Camino Portugués
24.7 km, 477 m up and 226 m down, through 7 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 Calvinos. 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.
Keep more or less straight into town, through an offset intersection.Turn right at the next intersection to follow the primary road.The next ‘square’ has a bar and a mini-market. Turn left there to leave the main road and head back into the countryside.
You will emerge into the minuscule Freguesia with its modern church.Turn right before the church, and then left again and just like that you have left Freguesia behind. Quiet lanes will bring you to Ceras where you join the main road.
The camino takes you mostly around Ceras, and as you approach the town, it will be on your right-hand side.At the first T-intersection turn right (towards the main road) but left again on the first street. The idea here is to keep off the main road as much as possible and in 100m on you will have to turn right towards the road again.Turn left onto the IC3 and follow it for 250m, at which point the camino leaves the road via a path on the right.Once on that path, you will turn left to cross a stream and then turn right again, and at the next intersection turn right again to take you past a ranch; at this point, you will be walking away from the IC3 and back into the forest along a dirt path.NOTE: The next intersection is poorly marked. 1.2km from the ranch the trail you want turns left at a fork and up to the ridge but is poorly indicated. If you get to a 4-way junction, you have gone too far. Fact: this is the eastern most point of the Camino.Turn left up that trail and you will eventually pass through Portela de Vila Verde.
A crossroads hamlet. No services. The camino passes through on its way south toward Daporta.
Pass straight through Daporta and at the first 4-way intersection (after passing through town) turn left onto a dirt road. The junction can be identified by the utility building with a blue door on your left. The path turns back on itself and climbs uphill before entering a cork plantation which transitions into a eucalyptus forest.The forest is well marked and pleasant walking. It is about 2.6km before you arrive at the first large intersection with the main road. At this point, you are technically in Tojal, but there are no houses. Up the road on your right is a gas station.Cross through this intersection and carry on straight in the direction of Alvaiázere (centro). You will be on a paved road all the way to Cortiça (3.2km), passing olive groves along the way.
Turn right at the church that looks like more of a mini-castle, leaving the main road for a smaller country lane.You will pass the small hamlet of Oueteiro da Cotovia (it won’t feel like you left Cortiça) and at an intersection marked Outeirinho to the left, turn left.Pass through Outeirinho, turning right then immediately left again once you get there.Then you will pass through Feteiras and Portela da Feteiras, all before arriving in Alvaiazere.
There are several roads out of town, but the camino is well marked. Still, pay close attention to the arrows and if you are a pre-dawn walker, you are advised to check it out in advance.Leave town by way of the road in front of the church, turning right at a B large palm tree.
Pass straight through Vendas. There are several signs leading you into it, but once you get there, they vanish or are poorly placed. Keep on straight through the hamlet, passing many houses in ruin. By the time you reach the top of the hill, you are at the end of town. From here the camino keeps to the right and down a path. There are several turns before arriving in Venda do Negro, all well marked.
The path splits here and rejoins before Vendas. Both ways are below, because the question is which to take, and that is not a question two separate pages can answer.
Pass straight through Daporta and at the first 4-way intersection (after passing through town) turn left onto a dirt road. The junction can be identified by the utility building with a blue door on your left. The path turns back on itself and climbs uphill before entering a cork plantation which transitions into a eucalyptus forest.The forest is well marked and pleasant walking. It is about 2.6km before you arrive at the first large intersection with the main road. At this point, you are technically in Tojal, but there are no houses. Up the road on your right is a gas station.Cross through this intersection and carry on straight in the direction of Alvaiázere (centro). You will be on a paved road all the way to Cortiça (3.2km), passing olive groves along the way.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 237 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 25.1 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.