Day 6 of the Portuguese Camino Coastal Route brings me into Spain. From Caminha, the last stop in Portugal, Pilgrims will take a water taxi across the Minho River from Portugal into Spain. The next few days will take me across beautiful coastal landscapes along the Atlantic coast of Spain before I move inland into the Spiritual Variant of the Portuguese Camino.
Day 6: Caminha to O Serrallo (26KM)
Caminha is the last stop in Portugal before the Camino de Santiago Portuguese Coastal route runs into Spain. For those on the Senda Litoral, you’ll need to take one of the water taxis from Caminha to A Paxeses in Spain. The more established water taxi company would be Xacobeo Transfers. Their transfer runs every hour starting from 7:30am. Taxi Mares runs from a launch area about 20 meters away – and they basically leave once they have more or less enough people to run the boat.
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I would recommend buying tickets the day of so you can take advantage of which boat is leaving first. We were very lucky as the water was calm as glass when we took our transfer to A Paxajes in Spain. Note: this crossing can get rough in times of inclement weather. I would recommend getting food and drink in A Paxajes, as from A Guarda onwards, there are very few food and drink outlets until Oia. However, there was one that stood out for being in the middle of nowhere and being a fabulous place to take lunch: Explanada do Horizontes. Prices were on the high side, but the view from their outdoor patio with plenty of sun umbrellas was outstanding
I took a half-caucuterie platter (9 euro) and a glass of white wine (2.5 euro). Absolutely perfect for a first lunch stop in Spain. I needed the salt from all the delicious varieties of Spanish cured meats to keep my electrolytes up (wink wink), and the cheese provided extra calcium – so overall, it was a perfectly nutritious Camino lunch.
Oia was absolutely stunning with a church right on the edge of the ocean. The distance was a little shorter than I would have liked for the day so I continued on to O Sellano where I stayed at the Albergue da Estrela – which was very clean – with privacy curtains for each bed which I loved. The hostel also has a very nice patio
Day 7: O Serrallo to Patos Beach (24KM)
I headed out of O Serrallo around 8am, and by about 1pm, I had reached the large city of Biona. Once I got to the harbour front, I ducked into a sea-side tapas bar where I ordered grilled prawns and a glass of white wine. A South African family soon took the spot next to me. The mother was originally from Portugal, and was ordering away in what my multilingual mind thought was Spanish, but later on I realized she was actually talking to the server in Portuguese.
Some Spanish individuals may understand Portuguese, but the server was not one of those individuals who could comprehend Portuguese, and a bit of a drama ensued. The server genuinely didn’t understand Portuguese, and the Portuguese woman felt like the waitress just wasn’t trying hard enough.
It was odd for me to listen to this exchange as the languages are so similar out of the side of my ear I thought they were all talking in Spanish until I notice exasperated gestures coming from the table next to me. I looked over at the showdown and asked if I could help translate. It was very simple translations – but the family matriarch remained rather discontented that Spanish people don’t try hard enough to speak Portuguese.
The walk out of Biona was along the highway on a wide pedestrian walkway. Unfortunately, the walkway did not have a guardrail but it was wide enough that I felt quite safe.
The pedestrian walkways along the highway in this manner are invariably painted yellow – same colour as the arrows – and I started to think of them as a sort of “Yellow Brick Road” – which made me put Elton John’s “Goodbye Yellow Brick Road” on repeat while walking. It was pretty awesome.
While there were quite a few sections of “Yellow Brick Highway” – which for many might seem like a downside – it was often balanced by absolutely stunning oceanside vistas on the other side of the highway
I decided to spend the night at Patos beach – got a private room at Patos Beach House – just a 2 minute walk to the beach.. I walked quickly to get to my hotel in order to be able to spend the afternoon at the beach. Today the trail took me past a series of stunning beaches. Patos is nearly the last in the series. In my opinion, the beach right before Patos was actually the nicest in terms of tranquility and beauty. Patos beach was also beautiful but on the windy side, so there were regular waves, but the water was clean and cool. If you enjoy beaches, I would highly recommend a stop at Pato Beach, as the beaches closer to Vigo are not nearly as clean as the beach at Patos Beach and its surroundings.
That night I had an amazing dinner at a very local seafood restaurant called Restaurante Playa de Abra that was outstanding. Note that this restaurant is a very busy local hot spot – it may feel chaotic to a foreigner, and the servers generally are too busy to have too much patience with you. It was worth it though – even though I felt a bit shell-shocked when I first got there. Just remember the server is your commander: wait for them to tell you what to do. It’s an experience worth having and it’s full of locals for a reason.
