The best part of the Camino Portugues starts in Porto and travels north to Santiago de Compostela. This Porto to Santiago Itinerary will help you plan your Portuguese Camino adventure with time to spare for cultural side quests and finding all the good eats!
With this itinerary, you will start on the coastal route. Then, you will have the option to walk inland toward the central route still in Portugal or continue on the coast into Spain before joining the central route. There are maps below to help orient you.
I created this Porto to Santiago Itinerary based on hiking at a slower pace with my 70-year-old Mom. It’s not only a great pace for older folks but a great pace to increase your time exploring the towns, history, and restaurants.
If you’re looking for a Portuguese Camino itinerary that will allow you to do more than walk all day, every day, this itinerary is FOR YOU! It has 17 hiking days, making for the perfect 3-week trip! You only need to hike 9-14 miles (14.5-22.5 km) per day.
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List of Contents
Portuguese Camino Itinerary Route Options
On this Porto to Santiago itinerary, I’ll talk you along the coastal route to start for the first 7 days. Then, you get to choose your own adventure: walk inland on the Portugal side or hop on the ferry and continue along the coast in Spain. If you choose adventure #2, you’ll join the central route in Redondela.
Basically, the routes make a diamond shape on the map. Continuing along the Spanish coast adds 6.25 miles or 10 km, but no extra days.
Please note that this itinerary does not include the spiritual route other than noting it on the map.
To help you conceptualize the route, here are two screenshots from one of the Camino phone apps I recommend.
First, an overview map of the Portuguese Camino shows the coastal, central, and spiritual routes.
Second, a zoomed-in map shows two ways to get from the coastal to the central route. On our hike, we took adventure #1 and loved the unique stays in both Vila Nova de Cerviera and Valença. If you choose to stay on the coast for adventure #2, your days will be a little longer, but not above 14 miles/22.5 km!
Third, a zoomed in map shows the spiritual route addition.
Porto to Santiago Itinerary Based on 9-14 Miles/14.5-22.5 km Per Day
This Porto to Santiago Itinerary is for you if:
🎒 You want to hike but not spend the whole day doing it.
😴 Making time for a siesta at the albergues is important to you.
🍲 You want time to search out good restaurants.
🏘️ You like to explore the towns and cities more than just walking the Camino through them.
👣 If you simply want to take more time.
Now that you’re on board, on slower-paced itineraries, I like to plan a slow start and a slow finish. Why? Because it’s easier to get into the mindset knowing you can have a relaxed first day. Likewise, I like to get to my final destination not totally tired and zonked.
This Porto to Santiago itinerary shows where we stayed if we stayed in that town on our fall hike. However, I left it void of my notes so you can form your own opinion. Should you want to see my personal notes, here is a list of everywhere we stayed while hiking the Portuguese Camino.
If you don’t quite understand what an albergue is…never fear. I wrote an entire blog post on everything you need to know before you stay at an albergue.
Getting to Porto
Since this Porto to Santiago itinerary has 17 hiking days, it easily fits in a few days in Porto or Lisbon if you’d like to make your trip a full 3 weeks!
We spent 3 days in Lisbon and Sintra after our hike, and it was a great detox.
✈️ Plane: Fly to Porto.
🚆 Train: Fly into Lisbon, then Train to Porto.
🚍 Bus: Fly into Lisbon, then Bus to Porto.
🚗 Get a Welcome Pickup from the airport to your Porto Accommodation.
📲 Get an Airalo eSim for data.
📲 Get NordVPN to protect yourself on wifi.
Porto to Santiago Itinerary: Towns You’ll Stay In
While all the towns are listed here, I do not recommend booking them all at once.
Instead, bookmark this post so you can book stays one or two days in advance based on these recommendations. That way, if you want longer days, you can take a day off or switch to my 18-23 mile/28-37km per day itinerary if this is too slow for you.
