Portuguese Camino: Porto to Santiago on foot

Arrive in Porto

Porto airport to your hotel in central Porto

• Welcome dinner
• Nuit : Porto
• Environ 24 min de route

Après-midi

In the late afternoon your See Sight Tours guide walks the group up to the Se, the fortified cathedral above the river, where the Portuguese Camino traditionally begins. You collect your pilgrim credential, the folded card you will fill with stamps from churches, cafes and hotels all the way to Santiago, and get your first stamp. From the cathedral terrace you look down over the tiled roofs of the Ribeira to the Douro and the Dom Luis I bridge. The guide briefs you on the week: what each stage is like, how the vehicle and the bags work, and where to fill your water bottle.

Soir

Then we sit down together for a welcome dinner in the old town.

Compris

• Pick-up at Porto airport (OPO)
• Walk to Porto Cathedral (the Se) with your guide
• Your pilgrim credential and first stamp
• Welcome briefing
• Welcome dinner

Activités en option

• Extra nights in Porto before the trip, quoted per room when you book

Boardwalks from Vila do Conde to Esposende

Porto to Vila do Conde by vehicle, walk to Esposende, then on to Viana do Castelo

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Viana do Castelo
• Environ 1 h de route

Matin

After breakfast the vehicle takes us about half an hour north, past Porto's port and suburbs, to Vila do Conde, an old shipbuilding town at the mouth of the Ave, with the convent of Santa Clara on its hill and a long stone aqueduct walking away inland. From here the coastal Camino follows wooden boardwalks laid over the dunes, the Senda Litoral, with the Atlantic on your left the whole day. We pass the fishing beaches of Povoa de Varzim and A Ver-o-Mar, and the fields near Apulia where seaweed was once raked from the surf and dried as fertiliser.

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal of grilled fish in Apulia. In the afternoon we cross the Cavado river at Fao into Esposende, a quiet town on the estuary, about 24 km after the start. The vehicle then drives us 20 minutes north to Viana do Castelo, our base for two nights, where your bag is already in your room.

Compris

• Walk from Vila do Conde to Esposende on the coastal Camino with your guide
• Sit-down lunch in Apulia
• Transfer to Viana do Castelo

Over the Lima into Viana do Castelo

Viana do Castelo to Esposende by vehicle, walk back to Viana do Castelo

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Viana do Castelo
• Environ 30 min de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down meal on the way. In the afternoon we reach the Lima and cross it on the long iron road and rail bridge of 1878 that locals call the Eiffel bridge, with the whole of Viana do Castelo laid out ahead and the domed basilica of Santa Luzia on its hill above. You reach the old town by mid-afternoon.

Soir

Later the guide takes anyone who wants up the funicular to Santa Luzia for the view over the river mouth, then the evening is free in the Praca da Republica, around its Renaissance fountain.

Compris

• Walk from Esposende to Viana do Castelo with your guide
• Sit-down lunch on the route
• Santa Luzia funicular and the view from the basilica

Activités en option

• Gil Eannes hospital ship museum in Viana's harbour

Caminha and across the Minho to A Guarda

Viana do Castelo to Afife by vehicle, walk to Caminha, boat to A Guarda, then Baiona

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Baiona
• Environ 1.5 h de route

Compris

• Walk from Afife to Caminha with your guide
• River crossing from Caminha to A Guarda
• Monte Santa Trega hillfort and viewpoint
• Transfer to Baiona

The coast path from Oia to Baiona

Baiona to Oia by vehicle, walk back to Baiona

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du soir
• Nuit : Baiona
• Environ 24 min de route

Matin

Another morning with no packing. The vehicle drops us at Oia, where the 12th-century Cistercian monastery of Santa Maria stands right above the rocks, and we walk north along one of the wildest stretches of the route: a path beside the coast road with the open Atlantic below, granite outcrops, sometimes wild horses grazing on the slopes of the Serra da Groba, and few buildings for long stretches. Rounding Cabo Silleiro, the Ria de Vigo opens ahead with the Cies Islands on the horizon.

Après-midi

We reach Baiona, about 18 km from Oia, around lunchtime, so the afternoon is free: walk the 3 km of walls around Monte Real, the fortified headland above the harbour, see the replica of the caravel Pinta, which landed here in 1493 with the first news of Columbus's crossing, or swim at Ladeira beach.

