Folk high school walking on the Camino in Portugal

Folk high school walking on the Camino in Portugal

3.5. Monday: Arrival in northern Portugal and a walk along the Atlantic

• Departure from Copenhagen Airport with SAS
• Our guide, Rasmus Forman, meets us at the airport.
• Then a half-hour drive to the charming coastal town of Vila do Conde, where we stay at a good hotel.
• After check-in we all meet and have lunch together.
• Then there is time to relax.
• Later in the afternoon we go for a good, long walk through the town and down along the Atlantic.
• Back at the hotel, Rasmus welcomes us to the folk high school and gives us an introduction to the week's Camino walk.
• We also do a "who's who?" round, where the participants tell us about themselves and their motivation for walking the Camino in Portugal.
• In the evening we have a shared welcome dinner at a good, local restaurant.

The theme of the day: Stepping out of everyday life, motive and arrival

4.5. Tuesday: Walk from Balugães to Ponte de Lima

• After breakfast we take a bus 40 km inland to Balugães, where our walk on the rural "Caminho Central" begins.
• The walk goes through vineyards, beautiful views and small villages.
• Late in the afternoon we reach the Lima river and enter, via the beautiful plane-tree avenue, Portugal's oldest market town: Ponte de Lima.
• The town is known for its bridge with 22 arches, which gave the town its name.
• We stay overnight and have dinner in the atmospheric town.

We walk about 18 km today with very few ascents.

The pilgrim word of the day is: Slowness.

5.5. Wednesday: Walk from Ponte de Lima to Rubiãs

• After breakfast we cross the old bridge in Ponte de Lima, which for centuries and to this day is crossed by countless pilgrims on their way to Santiago in the north.
• After 10 kilometres through the rural landscape, we meet the week's only steep ascent towards the mountain pass Alto da Portela, which is 400 metres high.
• We take our time over the ascent, so that everyone can join in.
• On the way to the top we meet several wayside crosses and stone cairns, created by pilgrim walkers who have gone before us.
• After reaching the top of the pass, we take a bus from the little village of Rubiãs to the old fortress town of Valença, which lies beautifully down by the Minho river, which forms the border between Portugal and Spain.

We walk about 18 km today. If you are uncertain about the last ascent, there is the option of alternative transport.

The pilgrim word of the day is: Simplicity.

6.5. Thursday: Walk from Valença – Porriño

• After breakfast we walk through Valença's impressive fortress area and cross the international bridge from Portugal into Spain.
• We continue on the northern side of the river through the streets of the Spanish medieval town of Tui.
• Here we stop at the town's famous cathedral, Santa Maria.
• On the other side of the Veiga bridge, one of the most beautiful stretches on the route begins: the valley of the Louro river.
• Gradually Porriño appears in the distance.
• From here we take a bus to the lively town of Pontevedra, where we have dinner and stay overnight close to the charming old town.

Today we walk about 22 km.

The pilgrim word of the day is: Transition

7.5. Friday: Walk from Pontevedra to Caldas de Reis

• .We start the day by walking through the centre of Pontevedra.
• Here we visit the pilgrim church Virgem Peregrina, whose ground plan has the shape of a scallop shell.
• We continue out of the town and walk a long, fine stretch through beautiful forest and have lunch in a small village that lies where the forest ends.
• Late in the afternoon we reach Caldas de Reis, which is a spa town whose warm, mineral-rich water the Romans also enjoyed.
• Here there is the chance to soothe any sore muscles in a heated outdoor bath.
• We have a shared dinner.

Today we walk 22 km.

The pilgrim word of the day is: Trust

8.5. Saturday: Walk from Caldas de Reis to Padron

• Just a few kilometres after Caldes de Reis we are back in forest, and then reach the little atmospheric Carrecedo church.
• We continue through fields, forest and smaller towns and in the afternoon we reach the town of Padron, whose name means "stone".
• It was here that the boat carrying St James's coffin came ashore.
• After a refreshment at a local café, we visit the church, where you can see the original mooring stone and several paintings of James and his disciples.
• After the visit to the charming town centre, we walk the remaining 3 km to our hotel, which lies on the edge of town.
• We have dinner at the hotel.

We walk about 22 km today.

The pilgrim word of the day is: Silence & gratitude.

9.5. Sunday: Arrival in Santiago de Compostela

• Today we reach our pilgrim destination: the cathedral in Santiago.
• We get a short lift from the hotel and walk the remaining 13 kilometres into the city.
• First through hilly landscape and then the cathedral's towers appear in the distance.
• The last 5 km are through Santiago's suburbs and streets.
• We stop at the edge of the historic town centre and have a refreshment before we head onto the Praza do Obradoiro, the impressive square in front of the cathedral's west-facing façade, where the pilgrims from all the different paths gather.
• We celebrate having arrived, and then we go to the hotel, where there is the chance to change shoes and so on, before there is lunch and free time on your own.
• Late in the afternoon Rasmus offers a town walk through Santiago's historic town centre, and at 19:30 there is the chance to take part in the pilgrim mass.
• After the mass we meet at a good Galician restaurant for our closing folk high school evening.

We walk about 13 km today in hilly terrain.

The pilgrim word of the day: Spirituality & community.

10.5. Monday: Departure

• Breakfast
• Departure from the hotel and a bus of about 2 hours to Porto Airport
• Departure from Porto
• Arrival at Copenhagen Airport

*Subject to changes

Rasmus Forman is your course leader. He writes about himself:

"Since 2008 I have lived in Vila do Conde, a charming coastal town just north of Porto. I originally grew up in central Jutland and met my Portuguese wife Sofia when we were both studying in Berlin. After 5 years in Copenhagen we moved to Portugal, where we live with our two teenagers.

My educational background is history of ideas, multimedia and pedagogy, and in Denmark I have worked as a teacher, folk high school teacher and in the development of e-learning. When I am not a tour leader for Danes in northern Portugal and Galicia, I work with e-learning, and in my free time I enjoy fresh air, cultural encounters, good conversations, tennis, walking, philosophy, literature and art.

Since 2018 I have led walks for groups on the Portuguese Camino. I am especially fond of the rural "Caminho Central", which goes through old farmland, captivating nature and smaller towns. We also pass wayside crosses, chapels and churches that bear witness to the fact that the route has been walked by pilgrims for nearly 1000 years."

"Besides the physical and cultural walk, the Camino is for me a unique opportunity to ask oneself the questions that we humans have asked ourselves throughout the ages: Who am I? What is my task? What is important in my life? And what can I lean into?

Last but not least, the Camino is also an encounter with other fellow travellers through life. The Camino attracts people from all over the world who have vastly different backgrounds and motives for walking to Santiago de Compostela. Life on the road is marked by a fine, mutual helpfulness and great openness to hearing each other's stories."

Extra staff

If we number more than 20 course participants, a walking-leader assistant from Annas Højskole comes along, whose task is primarily to bring up the rear and make sure everyone keeps up. And otherwise to assist Rasmus if anything comes up that he needs help with. It gives great reassurance in the group, in our experience, when you have two course leaders along on the walk.