Walking the Portuguese Camino 2024- Part 1 Porto to Valenca

What follows is the route we took from Porto to Valenca. We started on the coastal route and then crossed to the central route to get to Velenca. The route you take and how far you walk each day is entirely up to you.

A short video of the trip can be found here

We live in Ottawa, Ontario and we decided in the spirt of walking the Camino that we would start from our front door. We walked to the bus stop, took two buses and light rail to the train station, hopped on a VIA rail train to Montreal and flew direct overnight to Porto. We were only flying with carry on baggage. Harold brought folding hiking poles. We were not sure they would be allowed on the plane, but when we asked at the airport they allowed us to bring them. I would not count on that always being the case.

Day 1 Porto-Matosinhos 12km

We landed in Porto the next morning, activated the ESIMs we purchased in advance from airalo and went looking for the train to downtown Porto.

There is a train station at the Porto airport which has a direct line to downtown. You have to buy tickets from a machine which was slightly confusing. We learned that you need to buy the two tickets separately for two people. After some consideration we took the stop recommended at the station to downtown.

Central Porto is full of historic buildings. We took a few pictures and kept going as we had a schedule to keep, and we were coming back to Porto on the way home. We found an ATM and had no issues getting cash. The ATM’s at the airport all looked like money exchanges which tend to be more expensive. In general, we had no issues using our Canadian bank cards at the ATM’s.

Our first stop was the Cathedral. We followed signs and google maps to get there. Once at the Cathedral we went in to get our Pilgrim Passports. These are critical for the trip. You get them stamped along they way at churches, stores, restaurants, and accommodations. They prove that you are a Camino Pilgrim. Most auberges require one if you want to stay there and your stamped passport is your proof for your finishers certificate in Santiago.

The other item you will want is a shell. You can buy them at many local stores. You hang one on the back of your pack, so everyone knows you are walking the Camino. Locals and other pilgrims will great you by saying “Bon Camino” as you pass.

People complain about the official route out of Porto saying that it runs along busy roads. Many people take the train to Matosinhos on the edge of the city and start from there. We skipped the “official” route and followed the river to the Atlantic. We then walked along the ocean to Matosinhos. It was a 12 km walk all along the water which we enjoyed.

We spent our first night at the Seabreeze in a very nice private room which we booked in advance from home. There was a big Lidi grocery store just down the street for food and we walked down to the beach in the evening. The Seabreeze was nice. It had a good kitchen and some nice common areas. There was one “grumpy guy” in the kitchen who did not really want to share the space but that is the reality of hostels.

Day 2 Matosinhos to Vila de Conde 24km

We got an early start the next day and walked out of Matosinhos following the Camino coastal route which is generally well marked with yellow arrows and shells. Most of the day’s walk was along the ocean, with many board walks.

We had not booked accommodation for the night. The plan was to stay at the municipal hostel, Santa Clara,  which is first come first serve. We arrived 45 minutes before it opened and there was already a line of people waiting to get in. It was sold out 15 minutes after the official opening time. The dorm rooms were fairly large and there were no curtains around the bunks. A feature we soon learned to look for. There was a small kitchen and a store nearby. We also learned early that the common areas in hostels are very important as some of the pilgrims are trying to sleep by 7:00pm. Although we travel all over the world and we travel cheap it has been a very long time since we stayed in a hostel dorm. Even if you don’t do it every night you should do it a few times on the Camino. It’s part of the journey and you meet some great people.

 A local restaurant was advertising a great deal on a pilgrim dinner, but it did not appear to be open. Portugal was like that. Restaurants and stores often closed a day a week, at lunch or between lunch and dinner but there were no signs with hours! In Spain and Portugal, they eat late and restaurants often do not start to serve dinner until 7:30 or 8:00 pm. It’s a bit of a challenge when you start early and walk all day. Food was generally cheap, but we cooked a lot because it fit our schedule. We also do not eat red meat so eating out was more of a challenge. The food tended to be meat or fish and french fries with salad as the only vegetables.

