Overview Pilgrimage through Portugal to Santiago de Compostela Camino (PR18-310): Porto - Arcos - Barcelos - Balugaes - Ponte de Lima - Rubiaes - Tui - Porriño - Redondela - Pontevedra - Calda de Reis - Padrón - Santiago de Compostela Type of Travel: Individual pilgrimage - 14 daysLevel of difficulty: easyDistance: approx. 227 KmFare: from 1.180 EUR per person The Camino Portugues Central Route:Rural landscapes, little villages and peaceful countryside A pilgrimage on the Camino Portugues Central Route starts in Porto (or about 2 weeks earlier in Lisbon) to Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. The Camino portugues central route offers vast landscapes, hiking trails through magnificent historic old towns and landmarks, ancient forests and vineyards, and offers pilgrims the opportunity to experience Portugal's rich cultural heritage. As a welcome time out, the Way of St. James can be a gateway into a new stage of life and powerful support on your individual journey. We are happy to advise you on the different levels of difficulty of each stage and divide your Camino according to your individual wishes in sections of 1 to 2 weeks, for example. Would you prefer to join a group pilgrimage? Click here for our portuguese Way of St. James group tour! Or would you prefer the Coastal route? Click here for the travel page. “I would like to take a moment to say from the bottom of my heart that you did everything you could to ensure a smooth experience. The three of us experienced a very nice “Portuguese Inland Camino”. One more thing I would like to say: for such pilgrimages you need trust, and we had that right from the start with the friendly and efficient manner of Mr. Arne Gudde. He was always there for us, whether we needed English, Spanish or German. We really appreciated his help." - N.W. Route sections Pilgrimage through Portugal to Santiago de Compostela Camino (PR18-320): Porto - Vilar do Pinheiro (transfer) - Arcos - Barcelos - Balugaes - Ponte da Lima - Pecene - Tui Travel type: Individual - 8 daysDifficulty: easyDistance: approx. 112 kmFare: from 770 EUR per person Camino (PR18-325): Tui - Arcade - Pontevedra - Caldas de Reis - Padrón - Santiago de Compostela Trvael type: individual - 8 daysDifficulty: easyDistance: approx. 115 kmFare: from 690 EUR per person Camino (PR18-378): Tui - Porriño - Redondela - Pontevedra - Caldas de Reis - Padrón - Santiago de Compostela - Negreira - Olveiroa - Cee - Fisterra Trvael type: individual - 13 daysDifficulty: mediumDistance: approx. 204 kmFare: from 920 EUR per person We are happy to offer you further partial routes, just send us an inquiry! Itinerary Pilgrimage through Portugal to Santiago de Compostela Day 1: Arrival Start your Camino Portugues Central Route with your arrival to your accommodation in Porto.Day 2: Porto/ Moreira da Maia - Arcos (approx. 21 km / approx. 6 h / easy) Your included transfer will take you from your accommodation in Porto to Moreira da Maia (a district of Porto). Here begins your Camino de Santiago and you leave the city heading to Arcos.Day 3: Arcos - Barcelos (approx. 19.8 km / approx. 6 hrs. / easy) Your destination today is Barcelos. A place that bears the same rooster legend as the Spanish town of Santo Domingo de la Calzada (on the Camino Francés). Day 4: Barcelos - Balugães (approx. 15.7 km / approx. 5 hrs / easy) From Barcelos you will go on pilgrimage through fabulous forests and vineyards to Balugães.Day 5: Balugães - Ponte de Lima (approx. 18.8 km / approx. 5.5 h / easy) On today's stage of your Camino Portugues Central you will hike to the medieval town of Ponte de Lima through beautiful nature along the river Lima.Day 6: Ponte de Lima - Rubiães (approx. 17,4 km / approx. 5 h / medium) Today's pilgrimage of about 5 relaxed hours will lead you via Arcozelo and Codecal to Rubiães. Day 7: Rubiães - Tui (approx. 19,1 Km / approx. 6 hrs / very easy) We cross another pass and follow the Portuguese Way of St. James until we reach Valença on the Minho River, which impresses with its fortress. (17,9 km - easy) Day 8: Tui - Porriño (about 16.1 km / about 5 hours / easy) The highlight of the day's Camino Portugues Central route is the crossing of the "International Bridge" from Portugal to Spain. Explore the beautiful town of Tui a bit before continuing your pilgrimage to reach Porriño. Note: Clocks are changed when crossing the border into Spain!Day 9: Porriño - Redondela (approx. 15.8 km / approx. 5 hrs / easy) On small roads and paths we proceed to Redondela, where the Atlantic Ocean can be seen for the first time. Further on the portuguese coastal Camino leads to Redondela/ Arcade to today's accommodation.Day 10: Redondela - Pontevedra (about 19.6 km / about 6 hours / easy) The way becomes more hilly and leads through forests to the capital of Galicia, to Pontevedra, where you will have enough time for the beautiful old town as well as the cathedral and the church Capela da Virxe Peregrina, its ground plan is the image of the scallop shell! Day 11: Pontevedra - Caldas de Reis (about 21.1 km / about 6.5 hours) Today's theme is diversity. Because up to the thermal springs of Caldas de Reis today's stage leads through the beauty of Galicia with its fantastic forests, meadows and small rivers.Day 12: Caldas de Reis - Padrón (approx. 18.6 km / approx. 5.5 hrs.) This is the last but one stage of your pilgrimage on the Camino Portugues Central, enjoy the picturesque, hilly landscape of Galicia one last time. Padrón is famous for the legend of the ship that brought the body of St. James to Padrón. It is also the place where the famous small green peppers - pimientos de Padrón - come from. Day 13: Padrón - Santiago de Compostela (about 24.3 km / about 7 hours) Your last stage will see you off with the beautiful fragrant eucalyptus and pine forests. After 2 weeks coming from the south you will reach the historical old town with its imposing cathedral. If you like, you can finalize your Way of St. James with the Pilgrim's Mass in the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela. Tonight, celebrate your Portuguese Camino in the atmospheric alleys of Santiago.Day 14: Departure Today it's time to finalize your Camino Portugues Central, say goodbye and, if possible, slowly enjoy your way back home. Alternatively, we recommend you continue your Camino to the so-called end of the world - to Cape Finisterre, which is almost the most western point of Europe. The portuguese Camino doesn't convince you? There are many alternatives: Camino Francés (French Way) The most popular and best-developed, but also the most demanding Way of St. James, but can be divided into shorter sections, such as Sarria-Santiago. Start: St. Jean-Pied-de-Port (France). Length: approx. 