Camino Portugués
18.7 km, 227 m up and 229 m down, through 3 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 Viana do Castelo. 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.
Leave the centro historico of Viana do Castelo from the main square. Head north from the fountain (keep the length of the square to your left) and follow the pedestrianized and tree lined street (the Passeio das Mordomas da Romaria) to the first intersection. Turn left there to follow in the same direction as traffic along the Rua Candido Dos Reis/Luis do Rego. The road ends at the Park and Garden of Dom Fernando, turn right and at the next intersection keep as straight as possible to what looks like a dead end road. Arrows here will direct you down steps and underneath a busy avenida.At the top of the stairs on the other end keep going straight (you will have turned right just before climbing the stairs). DO NOT follow this road all the way to the busy avenida. Instead, turn left uphill and against traffic along the first street. It is signed as a dead end road. Follow it to the underpass.As you exit the underpass you will be in a more residential neighborhood. Turn left at the first street which is directly in front of you, the Rua Dom Moisés Alves de Pinho. From here you continue straight for several kilometers to leave town.The way passes through several narrow streets and cobbled lanes but is well marked. The Quinta da Boa Viagem is the next obvious landmark in Areosa.
After passing the Quinta da Boa Viagem, take the first road on your right. The next arrow is low on the curb and has you turn left and you will soon find yourself on a country road flanked by forests on both sides. Were the forest ends the road you have been following takes a sharp bend to the left, but the camino turns to the right to follow a narrow track. When the track emerges it will turn right along the Rua do Louvado and then keep to your left to walk along the cobbled path with stone walls on either side. When the road opens up again there are several roads to choose from, and the one you want is the second from the right. It will take you uphill slowly but steadily until it reaches a fork in the road, at which point the camino takes a turn to the left and downhill, again between two walls. A short distance on it take the first road on the right. The arrows in these parts are well defined and the camino will eventually emerge in Carreço. A bridge over the railway will appear on your left and it marks your arrival.
If you choose to keep on the camino through Carreço, turn away from the bridge and keep to the east of the tracks. It won't be long before the camino turns back to the tracks and crosses at a level crossing. It will arrive at the church and pass behind it. Arrows are scarce to non-existent here, just keep to this same road a short distance until it merges with a larger road and turn right towards the train station. Where this road ends turn right and back over the railway in the direction of "Paço - Carreço". A short distance on the camino turns left at the second street, there is an arrow and a marker for the PR8 hiking trail. Arrows will guide you through town, past the albergue, and at the last junction at the last house in town, keep left and into the forest. The way is anything but straight but is well indicated. You will emerge from the forest at the edge of the town of Afife, and subsequently skirts around the town thereby avoiding all of the services available there. The way is marked and winding along cobbled roads. It will make its way over a small river and continue to climb up through the forest to a road and the stone cross cruzeiro.
All services in Carreço are located along the main road. To get there you will need to turn left to cross the railway, and follow the road downhill to the roundabout. Turn left at the roundabout, heading south (with the water on your right).
The Cruzeiro marks a high point, and it is downhill from here to Vila Praia de Âncora.
To find your way from Âncora, make your way to the waterfront. The camino follows the road adjacent to it, and where the yellow bike lanes begin you have the option of crossing to the right-hand side of the road, but keep an eye open for where the bike path turns left as you want to follow it to where it ends. From there continue along the dirt track, with the railway to your right for a short distance.
You will pass the Capela de Santa Isodoro on your left. The path will turn to a road as it enters the first suburbs of Caminha, and where the road ends at another turn right. You are at the beach now and a short distance later turn right and pass under the railway. Once back to the main road turn left and continue towards Caminha.
Where the camino arrives at a large roundabout with the N13, take the third exit along the Rua de Pombal (NOT over the railway). The road will eventually twist to pass over the tracks and from there it proceeds directly to Caminha, arriving at the main square, the Praça Conselheiro Silva Torres.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 904 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 18 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.