Day 3 Vila de Conde to Esposende 24km

Another day with lots of boardwalks. These eventually lead us away from the coast although it is possible to continue along the water. The more inland route had some shade which we really appreciated. As with previous days we saw fellow pilgrims here and there. We stopped for  a bite and discovered a café full of pilgrims. We started to notice that even though we were not passing or being passed by other pilgrims while walking, we saw many every time we stopped. June is not peak season, but we were rarely alone.

After seeing how quickly the hostel filled up the previous night, we decided to book our accommodation a day ahead so we would not feel the need to rush from town to town to make sure we had somewhere to sleep. We booked the night at the Sleep & Go a private hostel. It was a bit out of the town, but they were very helpful. There was a small pool, and they had bikes we could borrow for free to ride into town.

We stopped at a local pilgrim store which had a count of how many pilgrims had been though that day.

Day 4 Esponsende to Viana do Castelo- 28km

The walk today was more inland through small rural villages and some forest. We even had a few hills.

We diverted a little once we reached Viana do Castelo and spent the night at Hotel Freevila. A beautiful sport hotel along the coast where everything smelled of cedar. We stayed there because I had a connection through work, but it was wonderful and we highly recommend it if you want a “non-pilgrim” night. The hotel was full of cycling groups so our lack of formal attire was not an issue. Manny of guests were in bike shorts.

Day 5 Viana do Castelo to Caninha -33km

Our walk was a little longer than the route because we diverted to Hotel Freevila the previous day. There is a ferry which would have saved us the extra distance, but the early ferry was not running in June. It was our hottest day of walking. There were churches and towns to distract us but it was still a long day.

We spent the night at Abergue Bon Camino. Everywhere we stayed was fine but there were a few places that stood out. This was one of them. There was lots of outdoor space and they had a pilgrim dinner of pasta, salad and bread with wine. The food was great and so was the company. I don’t think they offer it every night but if you are there when they do it’s worth it. We meet people there that we crossed paths with several times on the rest of the trip.

Most of the people we met on the Camino were either our age (late 50’s early 60’s) or early 20’s. There was a mixture of small groups, couples and single travellers. The age makes sense because doing the Camino is not that kid friendly (we did see a few) so most people who do it are either young and don’t have families or older so the kids have all grown-up. We met people from all over the world including Africa which is an area we rarely meet people from when traveling in Asia. Lots of Europeans, a few Americans, Australians and Canadians. As always there were lots of Germans. They get a lot of hoildays and because Harold speaks good German and I can get by we tend to chat with them a lot.

Day 6 Caninha to Velenca 24km

We took a less travelled route on day 6. We crossed from the coastal route to the central route because we wanted to go to Velenca. There are two options you can follow a Camino route through small villages or a new path which goes along the river. We had just had a long hot day and it looked like it was going to be another one so we chose the path along the river. It turned out to be a long way with very little shade and no where to get water or food. We stopped at a grocery store early in the day for a croissant, but we should have stocked up because it was a long way to the next place we found. A small restaurant where we had a snack. We were also very confused by the time. Spain and Portugal are one hour apart in time zones. We were both using Garmin watches and because the river was on the boarder between Spain and Portugal the time zone kept switching back and forth! we spoke to other people who used the other route and got lost so we may ahve made the correct choice.

Velenca has a big fort, and we had pre-booked a hostel in the fort for the night, The Hotel Bulwork.

It was a great location and a nice hostel but just after we arrived the weather broke and there was a torrential thunderstorm. We were trapped in the hostel. We did not have any food for dinner. Breakfast was included and at one point we thought we would be eating breakfast for dinner. The storm eventually settled, and we found an open restaurant. To be honest it was not very good but it was food and the wine was cheap. Wine in Portugal and Spain is very cheap! So we celebrated our last night in Portugal with a glass.