Camino Portugués: The Complete Route Guide
Quick facts
- Start: Lisbon, Portugal (most pilgrims start in Porto)
- Finish: Santiago de Compostela, Spain
- Distance: ~620 km from Lisbon, ~245 km from Porto (Central), ~267 km from Porto (Coastal), ~280 km from Porto via the Senda Litoral
- Typical time: 24-27 days from Lisbon, 10-13 days from Porto
- Busiest months: May, June, September. The Porto start is busy year-round compared with other routes
- Compostela requirement: walk at least the last 100 km (from Tui on the Central route, or Vigo on the Coastal) and collect two stamps per day in that final stretch
The route: map, elevation, and stages
Weather on the route
Five day forecast from Open-Meteo for the start, midpoint, and finish towns. Check again closer to your walk.
Route track: Nederlands Genootschap van Sint Jacob (santiago.nl), republished with credit. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors. Dashed line: shared finish on another route.
Open the full-screen map app Plan this route Download the GPX track The same map, app-style: full screen, offline packs, and find-me while you walk. Plan this route opens the planner: regroup these stages into your own days, with a start date and a daily budget.
Places on this way
Places load with the map view.
Elevation sampled from terrain data (Terrarium DEM, built on SRTM) along the track. Hover the profile to trace the route on the map, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Click a stage band, a stage number, or a table row to zoom to that stage.
Stages
| Stage | Walk | Km | Climb | Descent | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lisbon to Porto · The quiet first half, up the Tagus through Tomar and Coimbra to Porto. | |||||
| 1 | Lisboa → Alverca do Ribatejo | 26.1 | +22 m | −46 m | 3 of 5 |
| 2 | Alverca do Ribatejo → Azambuja | 28.4 | +19 m | −23 m | 3 of 5 |
| 3 | Azambuja → Santarém | 32.5 | +95 m | −2 m | 4 of 5 |
| 4 | Santarém → Golegã | 31.7 | +44 m | −136 m | 4 of 5 |
| 5 | Golegã → Tomar | 30.2 | +246 m | −216 m | 4 of 5 |
| 6 | Tomar → Alvaiázere | 32.9 | +425 m | −195 m | 4 of 5 |
| 7 | Alvaiázere → Ansião | 12.7 | +190 m | −303 m | 1 of 5 |
| 8 | Ansião → Condeixa-a-Nova | 31.0 | +257 m | −335 m | 4 of 5 |
| 9 | Condeixa-a-Nova → Coimbra | 17.2 | +202 m | −295 m | 2 of 5 |
| 10 | Coimbra → Mealhada | 22.8 | +143 m | −131 m | 2 of 5 |
| 11 | Mealhada → Águeda | 26.8 | +162 m | −182 m | 3 of 5 |
| 12 | Águeda → Albergaria-a-Velha | 14.5 | +135 m | −83 m | 1 of 5 |
| 13 | Albergaria-a-Velha → São João da Madeira | 29.6 | +430 m | −338 m | 4 of 5 |
| 14 | São João da Madeira → Grijó | 19.6 | +174 m | −279 m | 2 of 5 |
| 15 | Grijó → Porto | 17.5 | +257 m | −305 m | 2 of 5 |
| North from Porto · The ways split here: the Central inland, and the Coastal and Senda Litoral along the Atlantic. They join again at Redondela. | |||||
| 16 | Porto → Vilarinho | 27.0 | +180 m | −219 m | 3 of 5 |
| Variants: Coastal route and Senda Litoral, the two Atlantic ways from Porto. Coastal 1 Porto to Vila do Conde, 28.8 km, 267.2 km in all from Porto to Santiago. Senda Litoral 1 Porto to Vila Chã, 26.1 km, 279.5 km in all from Porto to Santiago. Both join the Central at Redondela. Switch to the Coastal or Senda Litoral chip above to walk either stage by stage. | |||||
| 17 | Vilarinho → Barcelos | 28.0 | +312 m | −344 m | 4 of 5 |
| 18 | Barcelos → Ponte de Lima | 34.0 | +355 m | −410 m | 4 of 5 |
| 19 | Ponte de Lima → Rubiães | 18.0 | +430 m | −253 m | 2 of 5 |
| 20 | Rubiães → Tui | 20.0 | +212 m | −397 m | 2 of 5 |
| 21 | Tui → O Porriño | 16.0 | +42 m | −37 m | 1 of 5 |
| 22 | O Porriño → Redondela | 16.0 | +184 m | −210 m | 1 of 5 |
| Galicia and the shared finish · Every way walks these last stages together: Pontevedra, Caldas de Reis, Padrón, and Santiago. | |||||
| 23 | Redondela → Pontevedra | 20.0 | +288 m | −285 m | 2 of 5 |
| 24 | Pontevedra → Caldas de Reis | 21.0 | +160 m | −143 m | 2 of 5 |
| Variant: Variante Espiritual, the detour by the sea. E1 Pontevedra to A Armenteira, 19.7 km, then E2 A Armenteira to Vilanova de Arousa, 18.0 km, then E3 Vilanova de Arousa to Pontecesures, 38.1 km, 75.8 km in all against 40.0 km on the main line from Pontevedra to Padrón. The last leg is mostly the Traslatio boat up the Ulla, and it rejoins the main line at Pontecesures, just before Padrón. Switch to the Variante Espiritual chip above to walk it stage by stage. | |||||
| 25 | Caldas de Reis → Padrón | 19.0 | +133 m | −174 m | 2 of 5 |
| 26 | Padrón → Santiago de Compostela | 25.0 | +328 m | −118 m | 3 of 5 |
Plan your own days
The stages above are one way to walk this route, not the only way. Every stage town starts highlighted below, because the stages as written sleep in each one. Tap a highlighted town to walk through it and sleep at the next stop instead, and tap it again to split the days back. Your days update as you tap. Set a start date and a daily budget here and every day carries its date and its cost on this page. Open these days in the planner to carry this exact grouping into your plan, where GPX, copy, and print exports apply to it. Dates and budget set here are saved into the same plan, so they are already set when you open it there.
