Remember those old Goosebumps books you read as a kid? The ones where you read a page and then you choose your own adventure at the bottom and jump to a different part of the book? That’s what choosing Camino Portuguese routes is like—except all of them lead to Santiago de Compostela.
Unlike other Caminos, the Camino Portuguese has three main route options: the coastal, the central, and the spiritual routes. All three take you from Porto, Portugal, to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.
You can choose one route in its entirety, or you can mix and match routes. The choice is up to you! That means you can decide based on the weather, your Camino family if you form one, and how much time you have to hike the Camino.
This will all make more sense with a map, so let’s dive in, shall we?
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List of Contents
Camino Portuguese Overview Map
Your first route choice starts from Porto, Portugal where you have two options: the Coastal Route and the Central Route.
Eventually, the coastal route will join the central route no matter what. The two main ways to rejoin are to either head east from Caminha to Valença or to head east from Vigo to Redondela.
Your second route choice occurs near Pontevedra, where you can stay on the Central Route or switch to the Spiritual Route. This rejoins near Padrón before Santiago.
Helpful Planning Links
✈️ Plane: Fly to Porto.
🚆 Train: Fly into Lisbon, then Train to Porto.
🚍 Bus: Fly into Lisbon, then Bus to Porto.
🏘️ Stay: Porto Accommodation.
📲 Get an Airalo eSIM for data.
📲 Get NordVPN to protect yourself on wifi.
Camino Portuguese Routes Explained
All three routes are worthy and valid. You must choose based on what interests you the most and how much time you have.
We opted for a mix of the Coastal Route and the Central Route, mostly because of the weather (hurricane season picked up, and it rained A LOT). For that same reason, we opted to stay on the Central Route and did not go on the Spiritual Route.
Basically, follow the routes that you feel will be better for you. Everyone chooses for themselves, and there’s no wrong answer.
I’ll describe each of the routes below so you can decide based on what you’d like to hike!
The Coastal Route
The Coastal Route follows the northern Portuguese coastline with views of the Atlantic Ocean.
As longtime lovers of ocean views, we opted for this route because we had plenty of time and we wanted to see the ocean as much as possible.
This popular Camino Portuguese Route follows the ocean on boardwalks and oceanside towns. It usually does not walk you on sand, but near it. We easily hopped off the main walking path to take breaks on the sand throughout the walk.
Along this route, you’ll find plenty of albergues, hostels, and private rooms. Depending on your desired pace, you can easily walk 10-14 mile days or 18-23 mile days. I wrote itineraries for Porto – Santiago at 10-14 mile days and for Lisbon to Santiago with 18 – 23 mile days if you need help planning!
Overall, it has plenty of food options with a few small-town exceptions.
It doesn’t boast many large hills until the area around Vigo if you’re concerned about topography.
The Central Route
The central route leaves Porto to the north, carving a reasonably direct route to Santiago. Therefore, if you’re pressed for time, this route is your best option.
This Camino Portuguese route offers more views of eucalyptus forests and small villages instead of coastal views. It’s a bit more traditional but offers great opportunities for the Camino community.
This route boosts plenty of accommodation options to work with slower or faster paces.
Overall, there is excellent access to various food options on the Central Route, especially close to the larger cities.
There are some hills, but nothing too crazy.
We rejoined this route at Valença in Portugal and took it north to Santiago de Compostela. I loved the combination of both routes.
The Spiritual Route
The Spiritual Route is a Camino Portuguese Route option that should be considered for those with a flexible schedule and looking for a different experience.
It adds time and mileage because it also includes a boat ride. From what I read and heard from other pilgrims, you basically walk up to the albergue before the boat, and they help you get on a boat eventually. It’s subject to many things, like the tide, weather, which boat is going out, and other small nuances.
However, the few I spoke with who went said it was a rewarding experience.
Full disclosure: while this route intrigued us, we did not have the weather on our side, so we opted to stay on the central route. We did not think the boat portion would be fun in the leftover rain from a hurricane.
Camino Portuguese Routes Mileage by the Numbers
Here are the mileages for the most common Camino Portuguese Routes.
All of these mileages are based on the options from PORTO to Santiago de Compostela. If you’d like to add the section from Lisbon to Porto, add 227.9 miles (366.8 kilometers). AND… if you’d like to add the extra walk to Finisterre or Muxía, add 55.9 miles (90 km) (I highly recommend).
Coastal Route (in entirety) to the Central Route: 168.6 miles (271.3 km)
Coastal Route (inland from Caminha) to Central Route: 160.9 miles (259 km)
Coastal Route (in entirety) to the Central Route plus Spiritual Route: 194.1 miles (312.3 km)
Coastal Route (inland from Caminha) to Central Route plus Spiritual Route: 186.4 miles (300km)
Central Route (in entirety): 149.4 miles (240.4 km)
Central Route plus Spiritual Route: 174.8 miles (281.4 km)
How do you decide which routes to walk on the Portuguese Camino?
When approaching a trail with various route options, I always try to pick based on what I’m drawn to first. For example, when I learned about these route options, I instantly wanted to take the coastal route. I thought the spiritual route looked interesting, but I figured I could make that decision while walking.
Second, based on what routes drew your attention, get a rough estimate of your pace based on the numbers above and figure out how to take that time off work and travel.
Third, I always try to add 2-4 days extra to whatever number of days I come up with. This can give you extra wiggle room for things like weather, blisters, extra sightseeing, or, unfortunately, food poisoning rest. I got food poisoning on both the Camino frances and on the Camino del Norte and had a few very short days because of it.
Lastly, there’s nothing wrong with changing your mind when you get there. I met several hikers that started on the coastal route and cut inland to the central route after only 3-5 days. They found the moist breeze off the water wasn’t for them, and they cut over early.
We also cut over the central route early due to weather, and we felt it was a great decision for us.
Portuguese Camino Coastal or Central Route to Start?
Since most of us must book flights well in advance, we can’t always pick the weather.
I recommend, if you can plan the time to take the longer coastal route, plan it, then decide your first route choice when you get to Porto.
For example, if you’re going to start with 4-5 days of rain, you could head up the central route.
Alternatively, if it’s excellent weather, instead choose the coast.
A few days before you depart for your Camino, you can plan out the first few days of both so you feel confident making the decision at the moment.
Which Portuguese Camino Route is best?
The best Portuguese Camino route depends on what you want from the experience.
The best route depends on how much time you have, what weather you get, and what YOU want to see.
If you want ocean vibes, take the coastal route. If you want forest and small-town vibes, take the central route. And if you want both, start on the coastal route and cut over to the central route whenever you tire of the ocean.
Final Thoughts
In the U.S., we would call this a “choose your own adventure” trail. The decision about which route to take always causes stress.
Remember: choose whichever route draws you to it. That’s the right Camino Portuguese route for you. And If you get to Porto and in your first albergue, you meet people you want to hike with, but they’re taking another route…go with your gut. If you want to switch routes, do it.
Each of these routes is fantastic in its own way. Don’t stress about it.