800 km to Santiago de Compostela. Passes through cities such as Pamplona, Burgos and León. Camino del Norte (Northern Way) Runs along the north coast of Spain. Start: Irun on the French-Spanish border. Length: approx. 825 km. A scenic route that passes through cities such as San Sebastián, Bilbao and Gijón. Via de la Plata (Silver Way) One of the longest pilgrimage routes in Spain. Start: Seville (Andalusia), shorter version from Ourense. Length: approx. 1,000 km. Leads through the interior of the country via cities such as Mérida, Salamanca and Zamora. Camino Primitivo (Original Way) The oldest Way of St. James, used by the first pilgrims. Start: Oviedo (Asturias). Length: approx. 320 km. A challenging route through mountainous terrain. Camino Inglés (English Way) Used by English and northern European pilgrims Start: Ferrol Length: approx. 120 km (from Ferrol) or 75 km (from A Coruña). Camino de Invierno (winter route) Alternative route to the Camino Francés to avoid the snowy mountains in winter. Start: Ponferrada. Length: approx. 270 km. Camiño dos Faros See the lighthouses along the Atlantic coast in west Galizia. Route: Malpica - Finisterre Length: approx. ca. 196 km. Padre Sarmiento Shorter route in southern Galizia to Santiago Start: Pontevedra Length: approx. ca. 166 km. Each of these Caminos has its own scenic and cultural characteristics and offers pilgrims different levels of difficulty and experience. Travel report Pilgrimage through Portugal to Santiago de Compostela Camino travel report - Anonymous All the Ways of St. James in Europe point the way to Santiago de Compostela. In Portugal and Spain in particular, the number and variety of markings along the way is increasing. Here, as everywhere else, yellow arrows and, above all, signs with the symbolic scallop shell - a yellow shell stylised as sunbeams on a blue background - serve as signposts. The shell-sun provides orientation. The term contains the word Orient, the so-called "Orient", which means a hopeful orientation towards the east, and not only for Christian churches. The sun rises in the east, the new day begins here and a promising future comes from the east. The rising sun brings light and life into the world. My wife and I spent a few days walking the Portuguese Way of St. James to Santiago. The question of "external" signposting is easy to answer. It is almost impossible to get lost on the Camino in Portugal and Spain. And not just because of the good signposting. Because there are other pilgrims here and there, they walk in front and behind you, and it is rare to experience a section of the route alone. From early morning until the afternoon, the friends of the path line up one after the other like strings of pearls. Many tributaries then become a stream of pilgrims that reaches Santiago anew every day. Santiago is both a destination and a place of departure, because from Santiago you can either continue via the final destination of Finisterre (by the sea) or go straight back to everyday life. But the real goal lies in the journey itself, in being on the road, in walking. This is where the famous saying attributed to Confucius, "The journey is the reward", comes true. Arriving in Santiago is something to be grateful for and perhaps proud of, but the journey is created by walking, by being on the road with others, by facing nature and your own physical limits and challenges, by enjoying or experiencing a special time out. There is plenty of external orientation on the Camino - but the path does not provide spiritual guidance and orientation at first glance, but to those who seek it or allow themselves to be found. The churches and chapels are mostly closed or stamping stations. After a few pilgrimage experiences, this was initially disillusioning for me. The spiritual does not happen in a predictable or foreseeable way, but it is always between the "lines", it lies in the path itself. And we discovered this little by little and some things only in retrospect. One of the most precious experiences for us was the encounter with Christians from Taiwan. My wife and I sang songs in the Taizé tradition in an acoustically resonant chapel. We were about to stop singing when a group of young pilgrims entered. They smiled at us and asked us to keep singing, as they also knew these songs. So we sang together. We sang a song from the Taizé tradition as we know it and they joined in in Chinese. Then they sang a Kyrie song and we sang along to the chorus. This went back and forth for quite a while until we finished together with a Gloria. When we got talking afterwards, they said it was a wonderful experience of faith for them on this journey. It was the same for us and we said goodbye rather touched. In many other encounters and conversations - mostly improvised in English - a common spirit and the hope of faith could be felt again and again. Conversations happened more by chance as we were walking, and then they fell away again. Good encounters were also possible with people who were travelling for sporting reasons. Being on the road with one goal in mind made many people open and touchable and it was possible to share what was on their minds and what was weighing them down in life. At the final destination in Santiago, there was a spiritual guided tour in German. Our chaplain pointed out a special cross on the cathedral: the rag cross. In earlier centuries, pilgrims would have burnt their old clothes and changed into new ones. The old was left behind. Letting go of burdens and heaviness is still a theme for many on this pilgrimage today. For me, it was above all about letting go of my worries about my illness and feeling the many good reasons to be grateful. We look back with gratitude on this journey, which we did not take for granted.
