My diary of walking c154km of the Camino de Santiago (Portuguese Way). You can find out more about the Camino Portuguese here.
Day 1 was our journey out to Portugal. We used TAP Airlines for a flight from Gatwick to Porto, TAP were fine, a cheap and cheerful airline. A highlight was meeting Steve Hogarth of my favourite band Marillion in the queue to board. My only luggage was a 30l rucksack, it was strange to think that it held everything I needed for the next week. Without water I managed to get it down to just over 3kg.
On arrival at Porto we had a couple of hours to kill before our bus to Valenca where we’d start the walk on the following day. We used the Alsa Bus service from Porto to Valenca, c€18 each for a journey that took about 90minutes. The coach was modern and comfortable and with just 4 of us on it we had loads of room.
We arrived at Valenca bus station at about 1830hrs, a short 20minute walk led us to the old fortress and our accommodation for the night, a twin room in a fairly new and swanky ‘hostel’.
The accommodation was actually really good – comfortable beds, a good size en-suite, and a kitchenette for use. A quick drop off of the bags and it was out the door again to explore the old fortress of Valenca. In what became a theme of the trip, the first stop was a local bar!
Despite it being a Saturday evening, by the time we’d enjoyed our pint most of the restaurants had closed (and it was only about 8pm). We managed to find a small restaurant near the hotel and enjoyed a massive tuna salad and another beer! Then it was off to bed ready for an early start the next day to walk c19km to O Porrino. The weather forecast was ominous…
