Camino Portugués

The Camino Portugués refers to any route that ends up in Santiago, having commenced at some point in Portugal. In general, it is the second-most popular route after the Francés and is also the fastest-growing. In 2019, about 27% of all pilgrims arriving in Santiago came along this route.

What really can confuse people are the names by which routes are known!

The Central route is easy enough – it’s an inland route that crosses into Tui in Spain over the river Minho from Valenca in Portugal. All that separates these 2 towns is an iron bridge divided by Gustav Eiffel. This is the most popular section along this route as it qualifies you for having completed the Camino (Valenca is about 120km from Santiago).

The Coastal route is where it gets confusing – because what you will see described as the Senda Litoral route is the route that is truly coastal. The actual Coastal route brings you inland quite a bit – for this reason, it’s the Senda Litoral that we describe here.

Our favourite approach is to walk along the coast from Porto to either Caminha or Baiona, taking about 6 days. From there, another 6 days or so will bring you to Santiago. Walk the routes separately, or combine them in one longer walk (or split it over two years). All up to you!