This is the Camino for anyone who wants to keep listening to the sea. The Portuguese Coastal Route is friendly by nature: low hills, wide beaches, fishing villages and a path that often runs right alongside the ocean. It is rarely truly steep. That makes it a good choice for a first Camino, with its wooden boardwalks and sandy tracks.
You set off from Porto and head north past Vila do Conde, Esposende and Viana do Castelo. At Caminha you can also branch off onto the Caminho Português Central. If you stay on the coast, you cross the border into Spain in the fifth stage. Via Oia and Baiona you reach Vigo. After that you turn inland towards Redondela. Formally, the coastal route ends there, because this is where it joins the Central. Almost everyone keeps walking, so we describe it all the way to Santiago. From Redondela you walk together with the Central, via Pontevedra, Caldas de Reis and Padrón. It becomes noticeably busier. In Pontevedra the Variante Espiritual also begins, for those looking for a different way to finish.
The best time to walk is from May to September, when the weather along the coast is pleasant for walking. In the winter months and in March it is cool and often wet, and a coastal route feels a lot less inviting. Twelve days of walking, with the ocean as your constant companion.