If you’re curious what an 8-day walk looks like on the Coastal Route, here’s a summary of where I stopped each day, where I stayed, and a few additional notes.
I didn’t go into the Camino Portugués expecting to complete it in just 8 days. But 6 consecutive days of springtime rain meant I often just put my head down and walked rather than slowing down to enjoy the sights or talking to my fellow pilgrims along the way.
I let my body decide how far I wanted to push on this short, flat Camino route. And despite my bigger miles, I always felt like I landed exactly where I was suppose to end up on this particular journey.
Camino Itinerary
Day 1
- Start: Porto, Portugal – km 0
- End: Vila do Conde – km 33.8
- Distance: 33.8 km (20.9 miles)
- Favorite sights: Sé do Porto (Porto cathedral), the 17th century fort on the outskirts of Porto, all the lighthouses and pocket beaches along the Atlantic coastline, cactus and wildflowers alongside the dunes and boardwalk.
- Lodging: Hotel Brazão (€52)
- Notes: Walking 21 miles might seem like a really ambitious start for the Camino, but I made such good time this first day that I even briefly considered walking even further! I opted to stay in a private hotel room for my first night on the Camino Portugués because I was still fighting some serious jet lag from my travel to get to Portugal. My hotel was just steps off the Camino’s route and it had an excellent breakfast buffet, which opened at 7 am to cater to the early morning pilgrim schedule.
Day 2
- Start: Vila do Conde – km 33.8
- End: Anha – km 78.4
- Distance: 44.6 km (27.7 miles)
- Favorite sights: The wooden boardwalk path along the ocean, stone lookout tower atop the dunes near Póvoa de Varzim, forests of eucalyptus trees and a national park, the wetlands near Esposende, the church at Castelo do Neiva.
- Lodging: Casa da Carolina (€17)
- Notes: Walking 27.7 miles on my second of the Camino is when I first realized that it might actually be possible to condense my itinerary down to 8 days. Most of my fellow pilgrims were stopping in Esposende (20 km earlier). But I’m glad I decided to push to Anha because this was my favorite albergue stay on the Camino Portugués. It’s run by a former pilgrim and was exceptionally clean. Carolina also offers her grandmother’s homemade soup and bread as part of a communal pilgrim dinner for an additional €3.
Day 3
- Start: Anha – km 78.4
- End: Caminha – km 110.9
- Distance: 32.5 km (20.2 miles)
- Favorite sights: Detouring up to the cathedral in Viana do Castelo, hiking through the forest of giant ferns and eucalyptus trees up to Cruzeiro, the coastline walk toward the Minho River.
- Lodging: Arca Nova Guesthouse & Hostel (€16)
- Notes: My mileage today is somewhat misleading because it doesn’t include all the extra kilometers I walked while exploring Viana do Castelo nor the 655 steps up to visit the cathedral perched above the city. When deciding where to stay, I had to choose between Caminha (on the Portuguese side of the river) or taking the water taxi over to A Guarda (on the Spanish side). I opted for Caminha because I wanted to savor my last day in Portugal, and I knew I’d lose an hour when I crossed the border as Spain is one hour ahead of Portugal. This private hostel near the train station made for an easy the water taxi dock the following morning. It was also a short 5-minute walk to a laundromat (Ecoclean) and a large grocery story, which made my town chores super easy. For dinner, I’d suggest heading to Sebastião Pizza, Pasta & Wine. The food was excellent! I recommend the Toy Story pasta (linguini with tomatoes, burrata cheese, walnuts, and pesto).
Day 4
- Start: Caminha, Portugal – km 110.9
- End: Sabarís, Spain – km 151.7
- Distance: 40.8 km (25.3 miles)
- Favorite sights: The water taxi over the Minho River, stopping at the monastery at Oia, the lighthouse and subsquent climb over Cape Sileiro, walking through Baiona.
- Lodging: Albergue de Playa Sabarís (€17)
- Notes: This day turned into a longer one than I hoped to walk. The rain and wind were a constant presence and was a good bit of boring roadwalking on a yellow-painted highway shoulder. I really wanted to stay in Baiona (about 4 km earlier), but when I looked online for a last minute reservation, everything appeared to be either full or exorbitantly expensive on this Friday night. So I pushed on to this large private albergue Sabarís, which had “pod style” bunks that used blackout curtains for privacy. The albergue was also a short walk from a nice bakery (Panderia Isolina) and near a large, two-story Carrefour grocery store.
Day 5
- Start: Sabarís – km 151.7
- End: Vigo – km 174.6
- Distance: 22.9 km (14.2 miles)
- Favorite sights: Several old muiños (mills) in the forest and the restored Muiño da Regueira, gushing waterfalls beside the trail in the parque forestal, walking through Castrelos Park on my way into Vigo.
