Camino Portugués
9.8 km, 210 m up and 157 m down, through 4 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 Branca. 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.
An industrial town between Albergaria a Nova and Pinheiro da Bemposta. The camino passes through without ceremony.
The camino crosses the N1 by way of an elevated pedestrian walkway and heads straight to Bemposta. There is a pharmacy in Pinheiro, but it is along the N1. To get there cross the walkway and then turn south. Otherwise, continue straight off the walkway.
Bemposta represents a curious turn in the camino from what would be a natural course north. After crossing the N1, you climb to the historical center of town and then back down to the N1 by passing underneath a house (well marked). At the N1, you cross back over. The road turns right (now heading north) and through a mixture of residential and industrial buildings in the area known as Besteiros/Travanca. This area is heavily developed and although traffic is not excessive it is seldom aware of pilgrim traffic. Keep your wits about you.
After the railway crossing, turn right at the first intersection. This road will take you upwards and over the highway at a large half-cloverleaf intersection. It then descends. At the first intersection turn right.
There is nothing particularly tricky about this section, but the turn off only has one arrow and the camino path is an unlikely one. If you miss it and get to the junction with the busy N1, you have gone too far, but there are old arrows there which might convince you otherwise. RETRACE YOUR STEPS, DO NOT FOLLOW THE ROAD. The turn off is on your right, steeply up what might be considered the driveway to a house. Behind the house are the now familiar railway and the camino turns left to pass under the bridge. It follows the railway for a short distance before turning left onto a gravel track. This turn off is evident. NOTE: This is an ACTIVE railway.
Carry on straight from here. The road ahead turns left at a railway, but cross those and continue up a cobbled stone path. Turn right at the top of that path. From here it is straight, and uphill, all the way into Oliveira.
The road between here and the Roman Ponte do Salgueiro is nothing short of boring. It is continuous development of both industry and housing.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 99 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 10.3 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.