Walk the Portuguese Camino
from Portugal to Santiago de Compostela, Spain - April 2024
Join us for a guided walking tour:
April 26 to May 5, 2024
On this 10-day trip you will walk 100 km (about 65 miles) from the Portuguese town of Valença, just across the Spanish border, to the city of Santiago de Compostela, the traditional end-point for all Camino pathways in Europe.
There are four Camino paths that come north out of Porto and then all join together in Valença and indeed, this Portuguese Camino has become the second most popular pilgrimage route in Europe.
Our destination will be Santiago where you can receive your Credencial for having walked the final 100 km on the Camino.
The Camino path was originally for the deeply religious, today the appeal of the Camino reaches far beyond the religious.
Each day, you and your guide will cover a 10-mile stretch of the Camino. The terrain is rolling, without any extreme climbs. We’ll spend the night in both small towns and small cities at clean and comfortable hotels with private rooms and bathrooms. While most pilgrims sleep in dormitories, we prefer our guests to have a hot shower and soft bed waiting for them each night.
And we eat very well along the way.
From Valença, Portugal, to Santiago de Compostela
On this trip we will begin in the popular Portuguese city of Porto. It enjoys easy air connections for your arrival and it is a lovely historic city. This is where we’ll stay for the first night of our trip. The following day we’ll take a train north to Valença, a walled town set on the Minho River. The river forms the boundary between Portugal and Spain. We’ll walk across the bridge to Spain and stay the night in the town of Tui.
From there, we’ll guide you northward for a total of 10 days until we arrive in Santiago. Your job is to walk and to enjoy the lovely scenery along the way. To help you do this, we have organized your lodging and planned all your meals – and we will transport your bags each day to ease your load. And of course, we pick you up and drop you off at the airport to make your travels simple and easy. We will fly into Porto and back out of Santiago.
During the trip, you can walk as much as you would like. We can help you select the prettiest section for the day, or you can walk to the day’s endpoint which will normally be approximately 10 miles. The decision is yours, and you can decide along the way based on how you feel. Our van will be always available to coordinate snacks and lunch and we can pick up anyone who has walked far enough for the day.
In Santiago, we will celebrate outside the cathedral with thousands of other pilgrims from all around the world and you can attend the pilgrim’s mass at the cathedral, if you like.
Dates: April 26 to May 5, 2024
Cost: $3550
Maximum group size: 12
“It was a wonderful trip. It was my first tour-group experience and it was perfect. It was well organized and I enjoyed all the other pilgrims on the walk. The group size was just right.”
The Route
Each morning we’ll eat breakfast together, normally at our hotel. Then we will set off on the path, covering approximately 10 miles a day (although you can do less or more, depending on your preferences). We’re starting out in a town and will end in another town, where our next hotel is found. And we’ll pass through other towns or villages during the day.
We find that 10 miles is a reasonable daily goal for most people. If you decide that you would like to do less, our van can easily pick you up and deliver you to our hotel. Likewise, you can also cover more ground if you wish.
The route is mostly back roads and pathways. You’ll see local flora and fauna. You can stop and take photos and consider life’s big questions through mindful reflection.
Our driver and van will set up a picnic lunch for you each day. And the van will transport your bags, so all you’ll need to carry is a simple day pack.
Your Guide
Bob Lawson, co-founder of Travel Fever Tours, will be your guide on this walk from the Portuguese border to Santiago de Compostela. He has previously led tours on the Portuguese Camino and has walked and led tours on the main Spanish Camino route from France to Santiago.
As an avid walker, Bob likes little more than waking in the morning and pulling on his hiking boots. And the picnic lunch is a high point of the day.
Bob calls Vermont home, but has lived many years in Europe, including Spain, Italy, Switzerland and Sweden.
Our guide for this walking tour, Bob Lawson.
Trip Details
(Click + to expand)
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April 26 to May 5, 2024 (9 nights - 10 Days)
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Total cost of the tour: $3550
Supplement for single occupancy: $450
Deposit required to reserve a place on the tour: $350
(Places in the tour are limited to 12 and are allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. We recommend that you reserve your place early, as the alps are a popular trip and so is expected to sell out.)Payment schedule
$350 deposit. The deposit is refundable through January 15, 2024..
$1600 initial payment (Due January 15, 2024)
$1600 final payment (Due March 1, 2024)
All payments are refundable if we need to cancel the trip due to government restrictions or unsafe travel conditions.
** Earn a $300 discount when you bring or refer a friend.
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Pickup and drop-off at designated airport
Guided walking along the Camino with experienced guide
9 nights lodging
9 dinners, lunches and breakfasts, with appropriate amounts of beer or local wine
Local transportation by van and driver
What’s not included:
Airfare & Travel Insurance
Admission to museums and local sites and other misc. costs.
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Lodging will be at small hotels along the route. Unlike other tours that ferry you back and forth from central hotels, we stay directly on the route in a new and interesting town each night. Each room, either single or double, has its own bathroom.
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Traditional Portuguese and Spanish breakfasts to be taken at your hotels each morning.
Lunch will normally be a picnic along the route.
Dinner will be at restaurants found in the towns where we stay each evening.
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At the start or end of the trip, participants may opt to visit nearby locations, such as Lisbon or Madrid. Or since we’re starting out in Porto, you may wish to book a few extra days there. It’s a wonderful city.
These trip extensions are up to trip participants to organize, but Travel Fever Tours can make recommendations where to go and how to arrive at your desired destination.
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Your deposit is non-refundable after January 15, 2024, unless of course the trip is canceled for any reason by Travel Fever Tours. Natural disasters, political instability or low enrollment would form the basis for canceling a trip. You will be contacted once the trip reaches minimum enrollment so that you can proceed with purchase of your flights and make other travel arrangements. In all cases, review of enrollment numbers will not take place any later than the date of the First Installment payment.