Day 8: Patos Beach to Vigo (18.5KM)
I lingered in my private room in Patos Beach the morning of Day 8 on the Portuguese Camino Coastal Route and ended up leaving left quite late but it was a shorter “rest day” regardless.
Given I was going to have some time today, I had a plan to actually stop at a beach just prior to Vigo and have some beach time before getting to my hotel in Vigo. There were quite a few beaches along the way, but I settled on Samil beach – about 7KM from Vigo. There’s a Dia supermarket right at the start of the beach – so great place to stop and get snacks and drinks.
Playa Samil is beautiful, but it is also the closet beach to Vigo – so it was quite crowded
– The water was quite full of seaweed, and wasn’t nearly as clear as the water at Patos beach, so I didn’t get in much further than my knees.
After several hours of relaxing, I finally decided to walk the additional 7km to my hotel in Vigo.
In Vigo, I treated myself to a room at the AC Palacio Vigo hotel.
As a Marriott Platinum member, I often get complementary upgraded rooms if they’re available. Initially the hotel told me that they did not have upgrades available, so I was surprised when I was upgraded to 2-bedroom suite – two bathrooms, two oceanview balconies. It was quite spectacular.
I picked up a bottle of wine to chill in my fridge as well as a sampler of cheeses to have a snack on my seaview balcony while I went about getting showered and washed my hiking clothing.
After enjoying the sunset on my balcony with a glass of wine, I headed out to the Mercado area which had a bunch of seafood eateries.
I sat down at Bar Gril, and ordered some Navajas (Razor Clams) and Gambas Ajillos (Garlic Prawns). Both dishes were delectable. The Prawns were especially impressive as they came sizzling in a clay pot
Took a long bubble bath while watching a comedy show with another glass of wine before turning in for the night
Day 9: Vigo to Ponte Sampiao (25KM): The Hills begin
I decided to sleep in this morning given my luxurious accommodations, and had a slow morning of coffees in my room as well as some leftover cheese and bread from the night before as breakfast. I checked out around 10:45am and walked quickly through the city given my late start.
Vigo is a big city – with big city problems like poverty and homelessness. Some of the city outskirts were not as cheerful or tourist postcard friendly as the port area where I was staying.
Getting out of Vigo involved climbing over 200 meters of hills in a short period of time. Some of these climbs were so steep that they definitely reminded me of the climbs I did on the 1st day of the French Camino across the Pyrenees. After all the climbing, I was rewarded with stunning panoramic views of the coastline
Given my late start I was walking quite quickly in order to make up for my lazy morning. I did not stop for breakfast at any of the cafes coming out of Vigo. I then realized that it was imperative I get at least 2 stamps on my credential as Vigo is now within 100KM of Santiago de Compostela
Normally I would not fret, as I would get 2 stamps per day just from the hostel and then from the restaurant where I get dinner. However, this evening I am staying in the tiny town of Ponte Sampiao, where the hostel Albergue O Meson, was also the town restaurant, so I would only get one stamp that way.
The Camino Ninja app was not showing a lot of restaurants or cafes along the way, but by time I got into Redondola, there were multiple cafes to get food/drinks and the all-important stamp. There were also at least 2 cafes in Cesantes. I sat down for a quick Coca Cola at one and also got an additional stamp there – yay – set for the day!
The old man at the table next to me was mumbling incoherently the whole time I was at the bar in Cesantes. However, by time I got up to leave, it was clear he was trying to tell me something
“I wish I could walk the Camino with you” he said in Spanish. Aww, that is so kind I told him. He made the sign of the holy trinity and wished me safety and a Buen Camino. It warms my heart to remember this.
Ponte Sampiao was a beautiful Medieval town – characterized by the stone bridge you have to cross to get to it. Lots of locals were swimming and playing in the river – with some local daredevils jumping into the river from the bridge.
I had had a long day, and just wanted to get into the shower, and do a load of laundry. The Hostel O Meson was one of the best I stayed at on the Portuguese Camino everything was organized electronically and all beds had privacy curtains, private charging stations, and free lockers (you need 1 Euro to use it but you get the coin back)
There was a washer and dryer that just cost 2 euro to use, as well as a well-stocked kitchen area.
I was in bed by 10:30pm this night as I had a very early morning lined up tomorrow for my 1st and only 30KM+ day on the Portuguese Camino where I will transition to the Spiritual Variant (Variante Espirtual) of the Portuguese Camino.