Camino Portugués
27.8 km, 248 m up and 221 m down, through 10 places, 4 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Sernadelo. 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.
The private albergue known as Hilario is in Sernadelo, just past the turn-off from the main road. The camino leaves Mealhada along the highway and turns right here.
A hamlet with a church. The camino wraps around it and continues toward Aguim on the road.
The way from Aguim to Anadia is well marked and clearly understood, with one exception: when nearing Anadia along the road, an electric pole on your left has some wiggly looking arrows which suggest that you jog left then right to go into the woods. This was once the way and will still get you there, but the official arrows point you straight along the road.In either case, turn left when you get to another road some 400m from this confusing point. This will take you around the newly built sports complex. On the other end keep on the road; turning left at the first roundabout, left at the second roundabout, and right at the third; all are well marked.
The centre of the Bairrada wine region, though the town itself isn't directly on the camino — it's a left turn at the second roundabout near the sports complex. If you need services (shops, ATM, pharmacy), make the detou…
The arrow through Arcos is at the base of the church. Turn right at the church, around a bend, then left. Alfeolas is near.
The new half is divided by the busy-ish N235 that you must cross. Once across, turn left and walk through a walled residential area. Following the arrows will then lead you through a small industrial area. The way is asphalt all the way to Avelãs. You will join a busy road for only a small stretch at the start of town.
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.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 210 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 30.4 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.