Day-by-day trail itinerary

Caminho Português da Costa (stored Porto Sé to Portugal-Spain border geometry): 9-day itinerary

The line mapped here is the inland option out of Porto rather than the Douro and the beaches, so the sea is never in sight. It starts on the Gaia quay, crosses the Douro on the lower deck of the Ponte Luís I and climbs hard through Ribeira's lanes to the cathedral inside the first kilometre, which is most of the section's ascent done before anything else has happened. After that it is hours of city pavement and granite sett heading north through Carvalhido and Monte dos Burgos, out past Padrão da Légua, over the Leça at the old bridge below Goimil, and into the airport's hinterland of business parks, hotel forecourts and road verges, with aircraft crossing low over the line near the runway head. Flat, easy, and hard underfoot the whole way. The standard stage guide is blunt that this option has no attractions and never shows you the sea, and most coastal-route walkers take the riverside and beach alternative instead. Its one genuine merit is that the Porto metro shadows it from end to end.