Camino Portugués
11.1 km, 35 m up and 38 m down, through 7 places, 4 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Angeiras. 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.
At the end of town, leave the road and rejoin the familiar wooden boardwalk, it will soon cross the Río Onda to rejoin the road into Labruge.
At the end of town is the Avenida Da Libertade, turn right here to get to the albergue or continue straight along the beach walk. Arrows are sparse, but a few point the way to the Castro of Sampaio.
The camino leaves the familiar beach setting but follows close to the shore while it climbs to reach the chapel and castro of San Paio. From here follow the walkway along the dunes to reach Facho - Vila Chã.
At the start of town the camino turns away from the shore and passes through the village, gone is the wooden boardwalk. It will stay some distance from the shore until Povoa de Varzim.
There are two ways from Mindelo to Ávore, one along the waterfront and one inland. In recent years the waterfront option has become sand-swept, making it difficult for cyclists.
The new boardwalk out of Mindelo has been completed and you no longer need to take the red alternate route.
From Ávore the walking is entirely along paved roads.
Between Azurara and Vila do Conde flows the Rio Ave. Once over the bridge, turn left and walk along the park and Plaza de la Republica. At the end of the park follow straight (along the waterfront) until the next side street (the Rua do Lidador) where you turn right and uphill. At the top of hill there is an intersection of the old-town style, which is to say many directions all difficult to describe. Keep straight here, if somewhat to the right, and head towards the Igreja Matriz.
The Metro of Porto Line B (Linha da Póvoa) passes through Azurara. To stop here, disembark at the Azurara station, but note that one more stop takes you to Vila do Conde’s Santa Clara station.
From the Igreja Matriz you have two options, the one indicated by the signs takes you through the center of this large town and carries on straight past the church. It is well marked.
The other option is to follow along the Litoral route which is unmarked but easy enough to get to. Opposite the church (on your left as you approach the church) is a small plaza, cross it and follow to the right. Turn left on the second street, the Largo de Doutor Antonío José Almeida. This will take you down to the waterfront, where you turn right and follow the walk all the way to Povoa de Varzim. Just past the harbor the beach-front picks up, and it is here where the main route rejoins.
The Metro of Porto Line B (Linha da Póvoa) passes through Vila do Conde. To stop here, disembark at the Santa Clara station.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 218 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 11.4 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.