Day 14: Arnados to A Coruna Airport The last day of my trip to fill in the bits I hadn’t walked, started off in beautiful sunshine, which stayed with me for the whole day. I had convinced the owner of the hostel to open for breakfast at 8.30am instead of 9am, which gave me an extra 30 minutes walking, which was good…
Day 13: Malpica to Arnados Today I start a 2-day walk between Malpica and A Coruna airport i northern Spain. The last time I was in Malpica was the autumn 2023 after completing the Lighthouse Way from Finisterra (Stage 2 on my walk to Rome). Back then, I took a bus to A Coruna and flew home. In Spring 2024,…
Day 12: Olveiroa to Cee A short day today, only 20km, a relatively flat stage with some elevation (350m) but a lot of downhill towards the coast at Cee, and a fairly steep downhill at that. It was pretty cold as I left the pension and soon I saw frost on the grass, after passing a couple of streams that…
Day 11: Negreira to Olveiroa After a days rest in the rain, I was back on the road with 35km and 925m elevation. There wasn’t any breakfast at the place I stayed overnight in Negreira, so after a shower and packing my stuff, I was on my way by 8.30. Leaving town, I didn’t find anywhere to stop for breakfast.…
Day 10: Santiago do Compostela to Negreira Today was supposed to be my rest day. It is Sunday after all, and spending an afternoon in the church and town that in Spain is seen the same way as Fatima in Portugal, Lourdes in France and Rome in Italy, i.e. centres of Catholicism, seemed fitting. When walking, the weather plays a central role,…
Day 9: Viana do Castello to Seixas Back in 2022 I didn’t walk this stage due to a sprained ankle which I suffered the day before when I rolled over on it. I spent the day in Viana do Castello and took the train to Seixas later in the day. Upon recommendation from a friend, I purchased an ankle strap, and it…
Day 8: Coimbra to Mealhada It was two years and a day since I last was in Mealhada. Back then I decided to take the train to Mealhada and walk the few kilometers to Sernadelo, so that I could spend the morning in Coimbra and not least see it’s world famous library. Again this year, I decided to take the…
Day 7: Freixianda to Fatima Today was always going to be a hit or miss day. I needed to take a taxi ca. 30km to the start point, I needed to walk 32 kilometers, that turned out to be 35km in a hilly terrain and there was a bus to catch at 16.30. Breakfast was at 8am, and the hotel…
Day 6: Carregado to Azambuja Following yesterday’s marathon 37km, only 13km remained to reach Azambuja. That gave me some time to wash my clothes. I was up early and at the laundry as it opened at 8am. A 35min wash took 45 minutes and I had plenty of time to walk around the old town, and see the trams. My…
Day 5: Lisbon to Carregado I walked the Camino Portugues from Lisbon as far as Porto in February 2023, but I didn’t walk the two first stages to Azambuja. I actually ended up taking a taxi from Lisbon to Azambuja, as there was a train strike. Therefore the second part of my filling the gaps walk is to complete the…
Day 4: Setubal to Lisbon (via Barreiro) As many walkers know, walking is far easier in beautiful surroundings than walking along a busy main road, where one is worried that a car driver is more interested in their phone than the road – which happened to me today. In many respects today was a pleasant walk, starting with an uphill climb leaving…
Day 3: Brejos de Carregueira to Setubal A magnificent start and end to the walking today, so-so in between. After two heavy days I was wondering how my legs and body would react today, which was a somewhat shorter day at 23 or 27kms, depending on where I took the boat from to Setubal. I was down for breakfast at 8 sharp…
Day 2: Vila Nova de Santo Andres to Brejos de Carregueira The dreaded second day and on a Saturday, the day where many of my wettest, longest and least memorable walks have taken place. This Saturday was no exception. At breakfast I had a long chat with an American couple who wished they could move to Europe instead of flying home. I set off at 9.30…
Day 1: Porto Covo to Vila Nova de Santo Andres Two years and three days since I was in Porto Covo on the Fisherman’s Trail, I’m back. Last time I left Porto Covo on a bus, with broken shoes and travelled to Lisbon to buy a new pair. In Lisbon I had planned to take a train the 50 or so kilometer’s to Azambuja, where…
Day 0: Copenhagen to Porto Covo The plane left on time at 6.15am, destination Lisbon. I was up early and my wife drove me to the nearest metro station to enable me to get to the airport by 5.15 am. Safely buckled up on the plane, that is when my traumatic relationship to my ear buds started. I dropped one of…
Day 26: Noja to Santander My last day on the road as I return to Santander, where I started stage 4 in the spring. “Only” 29km and 600 elevation gain, so a fairly relaxing end to Stage 5 of my walk to Rome. Two ladies at dinner last night told me that their weather apps predicted rain all day. Mine…
Day 25: Castro-Urdiales to Noja It was a long day. The planned route was 40+ km and an elevation of almost 1.000m. Setting off, I hoped to make it to Laredo, 25km away, by 13.00, from where a boat sails to a lighthouse and drops me off at the next town, saving 5km. It was a good plan, but didn’t…
Day 24: Getxo to Castro-Urdiales What was supposed to be a 24km day turned out to be much more, partly thanks to lack of signs, missed signs and a closed path, which lead to longer detours. So instead of 24km, I ended up walking 30km. The day started sunny and bright, and lasted until early evening, As I write this,…
Day 23: Guernica to Lezama A short walk, 21km with 630m elevation, but a busy day. Lene flew back to Copenhagen, so we walked to the airport bus, said our goodbye’s and I walked 500m further to the bus stop for Guernica, where I had ended up on Sunday (day 21) before meeting Lene. It was 10.30 by the time…
Day 22: Lezama to Getxo, via Bilbao Yesterday I had a rest day, spent in Bilbao with my wife, Lene, visiting the Guggenheim Museum, walking around town and taking the Funicular up into the hills above Bilbao for great views of the city. This morning I took a bus to Lezama and walked 13km back into into Bilbao. The first kilometers were…