- Lodging: Hotel Exe (€65)
- Notes: I dialed back my miles on day 5 because the only two options were to walk 23 km to Vigo or 37 km to Redondela. So I gave myself a break and splurged on a stay in a boutique hotel in downtown Vigo. This was solid choice because I really needed a break from communal sleeping after a snoring pilgrim kept me awake much of the prior night. I also wanted somewhere to lay out all my gear indoor where it could get a chance to really dry out after five straight days of rain. This hotel was steps from the Camino, close to multiple grocery stores, and had a laundromat nearby where I could quickly wash and dry some items that were getting funky from the inclement weather.
Day 6
- Start: Vigo – km 174.6
- End: Pontevedra – km 207.8
- Distance: 33.2 km (20.6 miles)
- Favorite sights: A cute free book library in Redondela, the myriad flowers and ferns beaded with raindrops, a medieval stone arch bridge over the Verdugo River.
- Lodging: Turoqua Hostel (€23)
- Notes: Day 6’s moderate mileage was mostly dictated by the weather. Each day of my Camino had gotten rainier and rainier and the forecast predicting 2 full inches of rainfall this day! I ended my day with soggy shoes at a private albergue located on the northern side of Pontevedra’s city center. As I cleaned up for dinner, the storm clouds finally moved out leaving me with an evening of sightseeing under blue skies. I strongly recommend Il Piccolo Italian restaurant for dinner here. Their pizza parmiggiana (eggplant parmesan pizza) was one of the best pizzas I’ve had outside of Italy.
Day 7
- Start: Pontevedra – km 207.8
- End: Padrón – km 247.3
- Distance: 39.5 km (24.5 miles)
- Favorite sights: Crossing the Rio Lérez before sunrise, walking through vineyards with grape vines trellised over the trail, the farmer’s market in Caldas de Reis, the tree-lined esplanade beside the Sar River in Padrón.
- Lodging: Albergue Corredoiras (€18)
- Notes: Upon leaving Pontevedra, I had several route decisions to make. Should I remain on the Camino Portugués to Padrón or take the Spirtual Variant to Vilanova de Arousa? And what about a detour over to Hebrón to see the convent and where the infamous peppers for the Spanish dish pimientos de Padrón grow? In the end, I decided to remain on the ruta principal with the majority of the other pilgrims. The private albergue where I stayed in Padrón had one of the nicest hosts ever – and he offers a discount for pilgrims who book directly through his website.
Day 8
- Start: Padrón – km 247.3
- End: Santiago de Compestela – km 271.3
- Distance: 24 km (14.9 miles)
- Favorite sights: Watching the sunrise above the vineyards near Padrón, the church in Escravitude, strolling through the grounds of the University of Santiago de Compestela, the large ferris wheel in Alameda Park
- Lodging: Santiago KM-0 Albergue (€24)
- Notes: Starting in Padrón meant I only had 15 miles left to walk before getting to the cathedral in Santiago. This made for a moderately easy final day. Approaching the city from the south (instead of the east as I had on the Camino Francés and Camino del Norte) was a novelty for me, and gave the city an entirely different vibe. Of course, there’s no shortage of places to stay in Santiago, and the private albergue I booked was about as close as you can get to the Pilgrims Office without rolling a sleeping bag on its front stoop.
Final Thoughts
In the end, my mileage on this 8-day Camino averaged ~ 20 miles/day. However, that average is somewhat misleading once you look at the numbers for side-by-side. My daily distances varied quite dramatically thanks to the inclement weather, the long stretch between Vigo and Redondela with no lodging, and other variables. Here’s a general overview:
- My daily distance average on this route: 33.9 km/day
- My shortest day: 22.9 km (14.2 miles)
- My longest day: 44.6 km (27.7 miles)
- Number of days I walked less than 24 km (<15 miles): 2
- Number of days walking 32-34 km (20-22 miles): 3
- Number of days walking 39-45 km (>24 miles): 3
- Typical speed for most pilgrims on Camino Portugués: 13 days (or 12 miles/day)
- Navigation guide I used: Wise Pilgrim App
If you have more time to spend on this Camino, I strongly recommend it. Although I felt strong physically through the journey, I really felt like 8 days was really too short. I could have easily lingered and explored for much, much longer in some of the lovely towns I walked through. And I fully understand why pilgrims might want to stretch this journey out for 13 days. It really is a lovely Camino.
Lodging
Because I found myself walking near the peak pilgrim season, I made reservations for a place to stay each night. I booked all of my accommodations online, usually the evening prior to my arrival. This meant I had to commit what distance I was willing to walk each day before I even set foot outside. I never scrimped on comfort though, and you could easily do this same Camino with a much tighter budget.
- Overall lodging cost: €232 ($250)
- Average lodging cost over 8 days: €29
- Nights spent in hotels: 2
- Nights spent in private albergues: 6
- Nights spent in municipal/donativo albergues: 0
- Average hotel cost: €58.50/night
- Average albergue cost: €19.17/night
- Most expensive stay: €65
- Least expensive stay: €16
- Favorite albergue: Casa da Carolina
- How I booked most of my stays: Booking.com
If you’re interested in reading more about what this Camino journey was like, check out my day-by-day trail journal here.
Buen Camino!
