Camino Portugués
31.2 km, 319 m up and 445 m down, through 9 places, 3 of which have somewhere to sleep. Where you stop is up to you.
Every place on the path in order, with the distance from Ribeira de Alcalamouque. 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 on the N347 out of town. This road leads directly to Rabaçal, but the camino enjoys a parallel path. Just out of town turn right onto a track that is directly opposite the road towards Vale Florido. Shortly after turn left just before a cluster of buildings, and 150m later turn left once more. You are now paralleling the N347 that you left just a short while ago and the trail will take you to Rabaçal.
This gravel path is part of an old Roman road, and the arrows have disappeared. Just keep on straight. When it arrives at a paved road, turn left. But DO NOT stay on this road all the way back to the N347. The arrow is gone, but the track to the right is the one you want. That curve in the paved road is 300m from the visible N347, so if you get as far as the main road, you can either retrace your steps or walk the N347 into town.
Keep on out of town along the road and turn right where indicated in the direction of the Castelo de Germanelo. A turn to the left appears 900m down this road. Turn there and follow a well-marked set of trails all the way to Zambujal.
There are no services along the next 11km to Conímbriga. Stock up in Rabaçal, the night before if you have to.
Keep on the camino through Zambujal, with the church on your right. Shortly after at a fork, keep to your left. Keep on this trail, crossing the N347, and into Fonte Coberta.
At the end of town the signage has been improved, and a picnic area has been built but the fountain has not been connected. Turn left here and onto a track to Poço.
Pass left through Poço and descend through the forested hillside all the way to the museum and ruins of Conímbriga.
Leave by way of the road that exits the site. Turn right at the first intersection, heading straight towards and underneath the highway.Once past the highway, you will pass a series of hamlets (Valada, Atadoa, Orelhudo, Ribeira de Casconha, and Casconha) before crossing back over the highway and arriving in Cernache. Along the way, only Casconha has a bar.
Around Orelhudo, a new type of camino marker appears — stone posts with ceramic tiles. They're well designed but not plentiful: one at the entrance to each hamlet, sometimes one at the exit, but rarely in between. Arrows…
To leave town, continue along the road you came in on, past the church, to the roundabout with the clinica. Turn right there and pass under the N1 highway. Turn left at the next main road and follow it to the town of Pousada. In Pousada turn right past the church and then left onto the dirt track. The dirt track continues quietly for 2km before arriving at a series of industrial buildings. Turn left at the bus stop, and head into Palheira.
The way through town is well marked, as is the way out.After crossing the N1 turn right, then left both times in the direction that takes you uphill. When you get to a T-intersection, take the steep path straight ahead, up to the Alto de Santa Clara.
Arrows lead you easily out of town, and steeply downhill to an intersection where you turn left to follow a road parallel and immediately adjacent to the highway. The camino crosses over the highway and passes underneath an arch of the Roman aqueduct. You will shortly come to the suburbs of Santa Clara. At the large SANTA CLARA roundabout turn right. Stay on this road until the next roundabout, crossing it to exit the opposite side. Stay on this road; it will curve slightly to the left. At the next intersection, turn left to leave the primary road for a secondary one. It will take you downhill past the church of Nuestra Senhora da Esperança and to the Albergue and Convent of Santa Clara (3.3 from the Alto de Santa Clara).
Follow the winding cobbled lane downhill all the way to the bridge into Coimbra.
Distance, climb and descent are measured along the GPS track for this camino — 302 recorded points across this span, the same track the app carries. The town-to-town figures in my data put it at 31.5 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.