O.K., now we are leaving Beautiful Ponte de Lima by turning right out the front door and look for the arrows just after the coffee shop. (I hope by now I have the proper photos on the bolg of this town.)
Rubiaes is the next place I stayed. This day is not a long one 20km or so if you go all the way to Rubiaes. This day is the mountain day! Do not worry, the Portuguese believe this 410m mountain (we call a hill) is a real challenge. You will be fine.
Rubias pilgrim hostel is the only one I found bed bugs. They were not a problem but the mosquitoes were unbearable. Keep your mosquito repellent close by. Food shopping is about 2 km away but it is worth the walk. Take the road or if you look carefully, you will see an ancient path off to your left that takes you to the store. Just ask someone at the hostel and they will help.
If you want to stay at a hotel, there is one about a 2km before the hostel. It is called O Repouso do Peregrino and it is next to the pharmacy. It is quite nice. They will offer you an evening meal for an additional 25E. A room there cost me 15E.
Valenca and Tui are 18 and 20 km away respectively.
The Valenca hostel is not easy to find. When you come into Valenca off the trail, you come into a large industrial parking lot. If you miss the arrows, look for the fire station. The Hostel is right beside it. I went on to Tui, 2 km away in Spain.
I did that mainly because I did not want to wake up to the sounds of fire trucks in the middle of the night. Tui was lovely and the hostel is an old beautiful building. If you can find the cathedral, you must go around the front entrance and down a side street to find the Tui Cathedral Albergue.
Redondela is 35 km away from Tui. When I came back from Santiago I stayed at an albergue in Porrino. If you go there it is only 15km. This little albergue is off the main road and you can easily miss it. This road is very busy so be careful.
The reason I went all the way to Redondela from Tui is because I took a bus to to the Capela da Virgen da Guia to avoid the 15 km or so of industrial walk. Redondela is a beautiful city to see so getting there early is not a problem. The albergue is right in the middle of town next to a river.
Pontevedra has an albergue that is only about 3 years old. It is a nice one but the kitchen (when I was there) was bare. There were no cooking pots, pans or dishes. We had to sign out glasses for wine. I believe it was the least friendly place on my trip but it was clean.
Caldas de Reis is 25km from Pontevedra. If you are prepared with a little food for the evening, you can stop at albergue Briallos off the again busy road about 7 km from Calda de Reis. You will find this albergue by going down a beautiful country road to your left when you come to a roundabout.
If you go into Caldas de Reis take time to visit the thermal waters that flow into troughs or basins throughout the city. I stayed at a hotel here.
Padron is only 20km from Caldas de Reis and a MUST see place. The albergue is right next to the Cathedral that you reach by crossing a bridge. The albergue is not the best because sound carries like a strong wind in there. If you stay at the Padron albergue, try to get a bed far away from the stairs to cut down the noise factor.
This is the place where St James gave a sermon. Take the trip around the cathedral and climb up the stairs to see the spot where he spoke. It is a great place for quiet and photo taking.
NOW DEAR PILGRIM, YOU ARE HEADED TO SANTIAGO
The walk into Santiago is pretty nice but the last 5 or 6 km takes you through the modern streets of Santiago before you get to the ancient cathedral.
Call ahead and reserve a bed at Seminario Menor. You can stay there more than one night.
Telephone: 881 031 768. If you do not stay there and want an albergue you only other choice is Monte do Gozo with 500 beds. Yes, 500! It is about 5 km out of the city so if you are coming from the south, it is a long way after a long walk to Santi. There are many private albergues in Santiago you only need to ask if you don't get a bed at the Seminario.
Well that's it for now dear pilgrim. Send me your questions and or comments if you have any.
Rubiaes is the next place I stayed. This day is not a long one 20km or so if you go all the way to Rubiaes. This day is the mountain day! Do not worry, the Portuguese believe this 410m mountain (we call a hill) is a real challenge. You will be fine.
