We enjoyed hiking the Camino de Santiago so much in Autumn 2023 that we decided to return & try a new route.

This time we started in Porto, Portugal. Porto is Portugal’s second largest city & is where Port wine originated. We arrived from Lisbon by train. After picking up our Camino passport at the Porto Cathedral, we visited what is claimed to be the most beautiful bookstore in the world.

It’s called Livraria Lello. It’s so popular that you have to get tickets in advance to be admitted. Once inside, you realize why many people believe the author J.K. Rowling who wrote the Harry Potter series was inspired by this bookstore to create the library at Hogwarts. She denies she did; but, she did live in Porto when she was writing her first Harry Potter book.

It is very small store & it is decorated beautifully with a very unique staircase.

Today we started our 260 km walk to Santiago. Before we left I thought our first day was going to be 13 miles; I then learned it would be 15 miles; but, it was actually 17 miles! So glad I didn’t know that before we left. 😜

After taking a metro ride to the coast we crossed a bridge & started the walk that took 8 hours to complete.

On most of the route we enjoyed beautiful views right along the Atlantic Ocean. Remarkably, most of the trail was on a wooden boardwalk. What a luxury for the locals to have such a marvelous walkway.

Here are a few sights we saw along the way.

Happy to be finished on a long first day!