Why the Portugués
The Portugués is the second most walked Camino after the Francés, and the friendliest first Camino for a lot of people: gentler terrain than the Pyrenees start, two great cities to begin in, Portuguese food and wine for the first half, then Galicia. From Porto it splits into named ways that merge at Redondela: the Central route inland through Barcelos, Ponte de Lima and Valença/Tui, and two Atlantic lines, the Coastal and the Senda Litoral, up through Vila do Conde, Viana do Castelo and Baiona. Many pilgrims walk one out and wish they had time for both.
The ways from Porto
- Central (about 245 km by the guide figures, 10-12 days): the historic route. Roman roads, Ponte de Lima (often called Portugal's prettiest town), the climb over the Alto da Portela, and the border crossing on the iron bridge from Valença into Tui.
- Coastal (267 km on our track, 11-13 days): the formal coastal way north from Porto, through Vila do Conde and Viana do Castelo, the crossing into Spain at Caminha/A Guarda, then the Galician coast through Baiona and Vigo.
- Senda Litoral (280 km on our track, 11-13 days): the shoreline line of the Coastal, sticking to boardwalks and beach paths through Matosinhos and Póvoa de Varzim. Same overnight towns as the Coastal, longer and closer to the sea.
- Variante Espiritual: a popular detour after Pontevedra via Armenteira and the Ruta de la Piedra y del Agua, rejoining at Padrón. Adds roughly a day; many walkers call it the best day of the whole route.
Distances in the Coastal, Litoral and Espiritual stage lists are measured along the route track itself, so they can differ a little from the long-used guide figures in the Central list. Central stages 1 to 15 are measured along the track too; stages 16 to 26 are the long-used guide figures from Porto.
Stages and variants
The stage list in the route explorer above is this guide's one stage list. It follows the Central and runs as a flow in three sections (Lisbon to Porto, North from Porto, and Galicia and the shared finish), and the variants appear inside it at the stages where they branch, not in separate tables down here. Switch ways with the chips above the map to see a variant's own stages, profile, and totals.
At Porto the walk splits three ways. The list follows the Central inland through Barcelos, Ponte de Lima and Tui. The Coastal is the formal Atlantic way through Vila do Conde, Viana do Castelo and Baiona, crossing into Spain on the Minho ferry from Caminha to A Guarda. The Senda Litoral hugs the shoreline south of that on boardwalks through Matosinhos and Póvoa de Varzim; one honest warning from its list, the A Guarda to Porto Mougás leg reads 27.2 km because the drawn line loops the estuary for the ferry, and it walks at about 19 to 20 km. Both Atlantic ways join the Central at Redondela for the shared finish: Pontevedra, Caldas de Reis, Padrón, then Santiago.
At Pontevedra the Variante Espiritual leaves the Central and rejoins it at Pontecesures, just before Padrón, swapping the two direct stages (40 km in all) for three slower ones. It climbs to the monastery at A Armenteira, drops down the Ruta de la Piedra y del Agua to Vilanova de Arousa, and its last leg is mostly the Traslatio boat up the Ulla, then a short walk into Pontecesures. From there you are back on the Central: Padrón, then the shared final stage to Santiago de Compostela.
Starting in Lisbon
The Lisbon to Porto stretch is stages 1 to 15 of the stage list above: 373 km measured along the track, with four long days over 30 km where no intermediate overnight town sits on the line, and two short days that pair against them. It passes Tomar (a Templar city and the natural rest day), Coimbra and the monastery towns of Alcobaça and Batalha nearby. It is quieter, more road walking, and thinner on albergues than the Porto start, which is why most pilgrims begin in Porto. Those who walk from Lisbon usually say the quiet first half made the walk.
When to walk
- March-April: green, wet in the north, fewer crowds. Easter week fills up.
- May-June: the sweet spot. Long days, festivals in Porto (São João, June 23, is the city's biggest night of the year).
- July-August: hot inland on the Central, sea breezes help on the Coastal. Busiest from Tui and Vigo onward.
- September: harvest in the Douro and Albariño country, warm sea, strong choice.
- October-March: a quieter, rainier walk. The Coastal in winter storms is dramatic and exposed; albergue choice narrows.
Practical notes
- Credencial: available at Lisbon cathedral (Sé) and Porto cathedral, and from Camino associations at home. Two stamps per day from Tui (Central) or Vigo (Coastal) for the Compostela.
- Beds: the network is good from Porto onward and thinner from Lisbon. Private albergues and pensions run roughly 15-25 EUR. In Holy Year 2027, book the Tui/Vigo to Santiago stretch ahead in peak months.
- The border: you walk from Portugal into Spain mid-stage (Valença to Tui on the Central). Clocks change: Spain is one hour ahead of Portugal, which catches people out on check-in times.
- Rest days: Porto itself is worth a full day before you start. Pontevedra is the natural mid-route one after the routes merge.
Holy Year 2027 note
2027 is a Holy Year (Xacobeo) and the Portugués, especially the final 100 km from Tui and Vigo, gets very busy. Start dates in May, June and September and the two weeks around July 25 need beds booked earlier than usual.