Camino: Easy Coastal Walk from Porto

Walk from Porto to Santiago on this 3-week, easy Coastal Camino. Leisurely cover 4-11 miles per day as you pass by stunning beaches and traverse peaceful countryside.

Over 21 days, you can sustainably enjoy the coastal scenery, gorgeous countryside, and charming towns and villages of northern Portugal and Spain with minimal carbon impact. The relaxed pace of this slow-travel Camino allows you the time and energy to appreciate your surroundings along this ancient pilgrimage trail.

Starting in Porto, Portugal, this easy Coastal Camino route divides the walking days over shorter distances, ranging from 4 miles (7 km) to a maximum of 11 miles (18 km). If you prefer to take your time, or simply aren’t as fit as you used to be, this itinerary is manageable and rewarding for most people.

This self-guided 21-day trip provides more free time to explore the charms of northern Portugal and Galicia, Spain. You'll have countless stops for refreshments and to soak up the local atmosphere as you immerse yourself into a mixture of seafaring and rural communities, thriving towns and cities. You will discover breathtaking landscapes and taste numerous traditional delicacies in the Minho and Galicia regions!

• Blend a classic Camino walk with time for sightseeing
• Stroll along coastal trails next to breathtaking gorgeous and varied beaches
• Meander inland for picturesque nature, forests, and farmland
• Stay in comfortable accommodations close to the ancient pilgrim trail
• See iconic bridges, beautiful churches, and roadside shrines
• Admire a 12th-century monastery and stunning views overlooking the bay in Oia
• Learn the important history of a Romanesque church in Iria Flavia
• Rest your feet in the thermal springs in the spa town of Caldas de Reis
• Experience the magical atmosphere of Santiago de Compostela
• Enjoy authentic villages, regional dishes, fantastic seafood, and great wine

This wonderful trip starts along the northwest coast of Portugal, known as the Costa Verde, or Green Coast. This name is thanks to the abundance of lush vegetation between the coast and the nearby mountains of the Minho countryside.

Over the three weeks, you will pass by stunning beaches (from Vila do Conde to Esposende, from Vila Praia de Âncora to Baiona), lush forest areas, and cultivated fields with picturesque landscapes.

You’ll also visit charming seaside towns and villages like Castelo de Neiva or Arcade with wonderful opportunities to taste the local cuisine, especially seafood.

This route passes through the coastal cities of Viana do Castelo, A Guarda, Vigo, and Pontevedra, where you can admire incredible monasteries, Romanesque Churches, gorgeous medieval architecture, and ancient bridges with interesting legends.

The route ends in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, whose famous, namesake cathedral is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Whether you're interested in the landscapes, history, or architecture, this sustainable Camino itinerary has something for everyone and plenty of time to see it all!

You can book this itinerary from March 1st through October 31st each year.

• The low season is in March, April, May, and October.
• The mid-season is in June and September.
• The high season is in July and August.

April, May, June, September, and October are ideal for a walking adventure through northern Portugal. Days are generally warm and sunny but can be chilly and possibly windy, especially on the coast. There is always a chance of experiencing some rain, so please come prepared for changeable conditions. May, June, and September tend to be warmer with less chance of rain.

July and August are usually the hottest months, with temperatures regularly exceeding 86° F (30° C). Additionally, the last two weeks of July are especially exciting in Santiago de Compostela. The city celebrates the "Feast of Saint James" or the "Apostle Festival" to honor the patron saint known to be laid to rest in the Cathedral. The city is overtaken by a magical mix of culture, religion, and celebrations during July with costumes, music, activities, and a famously stunning fireworks display.

Traveling during the low or mid-seasons is generally considered a sustainable tourism practice as it helps with tourism dispersal – spreading out where tourists go and how their money supports locals throughout the year.

We firmly believe that travel should be a safe and rewarding experience for all concerned, including the destinations that you visit and the people you meet. Using our own extensive local knowledge, we carefully design our tours to respect the way of life of local populations as well as the environment and provide our clients with a genuine experience that leads to meaningful interactions with another culture. In turn, we make sure that money stays within the small local communities that they spend time in.

Environment

The historical and spiritual Portuguese Coastal Camino de Santiago offers a wide range of scenery and gastronomic experiences. The unspoiled coastal landscapes in Northern Portugal and Galicia in Spain are varied and beautiful, as are the inland stretches through woodland, farmland, country villages, and historical towns.

We take into consideration environmental issues when planning new programs within Northern Portugal and design them to have negligible harmful impact. To achieve this, we follow the guidelines laid out by the Portuguese Nature Conservation and Forestry Institute (ICNF), which protect and preserve the areas of natural beauty and environmental significance in which we operate.

We provide our self-guided clients with a full briefing and detailed instructions on their route, which includes a traveler’s code of conduct. This includes guidelines for avoiding damage to the landscape and advice on minimizing waste as well as preventing forest fires.

We also recommend that our clients bring refillable water bottles (use code YUGEN10 for 10% off) and encourage them to use local tap water or approved water fountains along the Camino. We explain how they can tell when water is safe to drink. We stress the importance of leaving no trace, which includes not following the popular practice of adding stones to cairns to mark their passage.

For luggage transfers, we usually have more than one client undertaking the route at any given time so we arrange bulk delivery and collection with local drivers to reduce carbon emissions.

Our preferred accommodation and catering partners are those who make effective use of eco-friendly practices to save water, utilize solar power, and promote recycling.

Community

This program follows an ancient pilgrim route that passes through non-touristed villages and small towns that depend on the revenue generated by the pilgrims for their survival and development.

For this reason, we encourage our clients to use local cafés, traditional non-chain restaurants, markets, and grocery stores, not only to support the local economy but also to maximize their opportunities to interact with local people. If there is a local delicacy worth trying, such as octopus in Esposende or the renowned oysters in Arcade, we point this out in the roadbook (info pack).

Our ‘roadbooks’ contain information about the destination and advice for clients on respecting local cultures and interacting without inadvertently causing offense, as well as some helpful phrases in Portuguese and Spanish.

One thing that every pilgrim will agree with is the helpfulness of local people. They are used to seeing pilgrims and are pleased to see and support them where possible. If a pilgrim appears to be in any doubt as to which way to go and there is a local nearby, they will point the traveler in the right direction without them even having to ask.

Our office is in northern Portugal, close to Porto, the usual starting point for this program, and a few days’ walk along the Camino. Our staff live locally and have in-depth knowledge of the route, so they are able to help out rapidly and effectively, mobilizing local resources where necessary to help clients if they encounter any difficulties.

We ensure our staff and those who work for us are treated with respect and have fair working conditions. As such, we are directly supporting the local economy and communities in which we operate.

In our office, we recycle as much as possible and do our best to minimize printing and waste in general, e.g., by using washable crockery and cutlery and providing a 20-litre water cooler for staff to refill.

Be sure you have traveler's insurance.