Day 4 - into the hills again (Frank Hofmann) 
Route summary
£600.00 (2013)
7 nights
7 B&B, 1 evening meal, 6 picnics, luggage transfers between hotels
Medium - Hard
3½ - 7 hours
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Northern Portugal
Walking the wild hill country
How to get there:

ARRIVING BY AIR

 

The best "local" airport is Porto.  Intercontinental travellers can land at Lisbon, then catch the express bus to Arcos de Valdevez and local taxi onwards to Soajo (necessitates an overnight stay in Lisbon).

 

Flight information can change rapidly. Please do check for yourself directly with the airlines' websites before finalising any booking with us and do not book your flights until we have confirmed that we have provisionally reserved accommodation for you.

 

Land by: 11:45 for reliable public transport connections to Soajo (but see Porto starts below).

Return flight earliest: 11:00 for connections from Santa Mario do Bouro

Land by/earliest return flight times not applicable if using a pre-booked taxi from airport to first hotel OR if staying a night in Porto at the start (recommended).

 

Flights from UK airports:

Dublin Ryanair (not daily, seasonal);

Gatwick TAP; Easyjet;

Heathrow TAP;

Liverpool Ryanair (not daily, seasonal);

Stansted Ryanair;

See "Getting to the start of the walk" below for transfer information.

 

ARRIVING BY TRAIN

 

Nearest railway station:

Start: Braga

Finish: Braga


Typical rail journey from UK via Paris:

London: Eurostar to Paris (N), transfer to Paris Montparnasse for the TGV to Irun, and then the Sud Express overnight train to Coimbra-B, for Intercity to Porto, and a local train to Braga. ~21.5 hrs.

 

Braga: Reverse of outward journey.

 

See www.seat61.com/Portugal.htm for full information on the journey between London/Paris and Porto, plus an alternative option via Madrid.  For the Porto to Braga stretch use www.cp.pt.

Getting to the start of the walk:

The first hotel is in the village of Soajo and the last walking hotel is at Santa Maria do Bouro, near Amares. Best airport is Porto and transfer times and methods are suggested for Porto airport below. For train arrival transfers see below.

 

Note: if you would like to stay a night or two in Porto, this is best done at the start of the walk, to avail yourself of the excellent expess bus service from Porto city to the route itself.

 

PORTO AIRPORT:

Outward: Best then by bus to Braga (bookable online) followed by pre-bookable taxi to Soajo (2-4 hrs depending on flight arrival time) OR pre-bookable taxi transfer from Porto airport to the first hotel (c. 2 hrs) 
Return: Local taxi to Braga then bus to airport (total around 2 hrs) or bus/train to Porto city (2 1/2 hrs total) OR pre-bookable taxi transfer from the final hotel on the walk to Porto airport (1½ hrs) OR to Porto hotel (2 hrs)

 

Transfers from Braga train station:

Outward: Bus to Arcos de Valdevez and local taxi to Soajo, OR pre-bookable taxi transfer all the way to Soajo

Return: Local taxi (c. €30), or bus to Braga bus station then short taxi. 

 

For all pre-bookable taxi prices, see "Prices"

 

Full transfer advice, including timetables, is provided in your Walkers' Pack. Contact us if you would like additional pre-booking information.