Walking the Portuguese Way (July 2014)

By Marla Laine Brown:

The Portuguese Camino is one of many pilgrimage routes that cross through Europe to converge in Santiago de Compostela, the presumed burial site of the Apostle St. James. This Camino traditionally begins in Lisbon which continues north into Spain with a distance of approximately 610 km. Due to limited time we instead began the “Portuguese Way” in Porto where we had a choice of one of two routes, both a distance of approximately 227 km. We decided on the inland path known as the “Central Way” versus hiking along the “Caminho da Costa” on Portugal’s coast. At the time we believed it to be better signed, but after comparing notes with some coastal walkers we learned both routes were well marked and fairly easy hikes.