Saturday 12 October 2013

Even more on the Camino Portuguese by the coast...

Recently pilgrims have helpfully been posting information about the Coastal route on the Pilgrims' Forum.

I'll collate everything here as a central resource pending writing a guide to this route:

Rebekah reported:
Accommodation options on the Coastal Portuguese route between Oporto and Redondela. 

Albergue de Peregrinos in Caminha, Portugal. 

It is situated underneath a school alongside the big public park by the river, which sounds very pretty but translates to, well... damp and rather dark. 
There´s a kitchen with cutlery, plates, and a microwave oven. 

There is one smaller dorm room with four bunks, and a much larger dormitory with about 40 bunks, (and four blankets among them) seperate showers for men and women (three stalls each), plenty of hot water. 

The facility was clean, but musty and damp. Access was restricted, we phoned a number posted on the door and waited for an attendant to come and unlock it for us. We stayed on a donativo basis, the attendant spoke only Portuguese and a form of French, and snored like a champion from the small dorm room. (Had I been traveling alone, I would not have stayed.) 

Caminha is a charming town with plenty of places to eat and drink and lots of historical sites. Internet is available at the public library, which also houses an interesting little museum. It is on the train line between Spain and Oporto, and also home to the ferry boat that carries pilgrims onward across the ria to A Guarda and Spain.


Rickster reported:

Vila do Conde- Estalagem do Brazao-nice clean hotel in good location, but was a little expensive at
39E, including breakfast.
Esposende- Hotel Suave Mar- nice hotel on the sea and on the trail

Viana do Costelo- stayed in Residencial Laranjeira, in the "old town", perfect location for 40E,
very pilgrim friendly, place outside of room to hang laundry.
A Guarda- It was late in the day and I decided to ferry across instead of staying in Caminha for the
day. Caminha was a beautiful town, but was warned that ferry sometimes is not able to
cross in morning until 10 or 11 because of low tides or weather. Stayed at Hotel Vila da
Guarda for 20E including breakfast.
Oia- Stayed at Hotel A Raina for 30E, including breakfast and laundry, with room overlooking
the sea. A fantastic dinner was served for 8E. Owe this great recommendation to Johnny
Walker.
Baiona- Hotel Anunciada for 20E. Ask for pilgrims' rate. Very nice room in great location.
Redondela- stayed at municipal albergue- good facilities, except small kitchen and very noisy.

All of these accommodations were well located, friendly hosts and could have been less expensive if sharing a room. At the beginning of the coastal route after Vila do Conde, I struggled with finding
waymarkers and many days made several passes back and forth between the road path and any way
I could manage close to the sea. This led to several exhausting days, so I was ready at the end of the day for any clean place to lay my head and didn't take the time to look for albergues or hostels, etc.
The coastal route is beautiful and in my opinion, a great way to start the Portuguese Caminho.
 

Daimarlow reported:

Hi we did the coastal route in June 2013. We started from Porto airport where we stayed in a private hostel for 14 euros including breakfast. It is highly recommended. The next evening we stayed in Vila do Conde but I do not believe that there is a hostel there but the tourist information office has a list of bed and breakfast places. Some are expensive but there are some cheaper ones. You need to have a look at them before deciding!!

There is now an albergue in Marinahs.If you follow the signs to the alberque you will pass the red cross ambulance depot. You need to call in to the red cross and obtain the key to the albergue. If you are lucky they will give you a lift in an ambulance. There is one problem with this albergue. It appears that there is only one key. So if someone gets there before you and they go out for dinner you will have to sit around waiting for them to come back.

The next albergue is at Viana do costelo in the convent. It is very easy to miss this albergue. When you cross over the bridge with amazing views there will be stickers on posts directing you to the albergue but you can walk past it. There is a small sign on the wooden doors of the convent.

Caminha has a large albergue with a room with 4 bunk beds and then a large room with 24 beds. There is a telephone number on the door and someone will come with the key in about 10/15 minutes. Unfortunately we had a bad experience at this albergue. We arrived and booked in and at that time we were the only people registered. When we were going out to eat we saw 2 walkers approaching the albergue. When we returned the 2 walkers had taken over the 4 bedded room and put all their gear on the 4 beds and gone out. They were not registered in the book but 5 cyclists were. Imagine our shock when we saw that as well as our 3 beds the other 21 bad been taken up by cycling gear. So we had registered and 5 cyclists had but 19 other people had not. Except for us all the others were out and they had filled the locks with cardboard etc to prevent us locking the doors. We did not know what to do and so phoned the number on the door and were told someone would be there i ten minutes but nobody came. At 11.45 they all came back cyclists and walkers they turned all the lights on played music in the kitchen. When they eventually went to bed about 1am they started to pretend to snore and then had a competition to see who could make the loudest "rude" noise. The lights went back on at 5.15 am when the cyclists all got up and left. They appeared to be a cycling club out for the weekend rather than travelling the Camino. I have no idea how they all got in. This is the only bad experience we have had in the three times we have walked the camino.

