Camino Portugués
30.4 km, 274 m up and 246 m down, through 6 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 Golegã. 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.
There are confusing arrows leading you the wrong way out of town by way of Rua Dom João IV. Ignore these and instead find your way to the front of the church. Walk around it via the square with the bullfighter (your left). Turn left on that road, and then right again. Follow the road all the way to, and through, an intersection with the N243.
When entering Golegã, arrows indicate a right turn on the first street. DO NOT take that road. Instead, take the next. You will arrive in the same place (the main square and church), but you will get to see the impossibly beautiful building that is the Cphotography museum and studio of Carlos Revas.
Not much of a town at all — a small park and an excellent albergue, but little else. The albergue is on the right, opposite the school building. A practical stop if the distances work.
Leave town by passing over the bridge and turning left. The path with take you all the way to Vila Nova da Barquinha, passing the small hamlet of Pedregoso along the way.
The camino crosses the main road and then crosses the railway before heading out of town. It does NOT enter the town. After the tracks, keep mostly straight at the roundabout. The way is well marked.
Keep on straight through town, following the road. It will veer to the right and begin a short climb to the church.Keep on straight again beyond the church along the N110 but keep an eye open for where the camino departs from the road along a track through the forests on your right.
Keep on the country lane past the church. You will pass a dirt football pitch that has been re-purposed as an off-road track for dirt bikes, and the road will descend into Asseiceira.
Keep on the paved road out of town, it will rejoin the N110. From here to Tomar things can get a bit hairy, so be on the lookout for arrows.Stay on the N110 until the first roundabout at a point where it joins the larger A13; at this point you cross under the A13. Once on the other side, at the roundabout, the basic strategy is to keep straight on uphill (towards the "Zona Industrial") rather than turning right to stay on the N110 (though if you did that you would eventually arrive to Tomar, so don't fret). On your way up the road will level out and cross over the railway which parallels the N110 into Tomar. Immediately after crossing the railway, look to your right for a dirt trail and when you spot it, turn right and follow it. At this point the railway is to your right, and beyond it is the N110. You will pass a few small hamlets strung along the road before rejoining the N110 into Tomar.
To leave town cross the river over the Marques do Pombal bridge (it is a single lane bridge with a pedestrian path, and you will be going against the car traffic). Turn left at the start of the Alameda, left again onto Joao dos Santos Simaos, and then right onto Avenida Doutor Egas Moniz.Just past the bullring turn left and then right slightly. Not far ahead you will pass the very prison-like (literally and metaphorically) Infantry Barracks.The road gives way to a country trail and in a short distance arrives at the locally renowned Ponte de Peniche.Keep straight at the junction after the bridge, and continue to cross under the IC9, keeping to your left after doing so. It is pleasant country roads through planted forests.At the first paved intersection (a four-way intersection 3km after passing under the IC9), turn right onto the road. Follow it to the first fork and veer right into Casais.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 199 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 29.3 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.