CAMINO PORTUGUESE – Packing List (2018)

Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela

April 2018

What to pack in your backpack for 5 weeks of hiking on the Portuguese Camino (or perhaps rather, what NOT to pack) … it can be a daunting task!

I have to admit though, it wasn’t that hard to make decisions this time, since we had last year’s Camino Frances as our reference. We already knew what worked, what we should change and what should stay at home!

Again, the following is not the perfect packing list, but an indication of what has worked for us.

The most important thing to always remember: LESS IS MORE

Trango Salinon backpacks (35+5L)

After last year’s Camino we decided to invest in smaller backpacks. There were two reasons for this: To have a lighter load and also for our backpacks to fit as carry-on luggage.

We couldn’t find suitable backpacks at our usual outdoor/adventure shops and ended up at a shop in Cape Town that supplies rock climbing equipment. Here we found the backpacks we were looking for.

• Conclusion: This is a definite KEEPER! We were limited in how much we could take with us, but it was also a good indicator to make sure we packed the bare minimum!

My backpack weighed 4kg and Berto’s backpack was 4.5kg.

Comparison between this year’s backpacks (in the middle) and last year’s backpacks. Going smaller and more compact was absolutely worth it

Berto’s clothes (left) and Corna’s clothes (right)

Again, we each only packed 2 sets of hiking clothes and 1 set of casual/sleepwear.

• Conclusion: Keep! We packed the same clothes we used on the Camino Frances last year – they are light and dry quickly. We did make two replacements though, namely:
• Berto bought a new rain jacket (North Face Stratos Jacket) – and thoroughly tested it on the Portuguese Camino. We’ve come to the conclusion that, in torrential rain, no jacket is really waterproof! But it did help keep him dry (most of the time) in light rain.
• I invested in new hiking socks, namely 1000Mile-Breeze socks – according to the label they help prevent blisters. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky, but will continue to search for the perfect blister free socks and shoes.

Our toiletry bags – Corna (left) and Berto (right)

Yes, I learned from my previous Camino! This time I kept mine simple and to the minimum.

• Conclusion: Keep! I bought a smaller toiletry bag than last year’s, so no unnecessary stuff was packed. And Berto might leave his razor at home next time.

Comparison between my toiletry bag from last year (bottom) and this year (top). Those extra grams add up, so make a wise decision

Clothesline and washing powder

These items we used quite a few times on our Portuguese Camino. The small clothesline was very handy when we spent the night in places without a place to hang our laundry.

• Conclusion: Keep! These don’t take up much space and are worth taking along on our hiking trips.

Probably the most important thing on any pilgrim’s packing list! Our medical kit – which mostly consisted of plasters

Four items we will not leave at home when going on a hiking trip: Fisiocrem (Arnica gel for painful muscles), Bactroban ointment (to treat skin infections), Merthiolate (the very important blister “medicine”) and Vaseline (prevents friction)

There were fewer items in our medical kit than last year. We bought pain tablets and plasters in Portugal and Spain when we needed more – there is no shortage of pharmacies!

• Conclusion: Keep! We still believe that Leukotape P plaster and Merthiolate are very important to have in any medical kit when going for long hikes!

Travel towels

This time we cut our travel towels even smaller! It was just a big washcloth now, but we could still dry ourselves off!

• Conclusion: Keep! The small (and now even smaller) travel towels are very light and dry quickly. Perhaps we should also count ourselves lucky that we were provided with large bath towels in most of the hostels – that was definitely a bonus.

First Ascent’s Hiker Air Pillows

These pillows are great! Once folded, they are a little bigger than a golf ball!

• Conclusion: Keep! This is a huge improvement on last year’s pillows. These are lightweight, fill a small hole in a backpack and by inflating just twice, one has a proper pillow to sleep on.

Pillows (in small bags) and K-Way Extreme lite 500 down sleeping bags

The sleeping bags are one of our best hiking purchases so far! We bought them before last year’s Camino and after using them on 2 Caminos now, they are still a winner.

• Conclusion: A definite KEEP! We love our K-Way sleeping bags! With a weight of only 470g per sleeping bag, it’s worth the money. And yes, the pillows won’t be left behind next time either.

Tissue paper and Camino shells

The tissue paper was new on our packing list. It is environmentally friendly and we realised it’s always good to have on hand. The Camino shells are non-negotiable. They are the most iconic symbol of the Camino and come on your backpack (or on your hat or around your neck – just as you like).

• Conclusion: Keep! For peace of mind, it’s good to have your own small roll of tissue paper in your backpack. The Camino shells come from South Africa where we bought them in Langebaan, a lovely beach town. We were looking for the smallest shells to take with us on our trip.