Soir

In the evening we sit down together to a seafood dinner in the old town.

Compris

• Walk from Oia to Baiona with your guide
• The walls of Monte Real
• Seafood dinner in Baiona

Activités en option

• Carabela Pinta replica museum in Baiona's harbour

Above the Ria de Vigo to Redondela

Baiona to Vigo by vehicle, walk to Redondela, then Pontevedra

• Petit-déjeuner
• Nuit : Pontevedra
• Environ 1 h de route

Soir

Lunch is your choice in Redondela, then the vehicle takes us about 25 minutes to Pontevedra, our base for two nights, with the evening free in its old town.

Compris

• Short walk in Vigo's Casco Vello with your guide
• MARCO contemporary art museum in Vigo
• Walk from Vigo to Redondela with your guide
• Transfer to Pontevedra

Arcade oysters and Ponte Sampaio to Pontevedra

Pontevedra to Redondela by vehicle, walk back to Pontevedra

• Petit-déjeuner et repas du midi
• Nuit : Pontevedra
• Environ 30 min de route

Matin

The morning path runs through woods and hamlets above the inner end of the ria, past stone granaries (horreos) raised on legs, to Arcade, a village known across Galicia for its oysters.

Après-midi

Lunch here is a sit-down seafood meal, oysters for those who want them, and a white wine from the Rias Baixas vineyards. Straight after lunch we cross the Ponte Sampaio, a medieval stone bridge over the Verdugo estuary where Galician forces fought Napoleon's troops in 1809, then climb through eucalyptus and pine on old paved tracks and drop into Pontevedra, about 20 km from Redondela, by mid-afternoon. Pontevedra closed its centre to most traffic decades ago, and its granite squares are full of people at the end of the day.

Soir

The guide shows you the 18th-century pilgrims' chapel of the Virxe Peregrina, built on a plan shaped like a scallop shell, and the small old square of Praza da Leña, then the evening is free.

Compris

• Walk from Redondela to Pontevedra with your guide
• Seafood lunch in Arcade
• Ponte Sampaio medieval bridge
• Short walk in Pontevedra's old town: the Virxe Peregrina chapel and the Praza da Leña

Activités en option

• Museo de Pontevedra

Padron to Santiago de Compostela

Pontevedra to Padron by vehicle, walk to Santiago de Compostela

• Petit-déjeuner, repas du midi et repas du soir
• Nuit : Santiago de Compostela
• Environ 36 min de route

Après-midi

Lunch is a sit-down stop at the halfway point. We arrive in the afternoon through the old gate of Porta Faxeira and the Rua do Franco into Praza do Obradoiro, in front of the cathedral's western facade. This trip skips about 40 km on this stretch, so the Pilgrim's Office will not issue the Compostela; we say so plainly, and you keep the credential with its stamps.

Soir

Farewell dinner tonight.

Compris

• The church of Santiago in Padron and the pedron stone
• Walk from Padron to Santiago de Compostela with your guide
• Sit-down lunch on the route
• Arrival in Praza do Obradoiro
• Farewell dinner

Santiago Cathedral and home

Santiago de Compostela, then Santiago airport

• Petit-déjeuner
• Environ 18 min de route

Matin

A last morning in Santiago instead of a breakfast and goodbye. Early, before the crowds, your guide walks the group around the cathedral's four squares, Obradoiro, Praterias, Quintana with the Holy Door and Azabacheria, and explains how the Romanesque church grew around the tomb of the apostle. Then we climb onto the cathedral roofs on the guided rooftop tour, walking across the granite steps of the roof with the old town and the Galician hills all round. At noon the Pilgrim's Mass is held in the cathedral; go early if you want a seat. The giant censer, the botafumeiro, is swung only at some masses, so we never promise it.

Après-midi

The rest of the day is yours: the Museo das Peregrinacions, the Mercado de Abastos or lunch in the old town. The driver takes you to Santiago's Rosalia de Castro airport, about 20 minutes away. Book a flight leaving after about 4 pm, or ask us about a train or transfer back to Porto.

Compris

• Morning walk around the cathedral squares with your guide
• Santiago Cathedral rooftop tour
• Drop-off at Santiago airport (SCQ)

Activités en option

• Museo das Peregrinacions
• Cathedral museum