About half way through our Camino, we reached the city of Valença. Located on the Minho River, on the border between Portugal and Spain, this huge hilltop military fortress overlooks the neighboring Spanish town of Tui just across the river. At the point when you reach the fortress, take the alternate Camino route that meanders you through the ancient cobblestone streets of Valença and its historical buildings. At this point, pilgrims have a choice of spending the night at the albergue just outside the fortress walls, or continue on another 3 km across the International Bridge into the medieval center of Tui. After our pleasant stroll through the fortress, we wondered on into Spain where we had made reservations at the Albergue El Camino close to the cathedral. On that first very wet evening in Spain we were fortunate enough to find a trendy cafe/bar for wine and jamon de Iberia.
Thank you for posting your travels along the Camino Portugues. I am going to walk from Porto to Santiago de Compostela starting April 11. There are about 8 of us walking together - all in our 50s, 60s, and 70s. We don't want to walk with heavy backpacks, but rather have them transported from place to place. My question is: do you know if this is an easy thing to find (transport). I understand that it is fairly easy on the Spanish Caminio, but haven't found anything on the Portugues trail.
ReplyDeleteThanks in advance for any information you can provide.
Terry