Miscellaneous: Headlamps, shoe laces, s-hooks, small day pack, sun screen, Camino purse, Camera & camera charger, salt & pepper, ear plugs and bottle opener

This time we packed less cutlery than was the case with our previous Camino. We couldn’t take a knife with us (our luggage was carry-on) and it’s an item we sometimes missed when we had lunch somewhere on the road … but still, it was never really a problem.

• Conclusion: Keep! There is not much we would change here. Our LED lenser SE05 headlamps have come in handy quite a few times. The rest we used (except for the shoe laces, but as we mentioned in a previous post, extra shoe laces are good to have and they don’t take up any space and are also weightless). The earplugs are always a good idea to have with you when there are snorers in your dormitory. The Twistick bottle opener is probably the smallest bottle opener ever. We used it a lot to open all those wonderful bottles of red wine. It will definitely be packed again next time.

Sea to Summit Dry Sacks (5L)

These are the bags that keep your clothes dry.

• Conclusion: A definite KEEP! We have used these dry bags on many hikes and they work great. On those long and rainy days in Portugal, when everything was wet, it was always the items in the dry bags that stayed dry.

John Brierley’s Camino Portuguese guide book, “Credencial del Peregrino” as well as a notebook and pen

Many pilgrims use a Camino app on their mobile phones as a guide, but we used John Brierley’s guide book of both the Camino Frances and Camino Portuguese. Maybe it is “old school” to have a book, but it is detailed and contains a lot of useful information. You can’t really go wrong.

• Conclusion: Keep! For us, John Brierley’s guide book is synonymous with the Camino. The Pilgrims’ Credential is the Camino’s passport in which you receive all your stamps at the various albergues/hostels. And a notebook and pen are always good to have when you want to write down all those great memories (I told you we’re old school).

Ok, let’s get to shoes. Berto (left) and Corna (right). Corna’s shoes changed as she took her hiking sandals out just before we’ve left (much to her regret)

Lisbon to Santiago de Compostela

April 2018

What to pack in your backpack for 5 weeks of hiking on the Portuguese Camino (or perhaps rather, what NOT to pack) … it can be a daunting task!

I have to admit though, it wasn’t that hard to make decisions this time, since we had last year’s Camino Frances as our reference. We already knew what worked, what we should change and what should stay at home!

Again, the following is not the perfect packing list, but an indication of what has worked for us.

The most important thing to always remember: LESS IS MORE

Trango Salinon backpacks (35+5L)

After last year’s Camino we decided to invest in smaller backpacks. There were two reasons for this: To have a lighter load and also for our backpacks to fit as carry-on luggage.

We couldn’t find suitable backpacks at our usual outdoor/adventure shops and ended up at a shop in Cape Town that supplies rock climbing equipment. Here we found the backpacks we were looking for.

• Conclusion: This is a definite KEEPER! We were limited in how much we could take with us, but it was also a good indicator to make sure we packed the bare minimum!

My backpack weighed 4kg and Berto’s backpack was 4.5kg.

Comparison between this year’s backpacks (in the middle) and last year’s backpacks. Going smaller and more compact was absolutely worth it

Berto’s clothes (left) and Corna’s clothes (right)

Again, we each only packed 2 sets of hiking clothes and 1 set of casual/sleepwear.

• Conclusion: Keep! We packed the same clothes we used on the Camino Frances last year – they are light and dry quickly. We did make two replacements though, namely:
• Berto bought a new rain jacket (North Face Stratos Jacket) – and thoroughly tested it on the Portuguese Camino. We’ve come to the conclusion that, in torrential rain, no jacket is really waterproof! But it did help keep him dry (most of the time) in light rain.
• I invested in new hiking socks, namely 1000Mile-Breeze socks – according to the label they help prevent blisters. Unfortunately, I wasn’t so lucky, but will continue to search for the perfect blister free socks and shoes.

Our toiletry bags – Corna (left) and Berto (right)

Yes, I learned from my previous Camino! This time I kept mine simple and to the minimum.

• Conclusion: Keep! I bought a smaller toiletry bag than last year’s, so no unnecessary stuff was packed. And Berto might leave his razor at home next time.

Comparison between my toiletry bag from last year (bottom) and this year (top). Those extra grams add up, so make a wise decision

Clothesline and washing powder

These items we used quite a few times on our Portuguese Camino. The small clothesline was very handy when we spent the night in places without a place to hang our laundry.

• Conclusion: Keep! These don’t take up much space and are worth taking along on our hiking trips.

Probably the most important thing on any pilgrim’s packing list! Our medical kit – which mostly consisted of plasters

Four items we will not leave at home when going on a hiking trip: Fisiocrem (Arnica gel for painful muscles), Bactroban ointment (to treat skin infections), Merthiolate (the very important blister “medicine”) and Vaseline (prevents friction)

There were fewer items in our medical kit than last year. We bought pain tablets and plasters in Portugal and Spain when we needed more – there is no shortage of pharmacies!

