The Camino de Santiago Pilgrimage, also known as the famous Portuguese Way, is a well know and much talked about walk that started more than 1000 years ago. Known in English as the Way of Saint James among other names, is a network of pilgrims’ ways or pilgrimages leading to the shrine of the apostleSaint James the Great in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where tradition has it that the remains of the saint are buried. Many follow its routes as a form of spiritual path or retreat for their spiritual growth. It’s also popular with hiking and cycling enthusiasts and organized tour groups.
Camino de Santiago sign
My wife Anna and I were visiting Porto in September 2018 when she saw the seashell sign of the Camino de Santiago on a sidewalk. Immediately Anna’s idea was to walk the Pilgrimage from Porto to Santiago de Compostela.
Kobus during his Camino de Santiago pilgrimage
Arriving back home where we live on Korcula island off the Croatian coast, Anna asked me to train her. The idea was to improve her fitness to such a level that we could comfortably walk the 250km+ trail. I accepted, and we trained from October 2018 to April 2018. Our training consisted of walking more than 800km around the island, through good and bad weather
On the 9th of May 2019, we started our 11-day walk from Porto to Santiago. We planned and booked our overnight accommodation in advance and knew how far we had to walk each day. The route took us from Porto to Vilarinho, to Barcelos, to Ponte De Lima, to Rubiães, to Valença, to Tui, to Porrino, to Redondela, to Pontevedra, to Caldas de Reis, to Padron and finally to Santiago.
We finally arrived at the Cathedral in Santiago on the 19th of May. We were both tired and overjoyed with what we have experienced and achieved during the 11-day walk. Meeting Pilgrims from all over the world was great and the time we had to be with each other, both Anna and I gained in our Spiritual and emotional feelings.
The landscape on this Camino de Portuguese is fantastic and beautiful.
Will we do it again? For sure!!
Comments
Have something to say? Share it with us here.
3 comments
Pingback: Rooster of Barcelos - Souvenir from Portugal - i Share says...May 10, 2021 Reply →
My friend and I cycled the porto to santiago way. We took the Central way and it was tough for a few days but it was well worth it. We almost gave up but found the strength to continue. Our most difficult track was The labruge mountain. We enjoyed the talks with other pilgrims along the way, and reaching the de compestla was awesome! It was wonderful to see soo many people getting out of their comfort zones and getting into life!
Planning a vacation to Portugal, the Azores or Madeira? Our travel specialists can help you choose the right itinerary, accommodations and experiences for a seamless and personalized travel experience.
Group and Event Travel
Planning a group trip to Portugal, the Azores or Madeira? Our group travel specialists create customized itineraries for family reunions, corporate events, educational programs and special interest groups of all sizes.
Contact us
Questions about Portugal vacation packages, hotels or tours? Contact our travel specialists for personalized trip planning assistance.
Customer Reviews
Read PortugalOnline.com reviews on Trustpilot.com.
Manage Consent
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. Not consenting or withdrawing consent, may adversely affect certain features and functions.
Functional
Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes.The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Hi thanks for reminding me of a wonderfull experience in my life.
Hi fellow pilgrims,
My friend and I cycled the porto to santiago way. We took the Central way and it was tough for a few days but it was well worth it. We almost gave up but found the strength to continue. Our most difficult track was The labruge mountain. We enjoyed the talks with other pilgrims along the way, and reaching the de compestla was awesome! It was wonderful to see soo many people getting out of their comfort zones and getting into life!