camino, please ask in the comments.

Buen Camino!

The Camino Again?

That's right! Rosemary and I will make another pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, this time on the Portuguese Camino and will start in Porto in Portugal. John, why again?

First, the challenge. The Portuguese Camino from Porto (260 km) is twice as long as from Sarria to Santiago (115 km). We will also be walking an average of 20 km a day versus 10km during our first Camino. A fantastic challenge! Second, only Rosemary and I will be walking this time. We feel that this will give us more time to reflect on our path and on ourselves. The longer walking days and overall distance will also provide us with that extra time. Finally, we look forward to starting in a country where we do not know the language and have not visited in over 30 years. We are both eager to learn about another culture and language. We have been practicing our Portuguese on Duolingo the last two months.

Every Thursday until we depart, I will post about our preparations, including YouTube videos here:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWhvHexA3qh2nPY6Ik2WH8g

1 min video of last camino:

I hope you find my information helpful and that my journey inspires you to take your own.

My book From Sarria to Santiago: A 10 Day Camino With Family and Friends is available on Amazon.com here:

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Hiking Mt. Bell Griffith Park

This is a great 5-mile hike in Griffith Park! The Mt. Bell Hike in Afoot & AField or on All Trails app the Mineral Wells hike.



Great on a cool day as it was challenging (see clip to Mt. Bell peak) and there was little tree cover. My statistics showed an 1155 ft elevation gain. Make sure you pack extra water. Never fails, every hike I have been on, people always ask if I have extra water. Just throw in that extra disposable water bottle as a just in case.

Nice thing about hikes in Griffith Park is you are never too far from another hiker if need help, but there is also enough space to feel isolated if you want to be.

Returning from Mt. Bell, we took a short cut, cutting the All Trails hike length by a quarter. It was more of a goat trail than a path as seen in the video, it was an official trail, but if you are really hungry, and want to save a half hour or so, it is an option.

Another nice thing about hikes in Griffith Park is the free parking, except around the observatory area. We parked in Mineral Wells lot for the Mt. Bell hike.

Have a great hike!

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