Camino Portugese

heskey

hi
would anyone have advice to offer on the camino portugese. i will be doing it this may but havnt a clue what to expect or bring with me. what sort of footwear,boots, clothes,tent, that sort of thing. any insight would be great. thanks

Einhard

Hey there,

I walked the final 120km of the Spanish Camino into Compostella last summer. I can't tell you anything about the Portuguese route specifically, but I'm sure that what goes for one goes for the other. The main thing is not to bring too much. I had a full rucksack with me and after the first day my shoulders had swollen up and were causing me quite a bit of pain. In the end, I arranged every day for the rucksack to be carried forward to the next time hostel. It didn't cost much but it was a hassle trying to organise it, especially as I don't speak Spanish. Only bring essentials. If you're going for a week, then 2x shorts, 2x t shirts, and a few pairs of socks and jocks. There are washing facilities in most hostels, and if there's not, a quick rinse in the sink is grand. One towel is enough, and also make sure to bring shades and a sun hat.

As for footwear, I was an idiot and brought a pair of runners. They were all I had at the time, and wasn't going to splash out half the cost of the trip on a fancy pair of brogues! By the middle of the week, I'd have been willing to part with an arm for a pair! They didn't actually do too badly, except that it rained several of the days on the trail and my feet got saturated, and walking for up to 8 hours with sodden toes isn't the most pleasurable of experiences! So, if you're not going to splash out on proper boots, at least make sure that you have something waterproof. If you do want to splash out, there's no need for top of the range, all terrain boots. Most of the trail after the Pyranees is moderately difficult, so a decent pair of boots will suffice. I havbought a pair of Meindl boots in the summer for €120 and they'd have been perfect for the Camino.

In light of the above, make sure you bring a waterproof gear. I had a cheap poncho type thing and it was grand. It was big anough to cover my bag too. If you're go with a water proof jacket, then you might want a seperate cover for your bag too.

For accom, there's no need to bring a tent. At least not on the Way of St James (we left from Sarria). Every town has plenty of private hostels, hotels, and the state run hostels called Pensions. They're basically large communal rooms packed with beds. I think they're generally free. My dad snores louder than a jumbo taking off so in deference to people getting up early and needing their beauty sleep, we stayed in private hostels. They cost on average €15 each a night, and included light brekkie a few times.

I can't really think of anything else now, and anway this post was only s'posed to be a few lines long! One thing, make sure you have a2 days set aside for Santiago. When we got there, there were a lot of people disappointed that they had trekked for days or even weeks to get there, and then ended up going straight to the airport without actually seeing anything!

Good luck!

heskey

Thanks Einhard. thats good advice, straight to the point. So minimum luggage, decent boots and a hat. I can manage that.