- Trail type: point to point
- Location: Portugal and Spain
- Trail name: Camino Portuguese Coastal Route & Senda Litoral
- Period: 11th August - 21st August
- Starting point: Porto
- Trail blazing:
- Trail description:
Day 4: Anha – Vila Praia de Âncora
Day 5: Vila Praia de Âncora – Seixas
Day 10: A Portela – O Pino
Day 11: O Pino – Santiago de Compostela
- Distance: ~280 km
- Duration: 11 days, ~7-8 hrs/day with breaks
- Equipment: Summer long trip/pilgrimage equipment
- Map
- Total elevation gain: ~4200m - Although the map shows us way less elevation gain, along the way we gather a bit more. During the first days, the trail is quite flat, followed by an average of 3-400 meters per day.
- The trail walked by us is a combination between the official coast trail and the one that goes along the beach (Senda Litoral). Senda Litoral is not always marked by the shell, but the trail is quite clear, at least in the first two days, being a line of wooden bridges along the coastline.
- Unfortunately, being quite a new trail, there are times when you are unable to cross and then we have to return to the coast marked route. In the guide mentioned below, it is explained and marked on the map whenever crossing is possible or not.
When
- We chose the beginning of August, Although we were afraid that it will get too hot, the coast area is quite cool.
- We allocated an average of 24 km per day with a small buffer, more precisely an average of 12 days to walk the entire trail.
Transportation
- The trail starts in Porto. You can get here either by plane or by bus from bigger cities.
- We flew around 4 hours to Lisbon and then we traveled to Porto by bus, a ride that lasted around 3 hours.
- For the return trip, there is a bus network that leaves from Santiago de Compostela, towards the big cities. As we had our flight from the Madrid airport, we chose that specific route. The bus ride to Madrid takes an average of 8-10 hours.
Accommodation
- Up to the start of the trail, we slept at hostels, in both Porto and Lisbon.
- Afterwards, we slept in albergues but also in hostels. Being a newer trail, Camino Portugues Coastal Route as well as the Senda Litoral does not have many accommodation options for pilgrims. Here, wad a few difficult situations and we had to start booking ahead.
*Albergue - the guesthouses from Camino that can be of three types:
- Municipal
- Parish
- Private
- The parish albergues are donativo - the accommodation, dinner and breakfast are free and you can donate an amount of money which will be used to prepare the meals for the pilgrims that will arrive the next day. On the Coastal route of the Portuguese Camino there are few albergues of this kind, hence it is considered less traditional.
- In municipal albergues, everything is standard, especially once you cross into Spain, in the Galician area.
- To be able to stay in one of these albergues, you need to have your pilgrim passport. Based on where you want to start the trail, there are multiple places where you can buy your passport from. We bought it from the Lisbon Cathedral, but it can also be found in Porto.
- Sellos or stamps are very important. The passport must get stamped at least twice per day, usually one from the albergue and one from another place along the way. This can be either a coffee shop, a museum or people you would occasionally find on the trail, that are selling hand made products, water or food. However, there is no limit, so you can collect as many as you like along the way. For the trails we walked, the passport has enough slots for 3-4 stamps per day.
Equipment
- This time, we decided to walk in comfy trail running shoes, which where worn many times before.
- Concerning clothing, we packed two sets of clothing: one to wear, the other in our backpacks. An extra set of clothing is enough for adults, two sets for children. The clothes are getting washed daily at the albergue, manually or by using the washing machine.
- The sleeping bag or the liner is recommended on the Camino, and in some albergues it's actually mandatory, so buying the single use bed linen if the sleeping bag is missing might be necessary(~1-2€). We chose the second approach, the liner being more than enough and avoiding having too much weight in our backpacks.
- This time, we chose to travel lighter so we did not bring our trekking poles. However, the trekking poles would be a must, especially if you are a beginner and your backpack is not super light. After a few days of walking, you'll start feeling every gram of your backpack in your knees. The poles will take over a bit of this weight.
- More details at the equipment section
Daily budget
- Accommodation + food: ~60 euro per day on average for 2 adults and one child
- On some days, the expenses were higher, depending on where we slept and what meal options we had.
Food
- We were rarely able to have breakfast at the albergue and many times not even a kitchen was available, therefore we left in the morning and found something to eat along the way.
- We did not carry too much food with us. Just fruit and nuts. Same goes for water. We had only 1-2 liters with us. There are plenty options of grocery stores and coffee shops along the way.
Useful:
- The free app, Camino Ninja, available on Google Play
- The Pilgrim's guide on the Portuguese Camino by John Brierley, the edition containing the Central, Coastal and Senda Litoral way, available online and in some bookstores.
Things I wanted to know before I left:
If last time we had many things to learn, now we've seen the effect of our years of experience, and we started walking relaxed, with our backpacks organized properly, without too much weight. But, surprises can always appear. :)
- Booking ahead. Apparently, the accommodation options on the coastal and Senda Litoral Route are more limited than we expected, especially during the summer season. Because we were not used to book ahead, we just started walking and stopped where we liked, we've experienced plenty of situations when we did not find accommodation, and after a day with already too much kilometers we had to continue walking.