• Conclusion: Keep! We still believe that Leukotape P plaster and Merthiolate are very important to have in any medical kit when going for long hikes!

Travel towels

This time we cut our travel towels even smaller! It was just a big washcloth now, but we could still dry ourselves off!

• Conclusion: Keep! The small (and now even smaller) travel towels are very light and dry quickly. Perhaps we should also count ourselves lucky that we were provided with large bath towels in most of the hostels – that was definitely a bonus.

First Ascent’s Hiker Air Pillows

These pillows are great! Once folded, they are a little bigger than a golf ball!

• Conclusion: Keep! This is a huge improvement on last year’s pillows. These are lightweight, fill a small hole in a backpack and by inflating just twice, one has a proper pillow to sleep on.

Pillows (in small bags) and K-Way Extreme lite 500 down sleeping bags

The sleeping bags are one of our best hiking purchases so far! We bought them before last year’s Camino and after using them on 2 Caminos now, they are still a winner.

• Conclusion: A definite KEEP! We love our K-Way sleeping bags! With a weight of only 470g per sleeping bag, it’s worth the money. And yes, the pillows won’t be left behind next time either.

Tissue paper and Camino shells

The tissue paper was new on our packing list. It is environmentally friendly and we realised it’s always good to have on hand. The Camino shells are non-negotiable. They are the most iconic symbol of the Camino and come on your backpack (or on your hat or around your neck – just as you like).

• Conclusion: Keep! For peace of mind, it’s good to have your own small roll of tissue paper in your backpack. The Camino shells come from South Africa where we bought them in Langebaan, a lovely beach town. We were looking for the smallest shells to take with us on our trip.

Miscellaneous: Headlamps, shoe laces, s-hooks, small day pack, sun screen, Camino purse, Camera & camera charger, salt & pepper, ear plugs and bottle opener

This time we packed less cutlery than was the case with our previous Camino. We couldn’t take a knife with us (our luggage was carry-on) and it’s an item we sometimes missed when we had lunch somewhere on the road … but still, it was never really a problem.

• Conclusion: Keep! There is not much we would change here. Our LED lenser SE05 headlamps have come in handy quite a few times. The rest we used (except for the shoe laces, but as we mentioned in a previous post, extra shoe laces are good to have and they don’t take up any space and are also weightless). The earplugs are always a good idea to have with you when there are snorers in your dormitory. The Twistick bottle opener is probably the smallest bottle opener ever. We used it a lot to open all those wonderful bottles of red wine. It will definitely be packed again next time.

Sea to Summit Dry Sacks (5L)

These are the bags that keep your clothes dry.

• Conclusion: A definite KEEP! We have used these dry bags on many hikes and they work great. On those long and rainy days in Portugal, when everything was wet, it was always the items in the dry bags that stayed dry.

John Brierley’s Camino Portuguese guide book, “Credencial del Peregrino” as well as a notebook and pen

Many pilgrims use a Camino app on their mobile phones as a guide, but we used John Brierley’s guide book of both the Camino Frances and Camino Portuguese. Maybe it is “old school” to have a book, but it is detailed and contains a lot of useful information. You can’t really go wrong.

• Conclusion: Keep! For us, John Brierley’s guide book is synonymous with the Camino. The Pilgrims’ Credential is the Camino’s passport in which you receive all your stamps at the various albergues/hostels. And a notebook and pen are always good to have when you want to write down all those great memories (I told you we’re old school).

Okay, let’s get to shoes. Berto (left) and Corna (right). However, Corna’s shoes changed at the last minute when she took her hiking sandals out of her backpack (much to her annoyance)

Shoes are a great topic on the Camino! Hiking boots, sandals, crocs, trail runners. The list is almost endless!

Berto is lucky that his Salomon boots are like a second skin on his feet! He has now walked 2 Caminos with the same boots (more than 1400km) and it is only now that the stitching on the top is starting to come loose. The soles still look as good as new and he won’t want to part with them easily.

But for me (Corna), hiking boots are a challenge! I’ve tried boots, trail runners and sandals and it seems out of these three that sandals are the most comfortable at this point. But my feet are still not blister free.

• Conclusion: Some keep and others an open question! Flip-flops are great – we’ve used them to shower and rest our feet after a long walk (and they work with toe socks when it’s cold)! Berto will continue with his Salomon boots (although the time has come to buy a new pair). But I’m still looking for the ultimate long-distance hiking shoe.

Just a note: We recently purchased Bedrock Sandals (Bedrock Cairn Pro Adventure Sandals) and we are now seeing how well they will do on long hikes. We will keep you posted.

And that was our Packing List for the Portuguese Camino. In retrospect, we are very happy with what we took with us and what we left at home. We will probably work on this list some more when planning the next long distance hike. But for now this is a good guideline.