If you want any of my personal notes on the places we stayed, that’s in this post here.
| Town | Suggested Stay (That we Stayed in) | Miles/Kilometers to the next town |
| Porto | 6.8m/11km | |
| Matosinhos | 12.8m/20.6km | |
| Labruge | Albergue de S. Tiago *First come first serve | 9.8/15.8km |
| Povóa de Varzim | Siglas Y Runas II | 12.6m/20.3km |
| Fão | The Spot Hostel Ofir | 10.0m/16.1km |
| Castelo de Nieva *Albergue before town | Albergue de Peregrinos Dom Nausti *Reserve via WhataApp | 13.9m/22.3km |
| Carreço | Casa do Adro | 12.0m/19.3km |
| Caminha **Route Choice Point | Albergue Santiago de Caminha | Route Inland: 8.39m/13.5km Spanish Coast: 11.7m/18.8km |
After Caminha, you can either:
- Route Inland: cut inland in Portugal toward Vila Nova de Cerviera and Valença (following table) OR
- Spanish Coast: you can catch the ferry into Spain and continue on the coast, rejoining at Redonela (just south of Cesantes on this itinerary).
Staying on the coast is only 6.25m/10km miles longer. It will not increase the number of days on the trip, but it makes 3 days on the longer side (up to 14 m/22.5km). By this point, you should be more accustomed to walking every day, and it will be a doable increase.
The route inland leaves the coastal route early, but it is helpful if you want to keep your days slightly shorter or if the weather turns bad on the coast. We took this route because a hurricane hit the coast the day after we got to Caminha, and it was less windy this way. Plus, it gave us an 8-mile day in the worst rain.
Route Inland on the Porto to Santiago Itinerary
| Town | Suggested Stay (That we Stayed in) | Miles/Kilometers to the next town |
| Vila Nova de Cerveira | Casa Gwendoline | 10.0m/16.1km |
| Valença | Hostel Bulwark | 13.1m/21.1km |
| O Porriño | Senda Sur | 12.2m/19.6km |
| Cesantes (north of Redondela) | O Refuxio de Jerezana | 11.0m/17.7m |
| Pontevedra | Turoqua Hostel | 12.3m/19.8km |
| Caldas de Reis | Albergue Vintecatro | 12.3m/19.8km |
| Padrón *Fill out the Compostela form! | Hostel and Rooms O Albergue de Meiga | 9.2m/14.8km |
| Teo | Albergue Aldea de Pedreira | 8.7m/14m |
| Santiago de Compostela | Hostel As Marguaritas | Congrats |
*To get your Compostela now, you must complete this form online a day or two in advance. This form emails you a QR code. They have security guards that won’t let you into the Compostela office without this QR code.
Spanish Coast on the Porto to Santiago Itinerary
| Town | Suggested Stay (That we Stayed in) | Miles/Kilometers to the next town |
| Oia | 14.0m/22.5km | |
| Ramallosa | 13.9m/22.4km | |
| Vigo | 10.3m/16.5km | |
| Cesantes (north of Redondela) | O Refuxio de Jerezana | 11.0m/17.7m |
| Pontevedra | Turoqua Hostel | 12.3m/19.8km |
| Caldas de Reis | Albergue Vintecatro | 12.3m/19.8km |
| Padrón *Fill out the Compostela form! | Hostel and Rooms O Albergue de Meiga | 9.2m/14.8km |
| Teo | Albergue Aldea de Pedreira | 8.7m/14m |
| Santiago de Compostela | Hostel As Marguaritas | Congrats! |
*To get your Compostela now, you must complete this form online a day or two in advance. This form emails you a QR code. They have security guards that won’t let you into the Compostela office without this QR code.
Leaving Santiago de Compostela
Congratulations on your walk! 🥳
If you’ve never been to Santiago de Compostela, I recommend spending a day there. Though, if you’re short on time, you should be able to see most things in the half-day that I provided for the final day.
🚨 Don’t forget to complete this form a day or two before getting to Santiago to get your Compostela. They legit will not let you in the door of the pilgrim office without the QR code from this form now.
➡️ IMO, if you are wavering between spending extra time in either Santigo vs Lisbon or Madrid, I would 100% pick Lisbon or Madrid.
🚍 Bus: Take the bus to Porto
🚆Train: Porto to Lisbon
🚆Train: from Santiago to Madrid
✈️ Plane: Fly out of Lisbon or Madrid
*There is no train from Santiago to Porto. If going to Lisbon, you can bus from Santiago to Lisbon, or take a bus to Porto, then a train from Porto to Lisbon.
Final Thoughts
I’d love to hear what you think if you use this itinerary! Please let me know in the comments or the contact form below.
Likewise, if you find any bed bug issues, drop them in the comments for others to know about. If you have the time, add that to your Booking review.
We found bed bugs twice, and neither of those places is linked within this Porto to Santiago itinerary.
¡Buen Camino!
