As of 2022, the Camino Portuguese is the most recent Camino I have walked! It is the easiest terrain with not too many challenging hills or mountains and it gives lots of different options. And because it is the most recent, I also will do my best to give a few more details on the route. I averaged 30Euros a day (averaged out every 3 days (some days I would spend 45 and others 20 euros)).

The coastal way: This, as the name suggests, is along the Portuguese coast. It often has you walking right along the boardwalk where you get an extensive amount of beach time. It also includes a ferry crossing.

The central route: This is inland and the main benefit of this is it feels less touristy than along the coast. You go through more authentic “Camino” towns and see more countryside.
Alternatives:

1. At the town of Caminha, you can split off the coastal way and join the central route in Tui.
2. Another option is, at the town of Pontevedra, you can walk for an additional day and take the spiritual way. This brings you right along the coast and meets back right near the end of the Camino before the last day.
3. You also have the option to start in Lisbon! I have not heard great things about starting here as it is a mental challenge due to a limited amount of people walking. From what I have heard, there are many times you (or whoever you are also walking with), are the only people in an albergue. But if you like it that way, it is meant to be a nice walk up until Coimbra. From Coimbra to Porto it is a lot of highway and not very pretty.
   Starting in Porto!
   I had never been to Porto so I spent 2 full days wandering around the streets of this beautiful city. My highlights include the chapel of souls, Casa Portuguesa do Postel de Bacalhau port tasting, the yellow umbrella tours, Chocolataria Ecuador (chocolate and Port tasting), and Monestario de Serra do Pilar. The shopping here is great but obviously if you are walking the Camino, you cannot really carry much.
   Also, there is a food called Francesinha, which is basically meat on top of meat on top of meat covered in bread and cheese. Luckily, there are places that sell vegan ones (because even though I eat meat, that is a heart attack on a plate) that are very good.
   In Porto I stayed at Oporto Sky Hostel and Hotel Casa de Vilarand got my camino passport at the Porto cathedral. The former, Oporto Sky Hostel is a typical hostel where I slept in a room with 9 others and the latter is more catered to pilgrims where I slept in a room alone but both were about 25/night

Day 1: Porto to Labruge 24km
I started this Camino with no prior research done and decided everday where I was going to walk based on how I felt at my lunch break. I ended up in Labruge at Orbitur Angeiras campsite. Which was out of budget for one person but a but more reasonable for two. I had a little cabin to myself, and the place had a pool and restaurant but no kitchen to cook. It was 25E for one person or 25E for 2. So, this would be ideal if you knew someone well enough to share a bed. I left around 8:30 and finished around 2 pm. I ended up meeting the cabin next to me and eating dinner with them.

Day 2: Labruge to Aguçadoura 20km
I stayed in Albergue de Aguçadoura, did not have a reservation again and arrived just as it was opening at 2pm. It was 15Euros and it had a kitchen so I ended up cooking dinner (after shopping at a nearby shopping market). It also happened to be right across from the beach so a great place to spend the afternoon. Oddly enough, the entire time I spent on the coastal route, the weather was very chilly. Great for walking as it was cloudy and I was hardly hot when walking because of the coastal breeze.

Day 3: Aguçadoura to Castelo de Neiva 27km
I stayed at the albergue Dom Nausti de peregrinos which was 10Euros. It also had a kitchen and I met a few other peregrinos and we made dinner together which averaged 5 euro a person. It was a very flat walking day, like the others.

Day 4: Castelo de Neiva to Carreço 20km
We reserved at Casa do Sardao which was 13 Euros and had a little pool as well as a horse in the backyard. Very friendly and a very nice Albergue. I was grateful we reserved because there were a few people who had to keep walking to find a place to stay. It was a bit more hilly today. We had dinner at the local restaurant.

Day 5: Carreço to Seixas 23km
Seixas (incase you were curious) is pronounced (sey-shas). Yes we did look it up. We stayed at Albergue San Bento and it was 10 Euro with a kitchen. This was our last coastal day as we were headed inland. We had a nice stop in Caminha parting ways with those taking the ferry to continue on the coastal route.

