Our Walk Along the Camino Portuguese

“Traveller, there is no road; you make your own path as you walk.” Antonio Machado, “Traveller, your footprints.” Beyond the Way   And so, another pilgrimage has come to an end.   After setting out from Lisbon, walking north through Portugal to Porto, continuing onward into Spain, and arriving once again in Santiago de Compostela , we have completed our time on the Camino Portugués. From there, as we had hoped, we continued beyond Santiago to the Atlantic coast, walking onward to Muxia and Fisterra before finally bringing this chapter of the journey to a close.   It is a strange feeling to finish another Camino and another pilgrimage. In 2016, when we first arrived in Santiago after walking the Camino Francés , we were overwhelmed by the experience and unsure if we would ever return. Yet only a few months later, the Way called us back, and we found ourselves in France walking the Via Podiensis / GR65 toward St. Jean-Pied-de-Port . Now, in 2019, we have again followed...

Camino Portuguese Tips, Advice and Information Camino Pilgrimage  While the Camino Portugués bears many similarities to the Camino Francés and other routes on the Way of St. James (shells, yellow arrows, signage, and albergues), it is also profoundly different. For example, while pilgrims on the Camino Francés are familiar with many of the key landmarks (geographic, cultural, historical, and religious), such as crossing the Pyrenees, the monument of the Pilgrims on the Sierra de Perdón, crossing the Meseta, visiting the site of the Cruz de Ferro, admiring the Burgos Cathedral, and climbing O'Cebreiro.  By comparison, while the Camino Portugués crosses many beautiful historical, cultural and religious landmarks, the trail seems more defined by the major urban areas along the route such as Lisbon, Santarém, Tomar, Coimbra,  Porto, and Valenca/Tui on the Spanish border.   Perhaps the largest difference most people notice when planning and setting out on ...

  Comparing Pilgrimage on the Camino Portuguese and Camino Francés   “Traveller, there is no road; the road is made by walking.”   Antonio Machado, “Proverbios y cantares XXIX,” Campos de Castilla   Every pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela eventually ends in the same place. Pilgrims arrive through narrow Galician streets and step into the wide stone plaza before the cathedral, often exhausted, often emotional, and almost always reflective about the long road that they followed to get them to this point.   Although the destination remains constant no matter which Camino people follow, the experience of walking toward Santiago can differ greatly depending on which route a pilgrim chooses .   Walking the Camino Portugués from Lisbon offered us the opportunity to see the Camino tradition from a new perspective. Years ago we crossed Spain on the Camino Francés , beginning in the small town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port and walking westward across the breadth...

Reflecting on the Camino Português  Pilgrimage Reflections and Considerations We have already mentioned in detail throughout our blog many of the ways in which Camino Português is similar to and yet differs from Camino Francés.   As such, we don’t think that you can hike the Camino Portugués , thinking it will simply be another Camino Francés. While it is one of the countless routes on the Way of St. James with similar signage, stamps, and symbols, it is ultimately its own trail with its own sites, culture and challenges. In short, they are different hikes, in different countries, with different levels of trail development and a completely different pilgrimage focus – as such, your expectations have to shift accordingly. Lisbon to Porto There is a great deal of naysaying about the Lisbon to Porto section – in guidebooks, online forums, blogs, Facebook, etc. – and it is hard to tell if this is a “chicken and egg” situation or merely a Camino section in development – ...