All ways to Santiago de Compostela

Like all ways that are leading to Rom so there are also all ways that are leading to Santiago de Compostela.
In the Middle Ages all the pilgrims came from their home to Santiago de Compostela - walking or on horse back. And they had to go back the same way ... Still there are a few pilgrims nowadays who would like to go the whole way from home. It is however very exceptional that those pilgrims are returning home the same way. It is very easy now - and relatively cheap - to take the plane from Santiago de Compostela, A Coruña or Porto (see http://www.skyscanner.com/ ).
The biggest part of the pilgrims are following the most popular way, the Camino Francés, from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in the French Pyrenees, a camino of about 800 km. Many movies and books around this camino are published like The Way, the movie by Emilio Estevez starring Martin Sheen, and The Pilgrimage written by Paulo Coelho.

My Camino Portugués

This is the Camino Portugués that I am going to follow from Porto with the coastal version at the beginning to scip industrial area and to scip dangerous traffic and ofcourse to enjoy the Atlantic Coast. The first day I will walk from the cathedral in Porto along the river Douro in Porto and then along the coast to Matosinhos (= about 12 km). The next day from Matosinhos to Vila Chã (= about 15 km) and the other day from Vila Chã to Vila do Conde (= 8 km). In Vila do Conde I will have hopefully plenty of time to do sightseeing in Vila do Conde as well as in Povóa de Varzim. I can take the metro from Vila do Conde to Povóa de Varzim. It is only a short distance. After my stay in Vila do Conde I will follow the red track to Rates on the way to Barcelos. From Rates I will be on the Camino Central where are more pilgrims and there is also more camino history. Just after Barcelos pilgrims are enetring this Camino Central as well. They were coming through Guimarães and Braga. They came maybe all the way from Salamanca or even from Seville in the south of Spain.
See for their track http://caminosantiago.usal.es/torres/

North of Porto

the Luis I - bridge in Porto 

designed by Théophile Seyrig, a colleague of Gustave Eiffel

North of Porto are many possibilities to follow the way to Santiago de Compostela.
See the possibilities on http://www.caminador.es/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/LLEGAR-EN-AVION.pdf 

You can choose:
1) the Camino de la Costa
2) the Senda (da Orla) Litoral (that follows the coast line)
3) the Camino Central
4) start with the Camino de la Costa and later on take a right turn to the Camino Central
5) start with the Senda (da Orla) Litoral and later on take a right turn to the Camino Central

Watch out:
From Porto through Maia, Vilarinho to Rates you will experience a lot of traffic. You have to walk on the emergency part of the highway and many trucks are passing you. And you will experience then many paths with little cobble stones that are not very comfortable. The best is to walk a part of Senda (da Orla) Litoral that follows the coast line and from Vila do Conde you can go in direction of Rates or ... you can walk the whole coastal road.

I am planning to walk along the coast until Vila do Conde and from there I'll take a right turn to Rates where I will arrive at the Camino Central, the camino with more pilgrims and more camino history. In Vila do Conde I'll cross the bridge over the Rio Ave and I'll take a right turn. Then I'll follow my way to Rates, so that I am heading for the Camino Central in direction of Barcelos. 

See for the map between Vila do Conde and Rates:
http://www.caminador.es/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/9-VILADOCONDE-RATES-guia-2x1B.pdf

You can take even the metro straight from the airport or from the centre of Porto to metro station Santa Clara near the centre of Vila do Conde and start your camino from there. Many pilgrims start their camino from metro station Mercado in Matosinhos and follow the coast (= Senda da Orla Litoral) to scip the busy parts of Porto.
When you are planning to walk the whole coastal road you can even start your camino in Póvoa de Varzim by taking the metro to the end station there. The metro is going far outside the city borders.
See for the map of the metro of the Porto area: http://www.metrodoporto.pt/en/ (and click on the tab "System Map").

From the cathedral of Porto I'll walk into southern direction to the river Douro. Along the river Douro (beautiful + flat) I'll walk in western direction to the coast (probably no pilgrims there!) and I'll continue along the coast line to Matosinhos (= about 12 km from the cathedral) from where I'll take the metro from metro station Mercado back to my hostel in Porto. The other day I'll continue from that metro station Mercado. The first day I'll leave my backpack at my hostel J

Where to start your camino?

