The ‘younger’ Coastal Camino doesn’t always hug the coastline, although it’s spectacular when it does. If you’ve been following the Coastal Camino all the way to Vigo, then the next town is Redondela (84km from Santiago), where you join the Central Camino in time to pass through the wonderful areas of Pontevedra, Caldas de Reis and Padrón before arriving in Santiago de Compostela.Ĭoastal Camino – distance from Porto to Santiago: 265km/11-12 days The following days through Galicia often follow the Via XIX Roman Road and continue to be punctuated with rolling green hills and eucalyptus forest trails. Buying fish-shaped almond biscuits from the nuns of Convento das Clarisas through the rotating window in Tui is also an experience. Tui’s 12-13th century cathedral is exceptional, as are the river views from its walls. This is a popular starting point for pilgrims with limited time starting from here fulfils the minimum 100km distance required to receive the Compostela. This is also the last chance to devour a delicious pastel de nata or have a glass of the delightfully sweet Portuguese digestif Licor Beirão.Ĭrossing the International Bridge over the River Minho you enter Tui in Spain’s Galician region. ![]() The last stop in Portugal is the fortified town of Valença, which overlooks the River Minho, the border between Portugal and Spain. ![]() Rubiães lies in wait on the other side, with a handful of albergues and a Roman milestone (which was turned into a gravestone) sitting in front of the 13th-century Romanesque Igreja de São Pedro de Rubiães, a national monument. You can also stay in an excellent municipal albergue in Ponte de Lima, Portugal’s oldest village (named after its bridge, which is part-Roman), before tackling what many consider to be the hardest part of the entire Camino, the ascent over the Portela Grande. Choosing this route means you can stay in a monastery in the peaceful hamlet of Vairão, visit the 11th century Church of São Pedro de Rates, see where the ‘Legend of the cockerel’, comes from and visit the Feira de Barcelos, a market that has been held in Barcelos weekly since the 15th century. The Central Camino north of Porto is characterised by cobbled roads and forest paths surrounded by rolling hills, vineyards and farmland. Jérôme Münzer (a German doctor in 1494) and Giovanni Battista Confalonieri (an Italian priest in 1594) are two such pilgrims who left detailed accounts. This was a popular route chosen by many pilgrims in medieval times, to which their surviving journals attest. The food is hearty but the young Vinho Verde wines are slightly sparkling and refreshing. The Central Camino stays inland along old Roman roads, crossing numerous Roman and medieval bridges as it traverses the lush, green hills of Portugal’s Douro and Minho regions, before entering Galicia in Spain. ![]() Central Camino – distance from Porto to Santiago: 243km/10 days
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