Walking the Portuguese Camino 2024- Part 2 Valenca to Santiago de Compostela

 

This section of the Portugese Camino is entirely in Spain. Tui, the first town in Spain, is a popular starting point for anyone looking to complete the minimum 100km to complete the Camino. This makes this part of the route much busier, but there are also more Camino activities to experience.

You can see video of this part of teh trip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eKeqH4rUd0

Day 7 Velenca to O Porrino (Spain) 19 km

We crossed the bridge from Portugal to Spain in the rain. We started from the fortress in Velenca and crossed to Tui which has it’s own fortifications built originally to keep the Portuguese out! Tui is a common starting point for the Portuguese Camino it is 120 km away from Santiago, so it meets the required minimum distance of 100km to get your Camino certificate.

We saw more people in one day than we had seen in the previous week!

As it was raining so we took the advice of the owner of last night’s accommodation and took the shorter route at the split about 5 km from O Porrino. It was the wrong choice. It saved us 1 km of walking, but we walked 4 km through an industrial park rather than 5 km on forest paths.

We arrived in O Porrino and found a triathlon going through town! We stayed at Casucho da Peregrina. A good breakfast was included.

Day 8 O Porrino to Redondela  16km

The day’s  walk was a little shorter. We passed the 100km to go mark and spent most of the day walking through rural areas. This was the only time we saw hourses on the trail. You can complete the Camino if you travel 200km by hourse.

Redondela has a nice historic city centre. It was Sunday so everything was closed! We ended up making dinner from the ingredients we were able to find at the local gas station convenience store, but it did have fresh bread. We stayed at Albergue Avoa Regina . It was nice, good common area, and curtains on the bunks.

Day 9 Redondela to Pontevedra 21 km

This was one of the hillier days of the trip. We walked through vineyards and small villages which reminded us of rural Germany. Because we were now in the “under 100 km” zone there were more “pop-up” experiences along the forest paths. We came across stalls and a bagpiper. There was one stall on top of a hill that is so famous it’s on google maps!

At one point we actually got stuck in a pilgrim traffic jam on a single track section of the trail.

We stayed in a private room with a shared bathroom. Dorms are interesting but it’s easier to sleep in your own room. We went out for dinner which was good, but this being Spain it was not served until 8:00 pm. Pontevedra has a nice central square with some beautiful churches. We donated one euro each to climb to the top of Basilica Santa Clara which has a small museum and a great view. We stayed at Pension Santa Clara. The location was great, shared bathrooms. The rooms are pretty dated but it was clean so we were happy with it.

Day 10 Pontevedra to Caldas De Reis -26 km  

Our original plan was to walk the spiritual variant, but we were having touble finding anywhere bookable to stay so we stayed on the central route. We stared the day with a variation suggested by our hotel which took us through a local park. It was a good tip.  Todays walk included many paths through the forest, small villages and vineyards. Caldas De Reis has a public hot spring in town which was great for sore feet. We stayed at Albergue a Queimada. It’s a big hostel with big rooms. No curtains but the beds were well seperated. Nice big common area.

Day 11 Caldas De Reis to Padron- 20 km

This was another lovely day through the countryside. Padron is probably most famous for the pilling that St. Peter the apostle’s boat was said to be moored on it. You can find it by the church alter.   There is a large square in front of the church which is obviously a gathering point for the locals. In the afternoon it was full of elderly gentlemen playing a game we could not quite figure out. We stayed at O Albergue da Meiga. The private rooms may be better, but we stayed in the dorm and it was big and noisey. They had a cafe, but it was only open in the early afternoon and cooking facilities for guests were limited.

Day 12- Padron to Santiago 28km

Today’s walk passed though many small villages and we were once again surrounded by vineyards and small farms. Ten km in we stopped at a pilgrim café, A Casina Faramello, on the side of the trail for a one euro coffee. The owner was one of the many people we met along the way who was obviously there to meet pilgrims and share in their experiences.

The last part of the trail where we walked into Santiago was odd for us. After 12 days walking trails with only pilgrims we found ourselves in a big city full of people who were going to and from work or school. No one had backpacks or shells!

That all changes once you arrive at the Cathedral square which is full of happy pilgrims. People from all walks of life, and so many different places all sharing in an achievement. There are people laughing, signing and dancing or just sitting happily on their backpacks. We even witnessed a wedding proposal. It was such a positive place.

We spent a couple of days in Santiago and went back to the square a number of times.

Once you have your fill of the atmosphere you take your pilgrim passport to the office where they have a very efficient system for issuing official completion certificates which are in Latin!

We also attended the service in the cathedral which is huge! The service was all in Spanish and we are not Catholic, but it was still worth attending.

We stayed at two locations in Santiago becasue we had booked a place from home and we arrived a day earlier than we had planned. We booked Hostal Pumar from home, which you check in to at the Pumar Cafe and Bar. There is nowhere to cook but you are over a cafe. Its quite close to the catherderial. We also stayed at Albergue Santos in the dorm. There were curtains and the dorm rooms were not too big. They were very friendly and helpful.

Now what…

This is a question many people ask themselves after 12 days (or more) of walking. The answer for us was obvious. You keep going to Muxia or Fisterra, but that is part 3!