Camino Portugués
31.4 km, 439 m up and 426 m down, through 9 places, 7 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Orbenlle. 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 your eyes wide open when passing through Orbenlle. This town is nothing of note but is a very confusing place for pilgrims to find themselves.
The route splits here and depending on who you ask the answer of where to go will differ. The deciding point is at the end of town at a fork in the road. Don’t fret. There are only two ways to go:
LEFT, towards Centeáns and O Porriño along a longer but much more tranquil path. Distances indicated in this guide are for this route. It has been created by the pilgrim association in Galicia as a peaceful alternative to the out of control industrial zone into O Porriño and is often referred to as the riverside walk.
NOTE: After turning left to head into the forest and towards the river, there is another junction where you again have to turn left. There are arrows and the yellow "x" all over the place (designed to steer you back to the industrial zone) but have faith that you will get to the river soon.
The stretch through the forest ends at the highway, where you enter Centeáns.
RIGHT, directly to O Porriño but through an almost 5km stretch of an industrial zone.
The best advice is to turn left; bearing in mind that some arrows and even the locals will tell you to turn right.
After the highway, the walk into O Porriño can follow the main road or the river — the split occurs immediately after passing under the highway, with the river route requiring an immediate left turn. Distance is the same…
The walk into O Porriño can be done along the main road, or along the river, and again there are lots of conflicting arrows and warnings painted everywhere. The split occurs immediately after passing under the highway, and the new alternative river route requires an immediate left turn. The distance into town is the same.
The camino leaves town along the N550. On the north end of town, you will cross a roundabout, keeping to your right. Soon the road passes under the highway, and the trail leaves the road immediately after. After going under the highway, look to your right for a tunnel that passes under the off-ramp. It will take you to Ameirolongo.
After passing the large boulder on your right, arrows may indicate keeping on straight or turning left. Both will eventually take you across the N550 (exercise extreme caution) and into the hills. Turning left immediately after the boulder will require less walking along the busy road.
A bar-kiosko next to the albergue, but that's the extent of services. The hamlets run together along this stretch of the Louro Valley — the granite quarrying industry that feeds O Porriño's growth is visible in the massi…
If you have the option of staying in Veigadaña or staying in Mos for the night, the latter is recommended for its charm.
Mos is one of the understated pleasures of this stretch. It has everything you need for an overnight stay — a fine church, an albergue, a selection of bars, and the handsome Pazo de Mos — and nothing you don't. Leave tow…
The camino goes straight across the road and begins the descent into Redondela, passing through Villar and Saxamonde. Keep an eye open for the Roman milestone after crossing the road.
On the approach to Redondela, you will walk along the N550 for a stretch of about 600m. Do your best to cross to the right-hand side as soon as the opportunity presents itself; the official turn is along a curve in the road which is problematic.
When leaving town, the camino crosses the N550 at a bottleneck on the north side of town that is heavy with traffic at all hours. Cross the N550 as soon as you get to it, and almost immediately veer left gently onto a side road.
The arrows from here leave a bit to be desired. They are present, but have been spray painted with a not quite right yellow and at times, they don’t feel legit. Follow them all the same, and as you near Cesantes the stone markers return.
Getting past Cesantes means crossing the N550 once more, at probably the most dangerous point in a curve in the road. Head straight across and keep to your right.You are climbing uphill now and will traverse around the O Viso peak. Along the way you pass an installation of pilgrim shells and if you have a marker on hand you can leave a message on a sun-bleached shell. From here it is downhill again to the N550.At the entrance to Arcade, the camino turns left rather unnecessarily. It will cross back over the N550 in a few hundred meters, taking you past the albergues and shops of Arcade.
If you fancy oysters — and you should — Arcade is the place. The Ostras de Arcade have a protected designation and are harvested from the ria just below town. Several bars along the waterfront serve them fresh. The bridg…
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 365 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 31.1 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.