This Camino starts gently and gets lovelier the further you go. There are no high mountain passes, but you will spend many hours on country lanes and cobbles and passing through small villages. It is a good choice for your first Camino. It is also a good option if you are looking for something friendlier after a tougher route.
You leave Porto through the city traffic. It takes a while before the houses give way to fields and vineyards. After that you pass through Barcelos and Ponte de Lima, two old towns where you will want to stop and look around. In Ponte de Lima you walk across an old bridge. Then the terrain becomes hillier. Between Ponte de Lima and Rubiães you climb more than 300 metres in under five kilometres. That is the day when you will have to grit your teeth.
At Tui you cross the border into Spain. You walk into Galicia, with forests, stone villages and more and more pilgrims around you. Via Pontevedra and Padrón you reach the cathedral of Santiago.
The best time to walk this route is in May and June, or in September. The weather is then pleasant for walking. In the winter months it is cool and often rainy.