Areia Branco to Porto via the Coast
It rains, all is wet outside. Although January is the wet month in Portugal: The caminho is calling me again.
I started to walk from Lisbon via the coast to the North two years ago in 2023. This was very tough, no signs, no preparation, just me and my telephone, which couldn’t guide me for one whole walking day because of low batteries. You can understand that I didn’t think of this one to continue. Gertie, my Austrian fellow pilgrim I met on this trail, walked all the way from Lisbon to Porto. Where I stopped after a week around Lourinha, the city where they found dinosaurs, she continued with her coastal caminho. So I will walk in her footsteps.
Trail of the Sand
In 2023 I didn’t have time to prepare, I didn’t have a house, I lived in a mobile home and the renovation of Casa da Lima was not according to expectations, so I just left to escape all. Just go and walk, and because all what was going on, it was caminho without preparation.
One day I met Gertie,. It was the first and only pilgrim that I met on this route. She was really prepared for her month caminho via the coast. She knew exactly how the route went, and where she had to take her shoes of (or getting wet feet), or whether she had to take a bus because of the dangerous traffic. In Portugal there is normally no pavement, so you need to walk on the road where cars passing you fast. She sent me photo’s of the stage we walked together. I had no clue where or how many kilometers we walked. I just the day was long and at the end of the day there was not a lot of time to jump in the sea anymore. Only one hour before dinnertime!
At this moment I can’t find information about this trail, about the route and places to stay. So I contact my caminho friend Gertie and I find out that this route does have a name: Trilho de Areia, Trail of Sand. It is not an official caminho, so there are no signs, or infrastructure to support. Nevertheless I will go!
Excellent Connections
Buses in Portugal
I have a look to the map of Central Portugal. To my surprise I see that last time I didn’t walk all the way to Nazaré, I skipped a lot from Lourinha to Sao Martinho de Porto.
I stayed with friends at Caldas da Rainha, and they picked me up earlier on the trail and the next day they brought me further than I thought, So I will go back where I really left of. That is not Nazaré but: Praia Areia Branco, the beach of the white sand.
Where is that and how do I get there?
Well, what a surprise: A bus is going to this beach from Coimbra! I love the Rede Expressos, the bus that goes to the smallest towns and villages in Portugal.
Booked.! 27 January 7:00 Bus from Coimbra to the beach of Areia Branco where I will start to walk immediately to Peniche. Hope I will reach Peniche before it gets dark.
if you start something, you need to finish it. Even though you didn’t even know where or what the end point will be.
The stages would look like:
Praia Areia Branco – Peniche 20 km
Peniche – Caldas da Rainha – Foz de Arelho 26 km
Foz de Arelho – Nazare 25 km
Nazare – Sao Pedro de Moel 21 km
Sao Pedro de Moel – Praia Pedrogao 23 km
Praia Pedrogao – Gala – Figuero da Foz 32 km
Then it is around 3 walking days to Esmoriz, the place I have walked to Porto. I will save these 3 days for another time. May be a beach holiday in summer together with friends.
This is Albergue Casa da Lima. with four places to stay. It is located along the caminho from Lisbon to Coimbra. in a little village near the city Coimbra and village ‘Rabacal’. Our village is called Ribeira de Alcalamouque, but it is even tinier. It is one stage to the historical town of Coimbra.
