Camino Portugues 2023

April 2023

Kevin and I have been dreaming of walking the Camino de Santiago for the past several years. I’ve always found walking a time for introspection and enlightenment, something I feel the pull to do from time to time. Read more

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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Mar 31, 2023, 12:06am
- Altitude: 95 ft
- Portugal Lisbon District Socorro Chiado Praça da Figueira 38.714047, -9.13645538°42’51” N 9°8’11” W
Lisbon, Portugal T-2 Days
March 31, 2023 in Portugal
We arrived in Lisbon this evening, hungry and tired from a long bus ride from Salamanca. Today was not without its misadventures but we’re here. Tomorrow we will do final preparations for the Camino and hopefully find some time to do a little exploring.Read more
Traveler You guys got this! I’m so excited for you!
3/31/23Reply
Traveler Thanks Keith!
3/31/23Reply
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Mar 31, 2023, 10:13am
- ☁️ 64 °F
- Altitude: 82 ft
- Portugal Lisbon District São Nicolau Baixa Santo António Church 38.710087, -9.13397838°42’36” N 9°8’2” W
Lisbon, Portugal T-1
March 31, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 64 °F
Today, we took a slow stroll to Cathedral Sé where we will receive our first stamp in our Pilgrim Credentials and officially start our Camino tomorrow. In front of the cathedral is where St. Anthony was born. We then strolled down to the oceanfront and of course Kevin had to dip his fingers in the water. We marveled at the incredible architecture from the tiled pedestrian pavement known as calçada portuguesa to the intricate details and tiling on the buildings. You can easily see the Roman and Islamic influence here.Read more
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Apr 1, 2023, 11:27am
- ☁️ 61 °F
- Altitude: 23 ft
- Portugal Lisbon District Bobadela Cumieira Forte de Sacavém 38.796653, -9.10055638°47’48” N 9°6’2” W
Day 1
Day 1, Lisbon to Alverca do Ribatejo
April 1, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 61 °F
Total Distance: 16.44 miles
Steps: 34,340
Highlight of the day: Ricardo, a friend we made in 2016, when we hiked the Inca Trail together, lives in Madeira, but he is visiting his parents in Lisbon. He knew we were starting today and just happened to see us as he was driving his parents around, so he stopped and chatted with us for a bit. What a great surprise!

Today was spent mostly walking out of Lisbon, but part of that was walking through Lisbon’s impressive World Expo Park. A great place for families to enjoy the lovely gardens and the oceanfront.
We met a few other Camino pilgrims today: Nic, who is active duty Navy, and is stationed in Morocco; a woman named Pitra; Scott from Canada, who we walked with for the last part of the day; and a couple we met from Holland right before we got to our alburgue (hostel).

We’re both a bit tired and our feet are sore, but overall it was a great first day. The weather was perfect. We stopped at a restaurant around the 11th mile and ate delicious burgers with bacon and pineapple and homemade chips, and beer!Read more
Traveler And away you go! 😍
4/1/23Reply
Traveler Day 1 down!
4/1/23Reply
Traveler That's awesome! 🥰😍 It looks so beautiful!
4/2/23Reply
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Apr 2, 2023, 9:00pm
- ⛅ 59 °F
- Altitude: 62 ft
- Portugal Lisbon District Azambuja 39.06992, -8.86681239°4’12” N 8°52’1” W
Day 2
Day 2 Alverca do Ribatejo to Azambuja
April 2, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ⛅ 59 °F
Total distance: 18.99 mi. We started off just as the sun was rising with our new friend, Scott from Canada. It seemed the three of us were in good spirits and ready for another day on the Camino, which considering I had yet to have any coffee was pretty good! We figured we’d find a place for coffee soon enough, but no such luck until 4.45 miles down the road. The Boia Bar in Alhandra was a much welcomed sight by then. An hour later, fueled by coffee and pasteis de nata, a popular Portuguese custard-filled pastry, we were back on our way. It turned out to be a long , warm day. By the time we arrived at the Alburgue (Pilgrim hostel) in Azambuja, we were ready for a good night’s rest.Read more
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Apr 3, 2023, 2:44pm
- ☁️ 75 °F
- Altitude: 36 ft
- Portugal Santarém Valada 39.087325, -8.75531739°5’14” N 8°45’19” W
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Day 3
Day 3 - Azambuja to Valada
April 3, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 75 °F
Today was a short day of only 9 miles hiking. We pushed fairly hard the first two days, 16 and 18 miles. We are both a bit sore with a few minor blisters on our feet, but we're feeling great to be here and enjoying Portugal.

