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Day Fifteen on the Central Route of the Camino Portugués ~ Sé do Porto to Vairão (Vilarinho), 25.2 Km (15.66 Miles)

Day fifteen on the Central Route of the Camino Portugués was a long walk through the northern suburbs of Porto. It was not an ugly walk, nor all that industrial as some would suggest, but yet not as inviting as future stages. Regardless, the Spirit of the Camino can be found, wherever you walk and today was no exception. Ponder this:

"I am you and you are I, and in whatever place you are, I am there, and I am sown in everything. And in whatever place you wish, you may gather me, but when you gather me, you gather yourself." ~ Gospel of Eve in Epiphanius, Against Heresies 26.3.1, The Lost Sayings of Jesus: Teachings from Ancient Christian, Jewish, Gnostic and Islamic Sources, Annotated & Explained, P. 113

For a full introduction to the Camino Portugués, please click on the link provided, if you wish to understand how the Portuguese Camino differs from the Spanish one!

Map and Stats of Day Fifteen on the Central Route of the Camino Portugués

On a bright morning at the end of April we set off from our marvelous hotel in Porto, the Chateau Flores, on the Rua das Flores, in the heart of Ribeira, the center of the city. This hotel is only steps from the Camino and the Cathedral. (For more accommodations, on Booking.com click here. We have also stayed in the Residencial Porto Novo, a great value, if you are OK with very basic accommodation, with a shared kitchen.) 

Below is our Google map from the day, starting at the Cathedral Sé de Lisboa. The map was created from our GPS tracks and denotes the actual route we took. It is an interactive map, so click at will! 

At the end of the day, there is a more direct route from Gião to Vilarinho, than the route to the monastery in Vairão. If you do not plan to stay in the monastery albergue in Vairão or plan to visit it, you may wish to take the shorter way, see the orange route on the map below.

I placed accommodations, cafes, grocery stores, churches and other places of interest on the map, for your convenience.

If you are planning to stay in Porto, there is only one municipal albergue in the north of town, along the Camino, far from the center, the Albergue de Peregrinos de Porto, see farther below in the text. