Camino Portugués de Santiago de Compostela Phase 1 - Porto (Portugal) to Vigo (Spain)
15 – 26 September 2026
A pilgrimage is a special trek. A common rite in most religions, pilgrims generally travel to holy or inspirational places to remind themselves of their life journey. There is usually a devotion, veneration, promise or contemplation attached to it.
In medieval times, there were three major Christian pilgrimage sites: Jerusalem, Rome and Santiago de Compostela. Pilgrims traveling to Santiago de Compostela were known as “Peregrinos” from the Latin peregrinus, which, simply translated, means foreign traveler. When European Christians saw that their faith was threatened by the advance of Islam, they asserted it by pilgrimaging from different places all over Europe to the recently discovered Sepulchre of the Apostle Saint James, starting in the 9th century.
The 12th and 13th centuries were the golden age of pilgrimages to Santiago before the practice fell somewhat into disuse. There was however a revival during the 20th century and nowadays there are now more and more peregrinos every year. Modern pilgrims travel there for many reasons, not just spiritual. In our case, we saw this as a physical challenge and were curious as to what we would discover along the way. What all walkers share in common, as we too were to find out, is that it is an experience that replenishes the soul.
As already mentioned, the Camino de Santiago has many routes, and the Portuguese Way (or Camino Portugués) is the one that runs north out of Portugal into Galicia, along paths shaped by monarchs, monks, traders and pilgrims for centuries. We took the Camino Portugués Coastal Route, following the Atlantic north from Porto. Shaped by ocean light, fishing villages and long coastal promenades, it promised a walking experience defined by open landscapes and a gentle, unhurried rhythm.
This blog charts our progress on the Camino - our daily starting and ending points, what we saw and who we met along the way. That is what really counts in the end and what will live in our memories, not the physical discomfort or distances (which for the record would eventually total almost 500 kms as we continued on to Finisterre after reaching Santiago). We took delight again in simple things - a cold shower, a hot meal, a clean bed - after a long, arduous day out on the trail. It enabled us to reconnect with others.. and with ourselves. But more on that later. Let’s start at the beginning.
We arrived in Porto on Tuesday, 15th September after a marathon 30 hour trip from Puerto Princesa via Manila, Riyadh and London. The city was heaving with tourists and all the reasonably-priced hotels were fully booked- Luckily, Mylene had booked a bed in a dormitory in a hostel, the CATS, close to the cathedral. I got the last bed there too and in hindsight it was the perfect training for me for what was to come: sharing a room with perfect strangers. This was probably going to be my biggest challenge on the Camino.
The next day we went to Decathlon at Boavista to buy some equipment and clothing (a rucksack for me, a fleece for Mylene and reflectors, walking sticks and ponchos for us both). We also stopped by the Cathedral to purchase our Camino passports (which we needed to get stamped along the way to qualify for our official pilgrimage certificates on arrival at Santiago) and shells to attach to our bags. Now we were all set!
Day 1 (Thursday 17th September): Porto to Vila Cha (27 kms)
We awoke before 6am and tried to dress and close our bags in the dark without waking our roommates: we finished it off in the kitchen downstairs where we met Magda from Poland. She was also starting her Camino and so we set off together to the Cathedral for the official «start». There we ran into Lisa from Dublin and an English girl. Our merry little band made its way through the dark, silent streets of Porto, scrupulously following the little yellow arrows pointing us in the direction of Santiago..
Some two hours later, after a breakfast break in a café by the side of the road, we realized that we had missed a turning: we were actually on the Central Camino and not the Coastal Route. So we jumped into a taxi and got out at Praia de Palmeira, closer to Porto. Finally, we were on the right track, with the sound of the waves crashing on the beach and the gulls shrieking overhead. A wooden boardwalk guided us forward. Locals passing us by spontaneously wished us «Bon Camino!». Our pilgrimage had now truly began.
Some five hours later we arrived at Sandra’s Place in Vila Cha, a hamlet by the sea. We collapsed into our own room (YES!) and after a short rest, also had dinner there. We had survived day one: sleep came to us lightly that night.
Day 2 (Friday 18th September): Vila Cha to Agucadoura (22 kms)
The next morning, we were already out on the boardwalk before sunrise: we were alone, it was so quiet and peaceful. We then met up with a German lady from Rostock. Later, we had a quick breakfast in Vila do Condé, a picturesque and historic town where the Ave river drains into the Atlantic. Fortunately, on exiting the town, we found ourselves back on the boardwalk once more.
Lunch was taken at an excellent seafood restaurant on the beach, not far from our destination. We splashed out on a bottle of white wine, relaxed and just enjoyed the moment. Back on the road, we bought some fruit at a local mercato. We were treated to some lovely smiles and many «Bon Camino» by the friendly vendors there. It was heartwarming.
