Camino Portugués
27.6 km, 288 m up and 190 m down, through 10 places, 2 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Avelãs do Caminho. 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.
Leave town on the opposite side of the N1, turning left at the chapel with the bust of Henrique Maroues Moura. A maker here proclaims rather incorrectly that it is 303km to Santiago.Between here and Aguada de Baixo is a string of hamlets (no service) and a chapel in São João da Azenha.
Keep on straight through. Along the way, you will cross several surface roads and under the highway. The going is along asphalt the whole way. You will also pass through the Barró Industrial Zone, which is 4.1km from Sardão.
An industrial area between Aguada de Baixo and Sardao. No services. Keep walking.
Sardão is a short strip of road stuck between the river and the road; it has seen better days. Once through cross the road towards a new pedestrian bridge. A second bridge brings you into Águeda.
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 — 183 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 29.9 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.