Day 6: Seixas to Cristelo Covo 25km
We reserved at Albergue Brasao, out of a recommendation from one of my Camino friends from my first Camino. It was AMAZING! We got there before it officially opened but we set our stuff in the room and jumped in the pool. Since leaving the coast, the temperature increased by about 10 Celsius so we were eternally grateful for the pool. We walked to the grocery store for ingredients (we cooked a LOT this Camino because we are budget queens) and ate with Carlos the hospitalero and his friend who had come over. We had such a great time here and I would love to come back if I walk this route again.

Day 7: Cristelo Covo to O Porrino 21km
We woke up this morning at 4:30 am ready to walk close to 30km because of the heat and after packing up and putting our shoes on, I asked my friend if we really wanted to do that to ourselves and so instead we gave ourselves a little grace and went back to bed for 45 minutes. Because we changed our path last minute, we decided not to book an Albergue. Which, upon arriving at the albergue we had chosen, was completo (aka full). So we rushed over to the municipal and sat outside for an hour until it opened. It was 8 Euro and was fairly close to the city center. It also had a washing machine quite nearby and we got to wash our clothes for the first time in over a week (not by hand). Four of us split one washer and dryer so it was quite cost efficient. It was very exciting for us.

Day 8: O Porrino to Cesantes 18km
We stayed at Albergue O Refuxio de la Jerezana and after our previous day of almost not getting a bed, we reserved. We realized that because we were in the last 100km, it was increasingly much more crowded and it was best we book things. It had a pilgrim dinner for 10 Euro so we did not have to leave the albergue.

Day 9: Cesantes to Pontevedra 19km with complementario route
Because we did not stay in Tui, this was the only bigger city that we walked through on the Camino. We stayed in Albergue Aloxa (by this time our group was 4 people, so fairly small but growing). We had called a couple of albergues that were full but we did find this one. It was a little more expensive, 18 Euro, and was about a 10-minute walk to the city center, so not an ideal location. It was a beautiful city with a great night life. My friends and I stayed out late and enjoyed the ambiance.

Day 10: Pontevedra to Caldas de Rei 20km
Because we had stayed out late, we had a slow start and didn’t leave town until about noon. Which was a great option because it is a beautiful city to hang around in. We stayed at Albergue Urraca for 12 Euros and the four of us got a room to ourselves so that was nice. The town itself was very cool and we found a churros stand that we raided. Because we started late, we didn’t get as much time in this town, but I do prefer Pontevedra so I definitely would spend more time there.

Day 11: Caldas de Rei to Escravitude 22km
We stayed at Albergue O Lagar de Jesus and it was great! I had heard lots of wonderful things about it from forums and it lived up to its expectation. This was the only communal dinner we had on the Camino and it felt fitting to have it right at the very end. It was 22 Euros to stay here (I do not remember if the dinner is included in that 22 euros or if it was an additional 10 euros), but either way it was great spending time with everyone in the Albergue. The Albergue also had a pool and a washing machine.

On this day, you pass through the city of Padron, where many pilgrims stop for the night. We stopped here for lunch and ate (of course) pimientos de Padron and Pulpo (Octopus ( A Galician special)). We also walked through a market in town that was going on and did a little bit of shopping (I bought a new dress).

Day 12: Escravitude to Santigao de Compostela 15km
As I mentioned in other posts, I stayed in mundoalbergue when in Santiago. It is very close to the cathedral and we had sat in the plaza for at least 4 hours. When you finish the Frances, you come from the left of the cathedral (if facing it) and hear bagpipes, but when you come on the Portuguese, you come from the right, but even still it is a spectacular cathedral. Please book your Santiago stay at least 2-3 days in advance!

After enjoying the view of the cathedral, you get your Compostela at the pilgrim office (there is a QR code outside the building to prevent an extremely long wait). In Santiago I have also stayed at Km0. I prefer mundoalbergue for the better price and Km0 fills up faster, but both locations are amazing.

In Santiago, there is a pilgrim museum, the cathedral you can visit and lots of good food and shopping. Pub Momo is a really cool bar, with a view of the city and a live band playing sometimes. There is a cute market on Rua de Ameas as well.

And that’s it! You can take so many different routes to get to Santiago from Porto and you do not always have to know what you are doing. As mentioned, I showed up on Day 1 with no research done. The Camino Ninja app helped immensely with figuring it all out but it is your Camino in the end!

Buen Camino.

For more information and logistics on my individual camino walks, please see my detailed posts highlighting each Camino…