Camino Portugués
16.2 km, 204 m up and 96 m down, through 6 places, 1 of which has somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Águeda. Most are too small to sleep in — a fountain, a chapel, a bar that may or may not be open — but they are what the day is actually made of.
Like Coimbra, you do not need to go into town and can instead turn left at the end of the bridge. The neighboring town is Paredes, which is residential. The going is uphill, and the residential areas continue beyond the railway crossing.
There is a brief industrial stretch before crossing a busy road into Mourisca.
At the far end of town, you will cross the N1 into Pedaçães.
At the end of town, it is downhill and back across the N1 to the Roman Ponte do Marnel.
After crossing the bridge turn to your left and go back under the N1 into Lamas.
Not much in Lamas itself, but the climb to the church rewards you with a view over the surrounding countryside. The arrows at the end of town are poor, and old arrows can lead you on a needless hike to a washed-out bridg…
The arrows at the end of Lamas are quite poor, and the old arrows can lead you on a needless hike to a washed-out bridge. After descending back to the level of the N1, turn right towards it. You will walk along it, sticking to the left-hand side, across the Rio Vouga. On the far end of the bridge turn left into Lameiro.
Turn left into this hamlet after crossing the river along the N1. No services, just homes.
At the end of town you enter the eucalyptus forests again on a wide track. It is a nice walk amongst the trees, and in 2.5km you will return to traffic in Asseilho. Cross over the A3 here and Albergaria-a-Velha is straight ahead but still over 4km away.
Beyond Albergaria, the camino enters a forest. It emerges to the road a few times and leaves it a few more. The longest stretch of the road is the bit immediately following the Nossa Sra do Socorro (see statue below).The camino crosses railway upon entering Albergaria A Nova.
The camino through town does not take you along the best path. The recommended route which allows you to see the city center continues straight from the roundabout.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 116 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 15.9 km.
Esta entidad ha sido beneficiaria de una ayuda del Programa de incentivos a la movilidad eficiente y sostenible (MOVES III), gestionado por la Xunta de Galicia a través del Instituto Enerxético de Galicia (INEGA) en el marco del Real Decreto 266/2021, y cofinanciada por la Unión Europea — NextGenerationEU, dentro del Plan de Recuperación, Transformación y Resiliencia.