-
Just like the legendary Queen Isabel of Portugal in the 13th century, follow this 100-kilometer trail along the spectacular Atlantic coast of Portugal and Spain. With the historical Santiago de Compostela as your end point, this 8-day hiking tour will lead you through picturesque woodlands, charming villages, ancient paths, and lush farmlands. The accommodation and dinners are figured out—every night, you’ll visit another fantastic restaurant and relish local dishes paired with delicious wines. With one step at a time along this pilgrimage route steeped in history, you’ll reach Santiago de Compostela sooner than you expect!
-
Settle into your hotel in the heart of Tui. Take a walk through the town’s picturesque streets. As you approach Plaza de San Fernando, the silhouette of the west-facing facade from the 12th-century cathedral will become etched into your memory. Get a good night’s sleep, tomorrow you start the Camino.
Accommodation: Hotel Colon Tuy
-
Departing from the port of Tui, the Camino winds its way up to the old town, following the so-called Camino da Barca. Then, through the Tunel das Monxas, the Camino enters a very steep section and leads to the historic bridge of San Telmo. From there, you’ll soon reach the town of O Porrino.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hiking: 17 km / 10.6 miles
Accommodation: Hotel Azul
-
The terrain gets a bit easier as you cross the Louro Valley. After a gentle climb, you’ll arrive at the chapel of Santiaguino de Antas—a pleasant place to take a rest. Pass through vast woodlands and up next are hamlets of Sete Fontes and Arcade, where you’ll stay the night.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hiking: 24.3 km / 15.1 miles
Accommodation: Hotel Duarte
-
From here, you will cross a Romanesque bridge, which is where Napoleon was defeated by the Spanish during the War of Independence. Arriving into Pontevedra, head through the narrow streets before reaching the 13th-century church of Santa Maria. Of interest to pilgrims is also the Capela da Peregrina—although it appears round, it’s actually in the shape of a scallop.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hiking: 11.6 km / 7.2 miles
Accommodation: Hotel Avenida Pontevedra
-
Passing chestnut groves, the Camino runs parallel to the railway for a while. After passing through the hamlet of Ponte Cabras, you’ll encounter the rectory of Santa Maria de Alba, tucked away among pine and eucalyptus trees. Emerging from the dense woods of Lombo de Maceira, you’ll see a statue of Saint James the pilgrim. After passing through the lovely village of Tibo and its fountain, reach Caldas De Reis.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hiking: 21.2 km / 13.8 miles
Accommodation: Hotel O Cruceiro Center Caldas
-
Exiting the town, take a bridge over the river Umia that leads you to a fountain of hot springs water that has lent the town its name in Roman times. Camino continues gently uphill through the woods, to the hamlet of Santa Marina. Going downhill, cross the river Fonteno. Finally, following the Camino lined with pine trees, catch up again with the river as you arrive in Padron. Padron is famous for being the first land sighted by the ship bearing the body of St. James.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hiking: 18.5 km / 11.5 miles
Accommodation: Pazo De Lestrove Hotel
-
The Camino passes through many small villages before arriving at the Baroque sanctuary of A Esclavitud. On a hilltop to the left, you’ll see abandoned ruins of Castro Lupario fort. Soon you’ll reach the oldest wayside crosses in Galicia. As you near Agro dos Monteiros, Santiago de Compostela spires come into view. Finally, the Camino goes by the ruins of the A Rocha Vella castle, before entering Santiago de Compostela.
Meals: Breakfast and dinner
Hiking: 24.7 km / 15.3 miles
Accommodation: Hotel Araguaney
-
Your Camino Portuguese tour has come to an end. If you’d like to stay longer in the area, just ask your guides for some recommendations!
Meals: Breakfast
-
-
-
Included:
-
- An experienced hiking guide with extensive knowledge of the area
- 8-day hiking tour along Camino Portuguese
- Most breakfasts and dinners (as listed in the itinerary)
- Accommodation during the tour in 2-3* hotels or equivalent
- Luggage transfers
- Holiday or Pilgrim Pack by your guides
- Pilgrim passport, luggage tag, route notes or guidebook
- 24/7 Customer service
Add-ons:
-
- Single supplement — $280
Not included:
-
- Transportation to and from the starting/end point
- Lunch and drinks
- Premium accommodation — available upon request
- Airport pick-up — available upon request
- Additional nights — available upon request
- Day tours — available upon request
- Guide gratuities — optional
- Insurance
*Please note that refrigerators are not guaranteed in the accommodations.
