After the transfer from Porto to Viana do Castelo and after we have installed in a guesthouse of reference in this historical city, we will begin our program.

This will be a short hike in which we will cross some forts dated from the 16th and 17th century, old bastions of the defensive line created to protect the Portuguese coastline of the attacks of the pirates and Spanish. An old church from the end of the 19th century, deeply linked to the devotion of the fishermen, is also part of this rich heritage we will cross.

After some beaches and some coastal paths, we come to the end of this short walk that will be the shortest of all this journey.

Back to the guesthouse in Viana do Castelo and after a short rest, the dinner waits for us in lands where the art of well-eating has a long tradition. After that, our hikers can, if they wish, get to know a little of this beautiful city, bathed by the Lima River and whose historical center dates back to the 15th century, very close to where we will sleep, and is constituted by buildings of great historical wealth.

This day begins where the previous one ended, with the sea to our left and a beautiful hill to our right. Much of our way will be through these beautiful beaches of the Northwest of Portugal.

Shortly after the beginning of this second stage, we find some ancient salt flats, dating from the period between the Iron Age and Romanization, about 500 years BC. This whole area is well representative of the influence of the Celtic people, proof of this, is the presence of petroglyphs (images carved in the stone), shortly after the salt flats, both of the same period.

The presence, like in the previous day, of the forts that constitute the defensive line of this region, is a constant. On this day we will pass two more, both dating from the 17th century. One of these forts gives is the name to the beach in front, which was recently considered by “The Guardian”, “one of the 10 best secret beaches in Portugal”.

After a beautiful pine forest, we will arrive at our destination, Caminha, whose foundation dates back to the 13th century. Located right at the mouth of the great and beautiful Minho River, which historic center, well animated, for sure, certainly deserves a visit.

Right in front of the mouth of the river with a beautiful view, is our hotel. On the opposite bank, in Spain, is Monte de Santa Tecla and its impressive Celtic Castros. With its almost 350m high is the great sentinel of the powerful Minho River.

This day begins with a boat crossing of a local fisherman, who will take us to the other shore of the river in Spain. The landscape is beautiful, on one side the calm waters of the Minho and its wooded islets, on the other the immense and turbulent waters of the Atlantic.

This will be one of the most scenic trails we will do in this 12 days adventure. The whole route will be along the beautiful and wild coastline of Galicia.

After the boat trip, we will start our tour. After rounding the Monte of Santa Tecla and about a little more than 1 h after the beginning of the walk, we will arrive at “Guarda”. This fishing village is also known for the Fortress and Castle of Santa Cruz, which were occupied by the Napoleonic forces in 1809. However, it was a short occupation, since the local militia forces, aided by the Portuguese troops, reconquered the fortress and expelled the French.

After crossing the village, we start our tour back to the sea, where we can enjoy this beautiful coast. Arriving at the end, we can observe a huge medieval monastery, with a long history, since it was built in the year 1137.

The well-deserved rest awaits us in a hotel that was built inside an old fortress which is situated in a beautiful bay.

The 4th day begins at the medieval monastery where we finished the previous stage. We continue our tour side by side with the Atlantic and with the mountain to our right.

About 3 hours later, the path turns inland, and we begin to climb a beautiful mountain path. For about 6 km, the up and down is a constant and at the highest points the views are magnificent.

After the last descent, we are very close to “Baiona”. This beautiful coastal town, born in 1201 by the order of Afonso IX, King of Leon and Galicia, already part of the metropolitan area of Vigo, is one of the most elegant beach resorts in the region and it is here, like the night before that we will sleep inside the old fortress.

On this 5th day, we begin to enter in the channel where the famous Estuary of Vigo begins, a low water area with innumerable fish and shellfish farms. On this route, once again always with the sea close by, we will go through some beautiful sea walks.

A little over an hour after we started our walk, we will cross a bridge whose architecture symbolizes the passage from the Romanesque to the Gothic. Dated from the 13th century, was ordered to be built by the Bishop of Tui and has a curious legend associated with it.

After having passed this beautiful bridge full of history, the path follows now or along several beaches by sea walks, or, sometimes, through several villages until, about 4 km later, we come across another historical monument, this even more ancient. We refer to a Visigoth Arch, which was part of an ancient temple dating from the sixth and seventh centuries.

After we passed the last beaches and the elegant villas next to them, we arrived at the port of Vigo, one of the most important in the world in terms of fishing discharges and it was thanks to him that Vigo was born and grew up.

We are already very close to our hotel, right in the heart of this vibrant seaside town. After a short rest in the hotel, we will have a nice dinner, a fair reward for this long day.

The first part of this 6th day of hiking is by the most coastal part of Vigo, after which we will start to climb, further inland, towards a plateau where we will do much of the way.

Once we have reached these highlands, the beautiful view extends throughout the city of Vigo, as well as to the other bank of the great Estuary of Vigo and, to our left, beyond, the entrance of the channel we crossed in the previous day.

About 2 hours after we are walking on this great plateau we will enter a nice wood from which we will only leave when we begin to descend to our goal of the day, the coastal village of Redondela, created in the middle of the 13th century. Until then we will pass through some small villages.

The overnight stay will be again in Vigo, where our travelers, given this is not a long leg, will have time to get to know this city a little better with a long and full history that began around the 2nd century BC.

On this 7th day, we resume the path where we finished the day before, in the village of Redondela, where several personalities were seduced by its charm, among them the poet Federico García Lorca, famous Spanish poet and playwright, one of the first victims of the Spanish civil war.