Although the busy season has not begun, all the alburges are pretty full, so we're going to have to start making reservations so we don't end up having to do an unexpectedly long hike. The next alburges from here is 12 miles (total of 20 miles for the day). And since we have a whole month to do the hike, we're not in an awful hurry.Read more
Traveler Does this pack make my butt look big? Don’t answer that!
4/3/23Reply
Traveler 🤣
4/3/23Reply
Traveler 😁
4/3/23Reply
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Apr 4, 2023, 8:10am
- ☁️ 54 °F
- Altitude: 46 ft
- Portugal Santarém Valada Morgado 39.100353, -8.74305839°6’1” N 8°44’35” W
Day 4
Day 4 Valada to Santarém
April 4, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F
Day 4. Total distance today: 11.90 miles. After a nice breakfast prepared by our fabulous host at Casal das Areis, we were on our way once again. I got a special treat this morning when Paso Doble, the horse, let me give him a scratch behind the ears. Today, was a lovely walk for the most part, partially because we didn’t have to walk on cobblestones until we arrived at our destination town, but also we strolled passed grape vines and enjoyed a welcome breeze for much of the day. The temps are supposed to get to 80 later on, and as we climbed the long hill to get to Santarém, we could feel the heat of the day rising.Read more
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Apr 5, 2023, 4:06pm
- ☀️ 81 °F
- Altitude: 75 ft
- Portugal Santarém Golegã 39.401516, -8.48721739°24’5” N 8°29’14” W
Day 5
Day 5, Santarém to Golega
April 5, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 81 °F
High five for day 5! We started this morning with the rising sun and were greeted with some breathtaking views as we walked down a medieval cobblestone path on the way out of Santarém. Much of the day was spent walking along farm land, but we had a good mile along a eucalyptus-lined path that made us both miss living in SoCal. Today was our longest day yet, finishing at 19.79 miles. The last two towns we walked through, Azinhaga and Golego are clean and quaint towns, and we are very thankful to have a room with air conditioning this evening.Read more
Traveler How long to walk that distance? And do I see sandals you're walking in?
4/5/23Reply
Traveler Just under 7 hours. This does not count the 3 times we stopped for snacks and a siesta.☺️
4/5/23Reply
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Apr 6, 2023, 12:16pm
- ☀️ 77 °F
- Altitude: 322 ft
- Portugal Santarém Asseiceira 39.521358, -8.40398739°31’17” N 8°24’14” W
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Day 6
Golega to Tomar
April 6, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F
Day 6. Total distance 18.14 miles. We left Golega just as the sun was rising with the promise of multiple cafes along the way. Only we didn’t come across any cafes until noon, and by then, it was beer time. So for the first time in a long time, I didn’t have any coffee this morning. Somehow, I managed.

We left the flatlands behind us today for some hilly terrain along groves of eucalyptus trees. As the day wore on, it seemed that Tomar, our destination for the night, was getting farther and farther away. Eventually, we made it. We are staying at a really nice hostel, so we’ve decided to take our first zero day tomorrow, i.e., no hiking.Read more
Traveler Eucalyptus everywhere!
4/6/23Reply
Traveler The great thing about hiking is I get to eat whatever I want! Lunch was a ham and cheese sandwich with a beer, a Coke and two Snickers bars!
4/6/23Reply
Traveler Sunrise.
4/6/23Reply
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Apr 7, 2023, 1:37pm
- ☀️ 77 °F
- Altitude: 417 ft
- Portugal Santarém Santa Maria Dos Olivais Tomar Castelo dos Templários 39.603322, -8.4173739°36’12” N 8°25’3” W
Day 7
Day 7, Zero day in Tomar, Portugal
April 7, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 77 °F
It was a nice break to be able to leisurely wake up and lounge in bed this morning. We hope to do a rest day about once a week while on this journey. Tomar has been the ideal rest stop. There’s lots to see, a plentiful grocery store, and a great selection of restaurants. The history here is amazing. We grabbed a Tuk-Tuk ride up to the 12th Century Knights Templar castle then took a short stroll through town.Read more
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Traveler Camino Portugues 2023
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- Apr 8, 2023, 6:56pm
- ☀️ 72 °F
- Altitude: 1,056 ft
- Portugal Leiria Alvaiázere 39.825474, -8.38185839°49’32” N 8°22’55” W
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Day 8
Day 8, Tomar to Alvaiázere
April 8, 2023 in Portugal ⋅ ☀️ 72 °F
Day 8, Whew, another PR day for me (Kristi). We walked 20.30 miles, a loooong hot day. We walked through more olive groves and eucalyptus forests. We strolled through some quaint villages with gorgeous houses and floral scents throughout the day. That is all wonderful, but we also endured a lot of road walking and cobblestones, which are very hard on the feet. I kept singing to myself, "Follow the yellow arrows, follow the yellow arrows." Just like Dorothy sang in the Wizard of Oz, follow the yellow brick road, follow the yellow brick road. It’s strange, the things that enter your mind when you just allow it to wander. Two highlights of the day: we hiked a bit with a young woman from Germany who is hiking with her dog in her backpack, so cute, and a baby wild boar ran across our path! Little bugger was too quick though, so no photo. Tomorrow will thankfully be a shorter day for us.Read more
Traveler You guys blow me away, as we’re focused on doing 15 mile days, but you two are closer to 20 daily! Impressive!
4/8/23Reply
Traveler We would prefer to do only 15 mile days, but if you leave out of Lisbon, there are a few days where you don’t have much of a choice but to do 19 or 20. We believe we won’t have any more 20 mile days ahead of us.
4/9/23Reply
Traveler Loving following your adventure.
4/8/23Reply
Traveler Thank you!☺️
4/9/23Reply
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