-
-
The most important thing about this Camino Frances guided walking trip is that you can enjoy the journey at your own pace. Whether you’re a very fast or a slow walker, we encourage you to enjoy the trail. Having said that, being in good walking shape is still required. The trails have plenty of opportunities to rest and recover, and there is public transport or taxis/Ubers available along the route if you’d like to shorten a day.
You’ll be doing between 11 and 28 km a day (7 to 17 miles), carrying a daypack of things you might need on the trail. Don’t worry about the baggage, though, as the support vehicle will carry everything for you!
Hiking consecutive full days can be quite strenuous. In preparation for your hike, your guides recommend doing some 5-10 mile (8-16 km) walks – including some uphills and downhills with a loaded backpack.
-
Here’s a list of clothing we recommend bringing:
-
- Clothes made from quick-drying fabrics (avoid cotton)
- Leisure clothing and footwear for the evenings
- Spare clothes for layering
- Waterproof rain jacket
- Fleece pullover or jacket
- Quick-dry short-sleeved and long-sleeved tops
- Quick–dry walking pants (consider the ones that zip off to make shorts)
- Waterproof pants — optional (unless it’s very cold, it’s usually best to hike in shorts, but feel free to bring these pants if you’d feel more comfortable)
- Hiking boots or shoes
- Hiking socks
- Sunhat
- Gloves
Here’s a list of other equipment we suggest you bring:
-
- Daypack large enough to carry everything you might need throughout the day
- Hydration bladder or a water bottle
- Sunglasses
- Hiking poles — optional
- Earplugs — optional
- Basic first aid essentials, such as blister protection
- Toiletries (sunscreen, hand sanitizer, bug spray, etc.)
- Camera — optional (but recommended)
Your guides will take care of all luggage handling and transportation for the duration of your tour. This means that you’ll leave your bags with your guide in the morning, and they’ll handle the details of getting them into the next hotel room. Luggage is transferred on the days that you are walking to a different hotel. We ask you to have it ready at reception at 8.00 so as to make sure we can deliver your luggage and others as early as possible in the afternoon. The luggage transfer is limited to 1 bag per person with a maximum weight of 15 kg per bag. Additional bags can be transferred for an extra €10 per bag per transfer.
-
-
Accommodation for the duration of your tour is based on a number of criteria, including location, comfort, services, price, and character. Though accommodation on the Camino is limited, your guides will always try to book something that is near the Camino as well as the historical center of the city. Expect hotels of a 3* standard in larger cities, while for the smaller villages and towns, your guide choose hotels or guesthouses of a 2* standard. Exceptions may be made.
Pricing is based on double occupancy. Still, a solo traveler can certainly sign up, but please note there will be an additional single supplement fee.
-
Your guides are determined to provide you with the best available food on the Camino. Each night, you can expect traditional meals or tapas prepared with fresh and local products. A table will always be reserved for your group at the end of the day in one of your guides’ favorite restaurants along the trail.
Any special dietary requirements or allergies can be accommodated, just let us know in time so they can be taken into consideration.
-
Group sizes and prices:
-
- For these Camino Portuguese hiking tours, the usual client to guide ratio is 15:1. That’s also the maximum group size.
- It takes a minimum of 8 people for this tour to operate. If the minimum number of clients for the date is not reached up to 30 days before the tour start date, the tour will be conducted as a self-guided trip.
- If the trip becomes self-guided, a refund of 50 euros will be provided.
- Pricing is based on double occupancy. Still, a solo traveler can certainly sign up, but please note there will be an additional single supplement fee.
Walking the Camino Portuguese can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.
Min. age requirements:
-
- If you are older than 18, you’re good to go.
- Minors younger than 18 may be permitted to join the hike on a case-by-case basis, but must be in the presence of a parent or legal guardian.
If your group has hikers under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.
-
-
Depending on the tour you choose, your starting point is either in Oia or Tui. To get there, it’s best to fly into Santiago–Rosalía de Castro Airport (SCQ). From there, your guides can either arrange airport transfers to the meeting point for an additional fee or you can reach them by yourselves. You can rent a car, take a bus or a train and it could take you anywhere between 1 and 2.5 hours.
-
We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with both medical and travel protection. To make your booking and traveling experience as carefree as possible, simply choose Redpoint—the official 57hours insurance partner!
Redpoint tailors their protection packages for adventure travel, offering a comprehensive travel program, even in remote locations. Trip cancellation, natural disasters, pandemic coverage, medical evacuation, primary medical expenses—regardless of the travel interruption that may happen, Redpoint will have you covered.
Once your booking is confirmed and your trip is paid in full, you will be offered to purchase Redpoint’s protection. If you need any help or require more information, let us know and we will be happy to help!
-