Picked by our team
Towns worth discovering along the Camino de Santiago, chosen by our team. Open one to see its history and sights, and where to stay.
31 towns on the Caminho Português da Costa
View on the mapPóvoa de Varzim is a fishing town that became a seaside resort. For generations its fishermen signed with their own marks, the Siglas Poveiras, which you can still find set into the ground in front of the town hall. The parish albergue is right in the centre. An afternoon is enough; tomorrow you walk along the dunes to Esposende.
Senda LitoralCaminho Português da CostaIn Redondela two routes become one: this is where the Central Portuguese Way from Tui meets the coastal variant from Vigo. The town beneath two nineteenth-century railway viaducts lies 86 kilometres from Santiago. From here it gets crowded, especially in the albergues.
Senda LitoralCamino Portugués Central+1Rúa de Francos is a hamlet in Teo, 13.6 kilometres before Santiago, with a Gothic wayside cross from the 14th century. Right next door is the Castro Lupario, where legend places the pagan Queen Lupa, whom the disciples asked for a grave for the Apostle. A stop with history, just before the finish.
Camino Portugués CentralCaminho Português da Costa+1Santiago de Compostela is where 14 Caminos end, and in 2025 more pilgrims than ever collected their Compostela here: 530,987. Around the cathedral with the apostle's tomb you'll find granite squares, monasteries and tapas bars. Stay at least two nights, because arriving takes time.
Camino FrancésCamino Portugués Central+12São Pedro da Torre is the last village before the fortress of Valença, 4.7 kilometres from the border bridge: here the Roman road from Braga to Vigo ended on the Portuguese side, and emigrants returning from America and France built their villas. A quiet night before Spain.
Caminho Português da CostaSeixas lies 4.2 kilometres beyond Caminha on the bank of the Minho, with Galicia already in sight: a village with a sanctuary of Saint Benedict that has drawn pilgrims since the Middle Ages, and a Brazilian-style villa with a lookout tower right on the route. A quiet evening before the hills to Cerveira.
Caminho Português da CostaTui is the gateway to Galicia: crossing the bridge from Portugal, you enter a bishop's city whose cathedral of 1225 stands like a castle above the Miño. In 2025, 41,645 pilgrims began their last 118 kilometres to Santiago here. From now on you need two stamps a day, and the Way gets busier.
Caminho Português da CostaCamino Portugués CentralValença is your last evening in Portugal: a fortress town with twelve bastions high above the Minho, facing the cathedral of Tui. By day, linen shops and day-trippers fill the lanes; in the evening the walls belong to the pilgrims. Tomorrow you cross the bridge of 1886 into Spain and lose an hour.
Caminho Português da CostaCamino Portugués Central+1Viana do Castelo is the seafarers' town on the Coastal Way: you cross Eiffel's bridge of 1878 at the mouth of the Lima into an old town whose cathedral has St James dressed as a pilgrim on its portal. Above it rises Monte de Santa Luzia, where pilgrims celebrate the sunset. Santiago is still just under 200 kilometres away.
Senda LitoralCaminho Português da Costa+1Top rated
The stays pilgrims rate highest right now, across every Camino.
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