What I missed along the way:
- Nothing actually. We traveled very light and we did not needed anything extra.
What we learned
- To keep an eye on the map. Although I don't want to spend all my time with my eyes on the map, there where times when it would've been a good idea to take it into account. We ended up in a dead end, blocked by sand dunes or places you dimply could not cross and we had to go back.
Dear traveler,
Our journey started a bit different this time. We already knew how it is and on one hand I thought it was going to be hard.
So much walking ...
It's been 5 years since our last Camino, and since then, my feet did not stay in one place. My parents took care of that. Tenths of peaks were conquered, a few runs, out of which a 9 kilometer night run which I'm very proud of. But I will tell you about this some other time.
Now, I'm here, in Portugal, and I've already walked more than I would've wanted. No, we did not started walking on the path of shells yet.
"But we have to see a bit of Lisbon, right?" Yes, Mamarmot. There's always something to see..
Narrow streets, colorful buildings and trams and so many beautiful flowers. I must admit, this city is beautiful, but the treats I am enjoying today make me more happier. Mmm.. Pastel de nata! It's insane!
We don't linger for too long in Lisbon, but we manage to see a bit of it and to buy our pilgrim passports. We see the harbor, a boy that makes huge soap bubbles that fly through the city's main square, and many streets on which we have to climb, of course!
We hop into the bus towards Porto, not before enjoying a ramen, my favorite food since I visited the Land of The Rising Sun. 3 hours later, we enter this city's streets, which resembles a lot to Lisbon, just that...it's even more hilly. Very hilly! Really now, how can people live here? I can't imagine having to go and buy a bread and climbing this thing every single day.
In Porto, we go to get our first stamp from the cathedral. It's quite weird that I don't feel something particular. It's like an usual and natural walk, nothing to make me think that tomorrow we'll be heading into a 280 kilometer adventure.
Mamarmot insists buying her shell from the start of the trail, more precisely from here, from the Porto Cathedral, and keeps annoying us. In the end, I decide to buy one too. Can't be a pilgrim without a shell on your backpack. In Mamarmot's case, with two, as she has this one and the one from Camino Frances, shell which she wears in all her travels since then. One could say that she took a bit of Camino in more than half of Romania and over tens of mountain peaks...but who's counting? For sure dad doesn't as he is not interested in numbers...he's just enjoying the moment.
A milestone awaits in front of the cathedral. Hey, this is a view I know. A yellow shell on a blue background. I touch the sun warmed stone and a familiar feeling overwhelms me. Below the waymark, "PK 248" is written. I have no idea what PK means but I am pretty sure that 248 is not a correct number. We have a bit more walking to do. However, this thought doesn't seem to scare me anymore.
We're heading to where we'll be sleeping tonight, just a few kilometers of walking...how can it be different? I wonder if Mamarmot is intentionally measuring these distances so she can have as many steps as possible by the end of the day or choosing the farthest accommodation is just randomly happening?
We have our own room in a student hostel and across the street we find a place where I can fill in my belly with a delicious lasagna and home made sweets. Yum! Portugal, I'm starting to like you even more!
Mamarmot amuses us with her plans and the app she'll be using this time to see the distances and accommodation options. Camino Ninja...oh, so many jokes. But Mamarmot is not amused. She continues her planning, her organizing...that's just her. I think that in her mind she already made plans for the next 5 days. Somebody unplug her!
Back in our room, I would stay a bit more, but Mamarmot says to get some sleep as this is it, tomorrow, we'll be on the road!
This bed feels like a plank and through the air I can hear insects that, in their search for light, they're roaming around the room and bump into the walls. Before sliding into the world of slumber, music starts playing in the balcony underneath. Mamarmot groans. If you want to annoy her, make the slightest sound when she is trying to sleep. In this case, it's annoying even for me. Dad's snoring ocasionally covers the rhythm of music and I am thinking about long paths through green fields and I get a strange feeling in my stomach. Or it could be from the lasagna. Can't be sure!
I'm excited but I also know it's going to be hard to walk that far. I wonder if I can do it. The music seems to go under my steps and carries me lightly through the yellow shells. I wonder if the Portuguese shells are different. The sweets are for sure...
Marmot statistics
Joy
What's the most important thing for an 11 year old Marmot? Food, of course. Enough delights on the Camino to keep your taste buds entertained. The enthusiasm is high enough, even though we have long and very long days.
Sights
The first days along the coast are out of this world, with ferns and sand dunes, followed by pine forests or through much more rockier paths through eucalyptus forests. The trail also takes us through small medieval cities and shows us Portugal and Spain greenest paths.
Difficulty
The trail is not difficult, being quite short and having an acceptable elevation gain.
Boredom
Boredom will pop-up easier now, but we have some experience on how to deal with it from the French Camino.
Drama
Can one trip go without drama? Well, never. But we're moving on easier than the last time.
EN 
RO