Rubias pilgrim hostel is the only one I found bed bugs. They were not a problem but the mosquitoes were unbearable. Keep your mosquito repellent close by. Food shopping is about 2 km away but it is worth the walk. Take the road or if you look carefully, you will see an ancient path off to your left that takes you to the store. Just ask someone at the hostel and they will help.
If you want to stay at a hotel, there is one about a 2km before the hostel. It is called O Repouso do Peregrino and it is next to the pharmacy. It is quite nice. They will offer you an evening meal for an additional 25E. A room there cost me 15E.
Valenca and Tui are 18 and 20 km away respectively.
The Valenca hostel is not easy to find. When you come into Valenca off the trail, you come into a large industrial parking lot. If you miss the arrows, look for the fire station. The Hostel is right beside it. I went on to Tui, 2 km away in Spain.
I did that mainly because I did not want to wake up to the sounds of fire trucks in the middle of the night. Tui was lovely and the hostel is an old beautiful building. If you can find the cathedral, you must go around the front entrance and down a side street to find the Tui Cathedral Albergue.
Redondela is 35 km away from Tui. When I came back from Santiago I stayed at an albergue in Porrino. If you go there it is only 15km. This little albergue is off the main road and you can easily miss it. This road is very busy so be careful.
The reason I went all the way to Redondela from Tui is because I took a bus to to the Capela da Virgen da Guia to avoid the 15 km or so of industrial walk. Redondela is a beautiful city to see so getting there early is not a problem. The albergue is right in the middle of town next to a river.
Pontevedra has an albergue that is only about 3 years old. It is a nice one but the kitchen (when I was there) was bare. There were no cooking pots, pans or dishes. We had to sign out glasses for wine. I believe it was the least friendly place on my trip but it was clean.
Caldas de Reis is 25km from Pontevedra. If you are prepared with a little food for the evening, you can stop at albergue Briallos off the again busy road about 7 km from Calda de Reis. You will find this albergue by going down a beautiful country road to your left when you come to a roundabout.
If you go into Caldas de Reis take time to visit the thermal waters that flow into troughs or basins throughout the city. I stayed at a hotel here.
Padron is only 20km from Caldas de Reis and a MUST see place. The albergue is right next to the Cathedral that you reach by crossing a bridge. The albergue is not the best because sound carries like a strong wind in there. If you stay at the Padron albergue, try to get a bed far away from the stairs to cut down the noise factor.
This is the place where St James gave a sermon. Take the trip around the cathedral and climb up the stairs to see the spot where he spoke. It is a great place for quiet and photo taking.
NOW DEAR PILGRIM, YOU ARE HEADED TO SANTIAGO
The walk into Santiago is pretty nice but the last 5 or 6 km takes you through the modern streets of Santiago before you get to the ancient cathedral.
Call ahead and reserve a bed at Seminario Menor. You can stay there more than one night.
Telephone: 881 031 768. If you do not stay there and want an albergue you only other choice is Monte do Gozo with 500 beds. Yes, 500! It is about 5 km out of the city so if you are coming from the south, it is a long way after a long walk to Santi. There are many private albergues in Santiago you only need to ask if you don't get a bed at the Seminario.
Well that's it for now dear pilgrim. Send me your questions and or comments if you have any.
Hi! Just wanted to let you know I read your blog before doing Camino Portugues three weeks ago. I enjoyed the info you gave and thank you!
ReplyDeleteJust some added notes:
Tui - I couldn't find the albergue!!! But that was ok since I walked to Porrino that day without realizing there is a 1 hour time difference between Portugal and Spain!
Pontevedra - This albergue is still bare but was very warm during the winter! It was the warmest albergue during the trip (I went late Feb/early March).
Caldas das Reis - The albergue is right next to the Roman bridge. Thanks for the tip to try out the thermal baths. They were quite nice!
Padron - I arrived at the albergue at around 2pm and found it quite cold and noisy so I just continued walking to Teo. Teo's albergue looks quite new and was very clean.
Joe, In Tui there are two different albergues.
ReplyDeleteThis one is the Public http://caminodesantiago.consumer.es/albergue-de-peregrinos-de-tui