You can start the camino from all places to Santiago de Compostela. Santiago de Compostela is located in north-west Spain.
See also http://www.caminosantiago.org/cpperegrino/caminos/mapa.html
I have decided to start from Porto in Portugal.
The rule is that you have at least a way to go of 100 km walking or horse riding or at least a way of 200 km cycling. My start is in beautiful Porto and I am going to walk to Santiago de Compostela. On the last 100 km (or in case of cycling 200 km) you need to collect two stamps per day in your pilgrim's pass to prove that you have made it. Only then you will receive the Compostela in Santiago de Compostela.
Every 100 years the Francistern order produces their own 'Compostela' to celebrate the Pilgrimage of Saint Francis of Assisi to Santiago de Compostela which happened in 1214 - 800 years ago - and so this certificate is available this year (and then there won't be another until 2114 J). To get this special certificate you need to take your credential to the Francistern Church between 10:00-11:00 hrs or 17:00-19:00 hrs (address: Rúa do Campiño de San Francisco nr. 3). Once inside go down the left hand side of the Church to the big wooden doors where there is a monk at a desk who will check your credential, stamp it and get you to fill in a simple form with your name, age and a few other details before he fills in your certificate and gives it to you (they do ask for a small donation). Addres: Convento de San Francisco, Rúa dos Castiñeiros in Santiago de Compostela, a bit further than the San Francisco Hotel coming from the cathedral.

On your camino you are passing many old roads from the Roman time.
On http://www.omnesviae.org/nl/ you can see that many roads are similar as the camino roads of today!

Preparation for the camino to Santiago de Compostela from Porto (Portugal)

Via http://www.flightconnections.com/ I saw that a flight from Amsterdam Airport to Porto in Portugal was the best option for me for the Camino Portugués and via http://www.skyscanner.com/  I have found the cheapest flight ticket. I bought finally a Flex ticket for Transavia Airlines. With such Flex ticket I have the right to change my flight ticket until two hours before departure. The extra costs for that ticket are €7,50 per flight. Because of walking sticks, scissors etc with me I put my luggage in the plane as hold luggage for an extra fee. In my case I can take 15 kg of hold luggage with me (in max. 5 parcels) plus max. 10 kg of hand luggage, so I am able to buy a lot of presents for the way back home. I take two parcels with me: 1) the backpack and 2) the walking sticks. The rules regarding walking sticks are always different, so better to make two parcels. At least you cannot carry them them as hand luggage.

Via http://www.tripadvisor.com/ I have found my hostel in Porto. I have booked for two nights. After breakfast I will take the metro to metro station São Bento from where it is a short walk to the cathedral where I‘ll collect my first stamp in my pilgrims pass and where I‘ll start my camino. Then I’ll walk into southern direction to the river Douro and then along the river Douro in western direction to the coast and along the coast in northern direction to  Matosinhos from where I’ll take the metro back home to my hostel. That first walk is about 12 km from the cathedral. The other day I’ll take the metro back to metro station Mercado in Matosinhos from where I’ll continue. This time with bakpack, since the first day my backpack will stay in the hostel.

Last week I have bought my first backpack ever, an Osprey, Exos 48 model. That will be a big challenge as well, walking with a backpack!
Soon I am flying "home" to Porto. It feels for me like that. Portugal is in my heart.

Terreiro da Sé, cathedral in Porto

staircase of the cathedral in Porto

Last July we have been on a family holidays in Portugal where we have started in the lovely city of Porto. Via the following link you are able to see our pictures about Porto:
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152619122129282.1073741842.761289281&type=1&l=d85328e93a
In Porto we have spent then 2,5 days (= three nights). Porto is a very nice World Heritage City. In Porto however I got a big lower backpain (many hills up and down, many streets with staircases …). I am still facing problems now with my left back and my left leg. The physiotherapist was working four times on me, so hopefully I will manage my camino. But I didn’t do any training before for the camino because of that, only last week a 17 km walk with a friend. Not very clever of me to start a camino like that, but I didn’t have any choice. I bought the flight ticket already last December and delaying the camino is no option for me. September is also a nice month to start with the Camino Portugués, all grapes in the fields … , not too hot anymore, hopefully big rain stays away, the crowds of pilgrims are gone  …