We arrived at our pension - the Hostel Refugio Do Mar - quite early. Carla, the owner, was very friendly. Since we could not find any restaurant, we went to a local supermarket and bought some bread, cold cuts and cheese. We ate dinner in the communal kitchen together with a few other guests. That was where we met Margit for the first time. She was a middle-aged lady from Germany (although now living in Alaska, in the middle of nowhere apparently). She was quite amusing and we would run into her a few times again over the coming days.
Today was much more relaxing than yesterday. The key was no doubt to walk less but we had not yet understood that. What we had already understood, however, was that the official distances indicated by the various Pilgrim Apps (and even the Google Maps) were always substantially less than the distances we actually walked.
Day 3 (Saturday 19th September): Agucadoura to Belinho (25 kms)
This was the hardest day yet. We left Carla’s place just before 7am and were amazed to pass by an early morning fireworks display in the street outside. After a few kilometers along the boardwalk, we headed inland past some vegetable farms until we reached the town of Fao. There, we visited a local fruit and cheese market and ate our lunch under the shade of a large plane tree. It was the only shade we would find for the remainder of the day.
In Fao, we met a gentleman from Kentucky who had actually started his Camino in Lisbon, despite his disability. He even carried his medical device in his backpack. The pitiless sun blazed down on us as trudged along by the side of the main road into Esposende; at Marinhas, the road started to climb up to Belinho.
Around 3pm we reached Grace’s House - a very comfortable accommodation with our own room and shower. We did some laundry and bought some food (pasta with vegetables) to cook for dinner. We chatted with Michelle from Canada, who told us about how she used a transport company to collect her heavy backpack each morning. By the time she arrived at her destination that evening, her baggage was waiting for her there. All for 7 Euros. I decided I would do the same as we had brought too much gear with us and our backpacks were too heavy.
Tomorrow, a heatwave up to 40C was expected. We would need to cream and cover up!
Day 4 (Sunday, 20th September): Belinho to Viana do Castelo (18 kms)
We were on the road by 6am and we enjoyed the cool morning breeze in the calm and serenity of a Sunday morning. We walked through woodland and rural villages. Along the way, we heard church bells calling out to their faithful and how they responded: every car park we passed seemed to be full. How pious the Portuguese seemed to be. Some pilgrims even took some time out to join them.
There were quite a few walkers on the road this morning. We came across two interesting young ladies from Croatia with whom we talked at length. One of them admitted that she suffered from clinical depression. She was only 24 years old. Another pilgrim from Italy said he was taking a sabbatical to consider his next career move. It seemed that everyone had their own particular reasons for doing this walk.
We ran into Margit again who was suffering from foot blisters and seemed unable to continue up the steep paths into the hills. One of the girls from Croatia treated her feet and carried her bag. There is a saying here that «the Camino will provide». It seemed to be true; it even provided us with some shade in the sweltering heat.
In the middle of some woodland, we came across a breakfast bar. The middle-aged owner was dancing to the loud music he was playing and he encouraged his customers to do the same. Which they did. Everything he sold was donation based, you paid what you wanted to. We had so much fun and it seemed that everyone left his little bar with renewed energy and resolve.
It was a shorter walk today and just after 1pm we checked in to the Hotel do Parque in Viana. It was quite shabby, we would have preferred to stay in a hostel, but none were available. The afternoon was spent visiting the iconic mountaintop Basilica do Sagrado Coracao nearby (with access by cable car) and which offered impressive panoramic views of the whole surrounding area.
By chance, there was a Mall opposite and we found an excellent Brazilian BBQ restaurant there, called ZBU Steakhouse. We chose the «all you can eat» menu and it was quite delicious. It was quite late when we finally returned to our hotel, full of excellent steak and wine.
That evening, Mylene wrote in her journal, « Thank you, Lord, for another day in Paradise and for protecting and guiding us».
Day 5 (Monday, 21st September): Viana do Castelo to Caminha (35 kms)
This would turn out to be the toughest day so far. We had planned to walk 25 kms only. The day started ok once we found our way out of Viana: it was mostly forest after that before we met up with the coastal route again at Moledo. On the way we conversed with Ukrainian, Chinese and Dutch pilgrims for the first time. We also ran into Michelle again in a restaurant in Moledo and had lunch together.
Mylene suggested that we call an Uber to get to our hostel in Caminha and return tomorrow morning to Moledo. I declined the offer. We circled round Moledo Bay and then continued on towards our destination. It was stifling hot and there was no shade. At one point we seemed to lose our way. Google Maps was not making any sense and there were no more little yellow arrows to be seen anywhere..
