Camino Portuguese 17: Marinhas to Viana do Castelo

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

Camino Portuguese: Day 17 – Marinhas to Viana do Castelo

Despite setting my alarm for 06:00, I woke up slightly earlier all on my own. It had been a restless night of sleep owing to the stuffiness and heat in the room. At one point, someone in the room did turn on the air-con, for which I was grateful, but someone turn it off shortly thereafter. I was the first one to wake up in the room and I quietly began getting ready to depart for the day. By the time I left, a few others were awake, but still lying in bed (I believe they were all staying to have breakfast at the hotel this morning).

I set out on the Camino around 06:15 and the weather was noticeably cooler today! Since the hotel was slightly off of the main route of the Camino, I had to follow along the highway for a little while until I rejoined the path. Most of the way had a sidewalk for pedestrian safety, but the last third required me to hug the shoulder, which I was already familiar with from the Lisbon to Porto days.

Once back on the path with the yellow arrows and shells pointing my way, I was glad to see that it left the streets behind for a route through the woods. It soon became a true nature trail, leading into heavily wooded area and I could hear the trickling of a stream off to my right. The nice dirt path quickly because the path from hell as it descended downhill for a considerably distance. Huge rocks cropped up everywhere and there was no level footpath available, so I had to slowly climb down the rocks, which hurt my aching feet. Obviously the Camino was leading to a bridge to cross over the stream. I was surprised when I reached the edge of the stream because it came upon me quite unexpectedly. It was much larger than I expected and the Camino followed along the edge of it for a little while. Eventually the path opened up onto a small meadow where the bridge was located. It was a narrow stone bridge, though wide enough that I didn’t feel uneasy as I crossed.

After crossing the stream, the path went back uphill and it was hard work to climb to the top. I was hot, sweaty and out of breath by the time I reached the crest of the hill. A small village was situated there and I took advantage of some public benches to have a brief rest. I followed along on the streets for a little while, and then had to climb up another nearby hill.

The Camino once again turned into a dirt trail through more woods, which I did find very pretty. The quality of the path itself, however, was dismal. The rocks were everywhere, slowing down my walking pace and overall making the experience less enjoyable. I was delighted when the path emerged into a small village and I could get away from the terrible rocks for a little while. I stopped at a café and enjoyed my coffee, along with a pastry, on a large square.

As I left the village, the path stuck to the roads and for once I was happy because it was less harsh on my feet. The Camino had one last hellish surprise for me today. Instead of sticking to the road and winding around with it, the Camino made a shortcut downhill. The path itself was covered with uneven rocks and it was very difficult to navigate a safe path down the hill. The photo I took doesn’t begin to do it justice.

However, once I was on the road, it was smooth sailing to reach my final destination for the day: Viana do Castelo. It was almost entirely flat, with a sidewalk along the road. The Camino did make one more shortcut, but the path was sandy and soft for walking. It was an interesting area too because it appeared to be abandoned, with only one small building nearby that looked either incomplete or in ruins.

The final stretch of the day required crossing a very long bridge to get across the Limia River. Both sides of the bridge had pedestrians walkways, though there were quite narrow. At several points during the crossing, I had to hug to one side to allow others to walk past me. Upon reaching the other side, I descended down a flight of stairs and I was in the city!

I had made excellent time today, walking 21km in just about five hours (including a 30-minute break)! As it was only 11:30, I had oodles of time before I could check in at my hotel this afternoon. Luckily there was a cute café across the street from the bridge, so I settled in there to do some work. It was fun sitting in the café and walking all of the pilgrims arriving at the end of the bridge. So many of the Porto pilgrims were moving slower today, visibly aching and hurting – a pain I could easily sympathize with after my 17 days of trekking the Camino!

At 14:30 I walked over to the hotel to get checked in and rest for the afternoon. The room was nice, though the walls were paper-thin and I could hear everything in my neighbor’s room. The shower was wonderful though and made up for the thin walls. After dinner this evening I stopped at a pastry shop to have a cup of coffee and two pasta del natas. This would be my last evening in Portugal, so I wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to enjoy the delicious pastries!

I got ready for bed quite early this evening. Tomorrow was a long day and I had to reach my first destination on time so I could cross yet another river… and finally reach Spain!

Distance Walked: 21.19 km
Steps Walked: 28,559

Total Distance: 481.45 km
Total Steps: 641,052