Santiago De Compostela Tours and Trips

This trip blends the best of the coastal route from Porto with the stunning, lesser-known Spiritual Variant trail. Hiking over 100 km (62 miles) along the Portuguese Camino Highlights Walk was challenging but very rewarding. The coastal walks offered stunning views of the coastline and ocean and I loved walking through the quaint fishing villages along the coast. The Stone & Water trail and the Spiritual Variant trail offered stunning scenery, peaceful forests, rivers, and charming medieval villages and country towns along the way. The food was a highlight too—fresh seafood and traditional local dishes at every stop. I highly recommend trying local dishes such as Galician Pulpo (octopus), Galician scallops (in the shell), and Padron peppers! On Day 5 and 6, we stayed at Villa Covelo and stumbled upon a local restaurant called, O Recuncho do lolo, and had an incredible local experience here! The owner Graciela was so hospitable and kind that we dined there two evenings in a row! You must try her cheesecake (she sold us by telling us it was the best in the world- and it very well might be!) The accommodations at A Casa Antiga do Monte and Hotel Melo Alvim were cozy, historic, and full of character. If you’re thinking about doing a "highlights version" of the Camino, this Exodus trip is the perfect way to do it! :)

Well organised which made the whole trek lot more pleasant. The accommodation was all very good except for one that was average but quite doable. Overall, very pleasant experience, thanks!

Hotel selection was wonderful and conveniently close to the Camino Way. The free dinners were good but I would have liked to have tried some of the other dishes not on the set menu. Maybe provide a dinner voucher that can be used on any dish instead of the set menu.

The trip was very well planned, all the accommodations, luggage transfer, meals and GPx tracks were exactly as stated in the itinerary. It's nice to have such a stress free trip given all the different cities and towns we hiked too.

Firstly, I will start with a disclaimer I would like to stay in touch with our guide Malina as a friend. While I was walking the Camino she was a true friend to me. She always had best interests of everyone on the tour at heart. I valued her honest council on the walk and will continue to value it through life. My previous review mentioned how much I appreciated the guide and the taxi being there to meet me at the airport. On this occasion neither was there. The guide was out to dinner with the group. The taxi driver left after 1.5 hours. (There was a long delay in collecting our luggage) . Malina left me a whatsapp message which I was unable to access due to no internet connection on my phone. I was able to get an internet connection on a different device and checked the explore itinerary to get the name of the hotel. I then got a taxi to the hotel. When I phoned explore I was told that both the hotel name and address as well as an emergency number are in the final confirmation email. I would highly recommend writing both down before you leave home. I would say the main reason for having a guide is not to point out all the interesting things and the great views but to prevent things going wrong and to deal with them when they do. I successfully walked the Camino last year, ok I had a few blisters but still completed it. It was difficult for me to accept that I would have to do shorter walks this year because of blisters and the heat. But Malina was correct. She took a difficult decision with my best interest at heart to ensure that I not only enjoyed my holiday but also returned home without any health issues. Instead of walking in the heat which was difficult for me I got the opportunity to fully experience the excellent hotels and interesting places on the journey. Which Camino was best I cannot really answer that question. In both cases I was in groups made up of wonderful people with guides who went the extra mile to ensure that everyone had a great holiday. I had two different holidays the first was walking place to place mainly enjoying the journey in the second I had more time to experience the destination. The main thing that both had in common was the camaraderie of the Camino.

Thank you. Your plan worked well. It was good to see my luggage at every stop on the way. The hotels were great and the Rural Group A were fantastic. Thank you again. Regards, sore feet!