Portuguese Coastal Camino Cycle - Porto to Santiago

We loved the trip. Accommodations were good. Bikes were excellent. Trail in Portugal not well marked and difficult. Trail in Spain very well marked and enjoyable. Scenery along the coast of Portugal and Spain breathtaking.

With my friend and cycling partner we cycled the Camino de Santiago from Porto along the coast. A fantastic experience for body and soul!!!

Overall, a great adventure. Luggage transfer was flawless. Breakfast was good as well. Accommodation provided was fine with the only issue being wet gear and no service to clean or dry. Outside facilities were limited and often involved at least a few hours waiting to use the washer/dryer. Not the best when you have been soaked for days. Porto bike rental was outstanding. Took the time to show me the use of all aspects of the e-bike as I had never used one for my training for the Camino. Portuguese marking of the route needs to be upgraded; substandard and easy to get off track. I believe the Littoral route is easy for walkers to follow and wooden platforms and paths are well designed for walkers. I had to carry my bike up stairs. The Coastal route needs signage in a big way. Google maps is helpful, but often takes a route that is not marked or may take you in a meandering way. Washed out areas and a tree or two that fell on the route were minor obstacles. Galicia, Spain was much better marked by the famous clamshell. The ferry from Portugal to Spain is not working, so some travellers were somewhat panicked as booking online was going nowhere. This has nothing to do with them but the water taxi in a speedboat in the fog to a vacant beach with no one around is a memory I will always remember! Roads and paths into Santiago well laid out and marked. The directions to the office for certification were spot on. The Vigo to Pontevedra section is challenging; some sections you have to walk your bike up as the rocks are too big to navigate and washed out the gravel and dirt. Not a problem but requires significant effort. I am 69 and fit and enjoyed the social aspect of chatting with those along the way. ...more ...less

Tour very well organised, ebikes were excellent and had two rear packs and one off front. Easy to navigate with the downloads to phone and no internet needed once downloaded. Also provided with paper tour guide books. Hotels were very nice and very central to towns. Breakfast and dinner meals provided either at the Hotel or restaurants near by. Highly recommend this tour. Roads in Portugal mostly cobble stones. A few hills but bikes able to climb hills easily. Average day 50km. ...more ...less

Cycling the Portuguese Camino was a grand adventure. We had two plus days of rain out of the six days but was still very enjoyable.

Great, well signposted route and mainly well organised with well chosen quality hotels.

Interesting way to do the Camino, by bike. The hotels were nice and clean and the food was generally pretty good. It was well organized.

Our Camino Santiago trip was a mixed bag. Our bikes were great and when we had mechanical problems, the support we received was excellent. The cable to the derailler on one bike broke and the company had a van out quickly and took us to a shop where the bike was repaired on the spot. We were able to continue riding the next day. We rode some pretty gnarly trails and had sections where we had to push the bikes up and down a rocky trail. Well traveled trail does not mean it is an easy ride. ...more ...less