Camino Portugués
10.3 km, 127 m up and 78 m down, through 1 place, 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 São Miguel de Arcos. 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 start of town, you will find a small intersection with a tree set in a triangular retaining wall. Turn left here and follow the curvature of the road to the first fork and turn right. The path takes you through farmland and forest and directly into Rates. An alternate route, which is newer, follows the road.
At the beginning of town the camino is unclear and confused by the presence of new arrows taking you along the road. The way to Rates is better along the old path described below. Likewise, keep an eye out for arrows which take you to Esposende on the Coastal Way, they are near the railway-line-turned-pedestrian-path which you cross over near the entrance to São Pedro de Rates.
The Igreja Romanica de Sao Pedro de Rates sits at the entrance to town and is the finest Romanesque church in Portugal. The church is all that survives of the Benedictine monastery that once stood here — a solemn, heavy-…
At the start of town the camino splits. Keep to your right, following the arrows along The Central Way. The other variation will take you west to join The Coastal Way.
The sign indicating the entrance of Pedra Furada would have you believe that the town is much smaller that it is. Pass through the narrow streets and at the main road turn left into the rest of town. After turning left, keep on the road.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 123 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 9.9 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.