Eventually we saw a highway through some trees and climbed over a railway track to get to it. After that it seemed like we were stuck on a straight but never-ending road until finally we collapsed on a bench in front of our hostel, the Litos, in Caminha. I was parched, Mylene revived me with an ice-cold beer.
In our room, I started to shiver with heat exhaustion. I lay on the bed and Mylene placed a damp cloth on my forehead. Gradually I started to feel better. We promised ourselves never to walk so far again. That evening, we found an excellent pizzeria in the town centre and that together with a pleasant stroll around the historic town centre revived our spirits. Tomorrow it would start all over again.
Day 6 (Tuesday, 22nd September): Caminha to Portecelo (15 kms)
It was a slow start this morning, unsurprisingly. For the first time we had breakfast in a hostel and it was surprisingly good: fresh, warm croissants and strong coffee. Then we made our way to the ferry terminal where a small speedboat would take us across the river, to Camposancos, on the Spanish side. Our time in Portugal was at an end.
The crossing took just 5 minutes but we still had time to hang out with a happy little group of fellow passengers - Fabiano (Brazil), Kim (S. Korea) and Georgina (England). We laughed and joked together all the way into A. Guarda before going our separate ways. After stocking up with some provisions, we continued walking for a couple of hours until we reached Portecelo where we had booked a room for the night.
It was the ground floor of a detached villa on the side of a hill with fantastic sea views. The perfect place to relax after the past tiring few days. In fact we liked it so much that we decided to stay there an extra night. There would be no walking tomorrow!
Day 7 (Wednesday, 23rd September): Rest day in Portecelo (0 kms)
We thought of walking back to A. Garda for some groceries but then decided against it. Today we would just rest and make do with what we had. Mylene conjured up an excellent minestrone soup for lunch. There was also a café down by the Camino which was filled with pilgrims for most of the day. Otherwise we spent our time reading, sleeping or just chilling in the garden. Our perfect day of relaxation ended all too soon as the fiery red sun slipped behind an endless ocean.
Day 8 (Thursday, 24th September): Portecelo - Baiona (35 kms)
We headed off at 6am with our torch in the dark. It was unpleasant to have to walk by the side of the road for the first hour. As the daybreak arrived, we found a café called Casa Puertas which served us some delicious fresh bread and cheese. Our path continued by the side of the main road for a while before the Camino cut east and we climbed over a mountain, then another. We finally made it to Baiona but we were still not at our hotel. We would walk for another hour as it was located outside the town, in Subaris.
It was becoming increasingly difficult to find accommodation the closer we got to Santiago. So far we had been lucky but now we tried to book ahead for several days. It took a while before we found anything suitable.
We walked back into Baiona that evening for dinner and were glad we did so. We had an excellent seafood platter at the Casa Noverira. We also admired the Marina and an imposing medieval castle nearby, the Castelo de Montereal, now a 5 star hotel. Then it was finally back to our own 2 star hotel where we quickly passed out after our 18 hour day.
Day 9 (Friday, 25th September): Baiona - Vigo (30 kms)
We overslept thinking nothing of it because we expected a leisurely walk into Vigo. How wrong we were. We started with a scenic walk along the coast and at Nigran we found a café, the Patos Beach Bar, serving delicious bagels with bacon and eggs. We also found Georgina there with a friend. This would be a recurring theme of the Camino - bumping into the same people again and swopping stories of our adventures since our last encounter.
We continued on to Oia, had lunch at McDonalds (thereby breaking with our tradition of only eating there once a year, on Christmas day). There then followed a very long and tiring uphill walk into the centre of Vigo. Thst was where I had my one and only fall on the Camino, stumbling over a missing piece of pavement block. I landed head first and flat out on the pavement and was immediately surrounded by two anxious Spanish ladies offering to call an ambulance. But I was lucky, escaping with only a pair of scratched hands and knees and we continued on our way.
Eventually, we made it to our flat, Bau Apartments, which was very conveniently located, right on the Camino, close to the Old Town and overlooking the port. It was quite expensive by our standards but again there was little left to choose from in Vigo. In the end, it was well worth it on several levels.
Day 10 (Saturday, 26th September): Rest day at Vigo (0 kms)
We spent a leisurely day, making the most of our self-catering accommodation to do some serious home cooking. We found a first-rate supermarket nearby, the Mercadonia, and we feasted on sardines, grilled salmon and mussels, washed down with an excellent Portuguese white wine for less than 3 Euros.
Later, we strolled through the busy town centre. I bought some new sandals for myself as my faithful Kybuns were falling apart after 5 years of walking around the globe. Mylene also bought me a smaller rucksack since I no longer needed to carry the bigger one myself.
We were now ready for the final push into Santiago.
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