Kellyz reported:

I just got back from this route (July 2013). Luis has a map which posts an "A" next to every town with an albergue on the coastal route. Here's a link:http://www.caminador.es/wp-content/uplo ... N-2013.pdf. If this doesn't work, download the map from his website: http://www.caminador.es

I met some Polish men who said they slept on the floor of a fire station in Vila do Conde. I stayed in a pension (the one mentioned by Johnny Walker) for 20e.
Instead of the albergue in Caminha, I took the ferry in the evening and stayed in the albergue in A Guarda.(I was told the very wouldn't run at all on the first Monday of the month.) It was on the far side of town in a facility run by the police and St. Vincent De Paul. Be aware it is slightly off the route (the arrows will not lead you directly to the door). We called the police on the way in to let them know we were coming. We had a great dinner at the restaurant on the corner just before the albergue, and in the morning, we were let into the bakery next door before opening hours. Or we wandered in and they were very patient with us and sold us croissants.
Mougas: private albergue for 10e. I think this might have been a junta that the government could no longer sponser after 2010. Currently run by a local family who might also own the bar next door. The bar served good food.
Ramallosa: Lovely, clean private "cell" at the Apostolic Sisters convent for 10e. Also, an amazing dinner including goose neck barnacles and Coquilles St. Jaque in a slightly rough looking cafe/bar/restaurant in a square near the bottom of the hill. The bar is next to a tapas place and faces a large modern building with a vegetarian breakfast cafe.
O Friexo: where Luis and his neighbors run a village albergue in a former (?) town library. Only four beds. Also mats in a common room. Bar downstairs. The hospitalera prepared a good. simple, inexpensive meal. Luis made queimada after dinner.
Luis's website has all I ever needed to know about walking the various coastal options...if only I'd downloaded and printed the material before I left!

Kelly


Musicman reported:

DATEDESTINATIONHOTEL/HOSTALCBOOKINGPRICE
Thursday 5th, P, (15km) Porto
Airporto Hostal, Rua da Estrada 244, Porto, 4470, tel: 00351911046710, email: airoportohostel@gmail.com Chostalbookers.com £14.67
Friday 6th, P (27km) Vila do Conde
Casa da Laura, Rua Estreita, Vilarinho, 4480, Vi do Conde CFacebook, E-mail ?
Saturday 7th, P, (25km)Esposende
Apulia Praia Hotel, Avenida da Praia 45, Apulia - Esposende (Minho) 4740-033, tel: 00351253989290, email: geral@apuliapraia-hotel.comCBooking.com€39.00
Sunday 8th, P, (27km)Viano de Castelo
Hospedaria Senhora do Carmo, Rua Grande, 72 ou Viela da Cega, 44 Viana do Castelo, 4900-542, tel: 00351258825118, email: batistaesilva@sapo.ptCBooking.com€20.00
Monday 9th, P, (22km) Caminha
San Pedro, Rua da Parede Alta, 14 (sao Pedro), Caminha, 4910-341, tel: 00351258727475, email: geral@residencialsaopedro.com CBooking.com €35.00
Tuesday 10th, SP, (20km approx)Oia Hotel Araina (Tel 0034 986 362908)CBy phone on 31/7€30.00
Wednesday 11th, SP, (26km approx)Baiona
Carabel La Pinta, Camino Entrehortas 21-1, Baiona, 36300, tel: 0034986355107, email: info@hotelcarabelapinta.comCBooking.com€32.00
Thursday 12th, SP (20km approx)Vigo
Hostal la Colegiata, Plaza de la Iglesia 3, Vigo, 36202, tel: 0034986220129, email: hostalacolegiata@hotmail.esCBooking.com€20.00
Friday 13th, SP, (18.2km) Redondela Albergue Xunta, Casa de TorreTBCN/A?
Saturday 14th, SP (23.1km)Pontevedra
Hotel Comercio, Gonzalez Besada 3, Pontevedra, 36001, tel: 0034986851217, email: info@hcomercio.comCBooking.com €30.00
Sunday 15th, SP, (18.1km) Caldas de Reis
H Balneario Acuna, Herreria 2, Caldas de Reis, 36650, tel: 0034902104841, email: reservas@relaistermal.com, NO WI-FICBooking.com £30.07
Monday 16th, SP, (24.9km) Padron,
Hotel Rosalia, Marixa Villanueva, S/N, Padron, 15900, tel: 0034981812490, email: info@hotelrosalia.esCBooking.com€25.00
Tuesday 17th, Santiago
Hospedaria San Martin Pinario, Seminario Mayor, Plaza de la Inmaculada 3, C.P 15704, Santiago, tel: 0034981560282, email:reservas@sanmartinpinario.euCMe/print off€23.00
Wednesday 18thAIRPORT HOME. An excellent route recorded on my Blog "ensuitepilgrim/ Wordpress.com".

Wakerbrother reported:

The following accommodation costs for a double room:

Povoa de Varzim Hotel Luso Brasileiro (Booked 45 euros B&B)
http://www.hotellusobrasileiro.pt/en/

Esposende 
Hotel Estalagem do Zende (40 euros B&B)
Wouldn't bother with this gaff again. Bit dingy. The albergue at Marinhas 4km or so down the road looked ok.
Shortage of budget rooms in Esposende.
Viana do Castelo Hospedaria Senhora do Carmo (30 euros room only)
batistasilva@sapo.pt

Caminha Residencial Galo D'Ouro (40 euros room only)
http://residencialgalodouro.blogspot.co.uk/


Oia Casa Puertas (40 euros B&B). Best place we stopped.
http://www.casapuertas.es/location.html


Didn't stop in Baiona as we had two nights rest and recreation on Las Islas Cies.

Vigo Hotel Hesperia (72 euros B&B). Bit of a splurge but we were very tired.

Redondela Rosa's Albergue no. 33 just up from the official albergue.
(51 euros included Bed, Evening Meal, Breakfast and quite a few beers!)


Pontevedra Hotel Boavila (45 euros room only). Nice room but right in the centre which is very noisy at the weekend.
http://www.hotelboavila.es/


Caldas de Reis Hotel Lotus (30 euros room only). Excellent value.

Padron Chef Rivera (70 euros room only but it did have a jacuzzi…bliss)

Santiago Hotel Barbantes http://www.libredonbarbantes.com/ (50 euros a night room only)

  

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