From here the path goes up and near the top of the hill begins a wood where we will continue for about 3 km until we reach Arcade, a town famous for the quality of its oysters. However, Arcade is also known for its beautiful medieval bridge which full of symbolism, because it was here that the French were defeated in a battle that marked their retreat in the Spanish War of Independence.

From here the path repeats itself, as we have a new hill to go up and near the top of it we enter and leave several small forest corridors almost until our destination of the day, the beautiful city of Pontevedra.

It is here that we will spend the night in a beautiful hotel located right in the historic center and inside an old Renaissance palace from the 16th century. After dinner at the hotel, we propose a walk through the streets of the historic center, which can be proud to be one of the most beautiful and well preserved in all Galicia.

The day starts with a visit to the historic Gate of the Pilgrim, built-in 1778, is one of the most symbolic of the city, being also the sanctuary of the Pilgrim Madonna.

After this visit, we will start this stage which will take us to two of the more emblematic monasteries of this great spiritual route to Santiago of Compostela, and it will be in one of them where we will sleep this night.

At the exit of the city, we cross the Burgo bridge, also with a rich history. Of Roman origin, it was in it that the Kings Fernando II of Leon and Galicia and Afonso Henriques of Portugal signed a treaty of peace.

About 2 and half hours later we will arrive at the Monastery of Poio, dated from the 7th   century, reached its apogee in the middle of the 16th century with the creation of a college of theology in it. Throughout the centuries had several restorations, having been in the 17th century, with the construction of the church that assumed the present form. It is one of the most important places for the pilgrims, having a mosaic with 200 square meters representing the way to Santiago.

About 3 km away we will start climbing the mountain that will take us to our destination, the austere and reserved Convent of Armenteira. It will be in this highly spiritual place that invites to introspection and meditation, that we will dine and sleep. An intimate experience of reunion and surely one of the highlights of the whole journey.

After spending the night in the quite Armenteira Convent we will start the ninth day of hiking. The first part of the path is made inside a beautiful forest. Always accompanied by the crystalline waters of a beautiful stream and its granite stones, we continue until we reach a village whose life is represented by statues in stone.

About 3 hours later we will arrive at the village of Cambados, Capital of Alvarinho, one of the best white wines (in Portugal is known as Green Wine) in the world and that was European Wine City in 2017. Although its origin is late when compared with other towns in the region, since it was born in the 16th century, Cambados is an authentic outdoor museum carved in granite, as it is home to one of the most well-preserved historical sites in Galicia.

It will be here that we stay in an elegant mansion with the traditional traces of the old and tradition “Sunny Houses of Galicia”.

As this stage is one of the shortest, our travelers will have time to enjoy this beautiful village.

This day begins with a long and nice boat ride. First, by the estuary of Arousa, one of several that make up the great complex of the “Rias Baixas” (Low Estuaries) of Galicia and which is not only the largest estuary in Galicia but also in Spain. It is famous for its rich marine fauna and its beaches and islets.

Then we enter the Ulla River, which rises 640 meters high and separates the province of A Coruña from Pontevedra. It is one of the largest rivers in the region, and its watershed is the second most important of all of Galicia, the first is the one of Minho River that we crossed on the 2nd day of our adventure. The recreation of a Viking boat at the mouth of the river is another attraction of this river/sea ride. It remains to be said that this is the only maritime Via Sacra in the world, just as it was through it that the remains of the Apostle Saint James were transported.

After this tour, which saves us more than 30km of the road, we begin our walk. Afterward passing through several villages we arrive at our destination, the village of Parada de Francos and it will be in the “Casa Grande de Cornide” that we will spend the night, a very pleasant spot and where our travelers will find all the conditions for a deserved rest and a nice dinner.

This is the 11th day of our journey and is the one where we arrive at our final destination, the monumental Obradoiro Square, in Santiago of Compostela. Before, however, we still have the last 14 km to be done. Nothing is really relevant in this last section except, when just over 4 km from our goal, we see the huge towers of the cathedral.

About 4 hours after we started this last walk, we arrived at the impressive Obradoiro Square. This is a time to “drink” everything that surrounds us, because rare are the places where we can feel so much magnificence simultaneously with the greatness of the secular buildings that surround us. The current Romanesque Cathedral, flanked by two columns with 74 meters high invites to contemplation.

This square has the capacity to condense the customs and the millenarian history of the city. A 360-degree turn allows us to recognize the presence of different architectural styles, which have arisen in more than 700 years. The monumental buildings that surround it are representatives of the main centers of life in the Galician capital: religion, university education, attention to the pilgrim and the Administration.

After this moment, we will settle in the magnificent Museum Hotel San Francisco. This former Franciscan convent is the perfect place for our travelers to spend their last night. The afternoon is free. The reunion will be at the end of the day where we will have our farewell dinner.

This is the last in which our bus will take us back to the capital of the North of Portugal, the city of Porto.

Behind were 11 days in which we covered about 200 km, but we also cover about 2000 years of history. We have also seen how these people, from Northern Minho to Galicia, live. We learn their ancestral culture and we felt the weight that the Catholic Religion has in these latitudes, as well as the force of faith that here move a whole people from the Celtic times to the present day. We also became aware of the Minho River and the “Rias Baixas” (Low water estuaries) and of the importance they have always had, in the life and economy of this region. We slept in convents and felt their peace and tranquility. We understood, finally, a little of the Soul of these proud people clinging to their faith and traditions.

See you soon.