Camino Portugués
12.3 km, 173 m up and 204 m down, through 4 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 Balugães. 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 far end of town, where there is a small fountain set in a wall, the camino indicates a left turn. Go that way to visit the Romanesque church, or turn right and save yourself the not-strictly-necessary climb and detour. The camino follows along the paved road until the road turns right to return to the national road; at which point the camino keeps on straight and into the forest. The forest track emerges to a small cluster of homes where you turn right and cross the national road. Follow the narrow road to Lugar do Corgo and beyond.
Keep on along the narrow road climbing up to Vitorino.
The only accommodation in town, Casa da Fernanda, is highly recommended as a pilgrim friendly experience.
Turn left at the church, and then keep on straight through the next roundabout to follow the camino uphill.The way to Portela is more uphill.
From Portela, the camino rejoins the national road for a short stretch. Be on the lookout for a turn to your left that takes you into the valley and through a string of hamlets. The Quinta da Portela listed below is in the first of them. You will eventually pass the Quinta do Sobreiro on your left.
The village is a short distance off the camino — no need to retrace your steps if you choose to spend the night there. A few accommodation options make it practical if the distances work.
The camino joins the road not far past the Quinta do Sobreiro and only for a short while. It is along that stretch that you will find the bar & bakery.When it leaves the road, it does so by turning to the left at a sign which indicates the way to the Rio Lima and the Polidesportivo.Before long you are along a continuous stretch of homes, and the distinction of where one town ends and another begins is a bit vague. Just keep on straight mostly, the only turns are indicated by arrows adjacent to small shrines.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 164 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 12.4 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.