Day 28 – Santiago de Compostela to Negreira
Day 28 – Santiago de Compostela to Negreira – 15.3mi/24.6km Like the epilogue to a book, there is a post-Camino Camino – the 3- or 4-day trek to Finisterre and/or Muxía. David and I have done the epilogue twice, and this will be our third. There’s something special about both destinations. Finisterre, which the Romans […]
Day 27 – O Faramello to Santiago de Compostela
Day 27 – O Faramello to Santiago de Compostela – 13.5mi/22km We had an early morning today and slowly but surely made our way to Santiago. The day into Santiago is the culmination of a journey that people take for hundreds of miles over several weeks, or dozens of small sections over several years. And […]
Day 26 – Vilanova de Arousa to O Faramello
Day 26 – Vilanova de Arousa to O Faramello – 10mi/16km This last day of the “Spiritual Way” follows part of the “Ruta Del Mar,” the route that St James’s remains reportedly took in 44 AD from Jerusalem to their final resting place in Santiago de Compostela … on a boat! We woke up at […]
Day 25 – Armenteira to Vilanova de Arousa
Day 25 – Armenteira to Vilanova de Arousa – 24km – Observations and Photos Today’s walk took us through “La Ruta da Pedra e da Auga,” The “Path of Stone and Water.” It was a beautiful forest path along the Rio Armenteira, which passed a number of laundry channels and dozens of old stone mills […]
Day 24 – Pontevedra to Armenteira
Day 24 – Pontevedra to Armenteira – 14.2mi/23km After seeing 110+ hostel beds get snapped up yesterday before 3pm, we were worried. With so many other peregrinos coming to Pontevedra from the coastal route, we woke up early and planned to be quick with our stops today to make sure we had places at the […]
Day 23 – Mos to Pontevedra
Day 23 – Mos to Pontevedra – 21mi/32km I’m off alarm duty. I slept right through my alarm and Finn, Lis, and “Uncle Bernard” took off before David and me today. They only left about 15 minutes before us but it took us at least an hour to catch up to them – they keep […]
Day 22 – Tui to Mos
Day 22 – Tui to Mos – 22km – Observations and Photos Last night, we stayed in a converted wing of a monastery last night with comfortable mattresses (compared to the rock-stiff ones we’ve slept on for most of the trip). So of course it was blazing hot and there were dozens of mosquitoes until […]
Day 21 – Rubiães to Tui
Day 21 – Rubiães to Tui – 14mi/22km This was my favorite day so far on the Portuguese Camino. We got an early 630am start but it was cool outside and the walking was very relaxed. We had nice conversations with some familiar faces we had been seeing the past few days, and a couple […]
Day 20 – Ponte de Lima to Rubiães
Day 20 – Ponte de Lima to Rubiães – 11.8mi/19km Exhausted from 3 gruelingly long days, we learned today would be EVEN hotter than yesterday, but mercifully shorter. The only catch was we’d have a fairly steep 350m (over 1100’) climb over a ridge. At the same time, I was worried about my ability to […]
Day 19 – Barcelos to Ponte de Lima
Day 19 – Barcelos to Ponte de Lima – 37km – Observations and Photos Did I say yesterday was long and gruelingly hot? This was worse. It was supposed to be a full 10 degrees hotter than yesterday so we got moving at 530am. Yuck. We hiked in relative comfort for a few hours but […]
Day 18 – Vila da Conde to Barcelos
Day 18 – Vila da Conde to Barcelos – 18mi/29km – Observations and Photos We had another long day ahead of us today with a hot forecast, so we got moving by 630am. We were on the “Coastal Way” yesterday, which is supposedly the best path out of Porto, and we planned to cross over […]
Day 16 – Porto to Vila do Conde
Day 16 – Porto to Vila do Conde – 23mi/37km Nilanj will take over writing duties and I will be doing some daily observations now. After an early 600am wakeup, I joined David as well as Finn and Lis – the folks he’s been walking with since Lisbon. Our route today was the “Senda Litoral” […]
Day 15 – Grijo to Porto
Day 15 – Grijo to Porto – 18km/11.1 miles After two full weeks of pounding mostly pavement I’ve arrived in Porto! The entrance into the city rivals any that I’ve seen as you cross the Luís I Bridge into the city. It was designed by a student of Eiffel and you can definitely see his […]
Day 14 – São João da Madeira to Grijo
Day 14 – São João da Madeira to Grijo – 21.5km/13.3 miles Two weeks now complete! A lot of the guides tell you that this stage is about 18km but we found it was clearly more. I’m not sure where they are pulling their numbers from sometimes! Today’s walk was one that has been all […]
Day 13 – Albergeria a Velha to São João da Madeira
Day 13 – Albergeria a Velha to São João da Madeira – 32km/20 miles Today was the last of the long days and it may have been the hardest of the bunch. It also meant going over 100km in three days! During the first week something like that is nearly impossible, but since we’re at […]
Day 12 – Sernadelo to Albergeria a Velha
Day 12 – Sernadelo to Albergeria a Velha – 44km/27.5 miles This turned into a monster of a day that was neither scenic nor easy. It’s the farthest I’ve ever walked in a single day, and the body is definitely feeling it. It did serve an important purpose allowing us to cut out an entire […]
Day 11 – Coimbra to Sernadelo
Day 11 – Coimbra to Sernadelo – 25km/15.5 miles When leaving a big a city on foot that usually means a lot of pavement walking in not so pretty areas. Today was a day like that for the first half before giving way to smaller roads through villages. From there it was some highway walking […]
Day 10 – Cernache to Coimbra
Day 10 – Cernache to Coimbra – 12km/7.45 miles Today was a pseudo rest day to allow time to explore Coimbra since we arrived around 10am. It also allows us to get on a good schedule to reach Porto on Saturday afternoon as well. Even though the walk was short, it definitely had a lot […]
Day 9 – Alvorge to Cernache
Day 9 – Alvorge to Cernache – 26km/16.1 miles Today was finally a shorter day which allowed me to arrive in town earlier than the last few days. The difference between 1pm and 4pm is quite a bit when you take into account the daily routine of cleaning yourself, clothes and figuring out food that […]
Day 8 – Alvaiãzere to Alvorge
Day 8 – Alvaiãzere to Alvorge – 28km/17.4 miles Today was another good day of varied landscapes and physical challenges. Since we stayed a little outside the main town last night we had to make up that distance in the morning. That meant a great opportunity for morning coffee and breakfast! After that we set […]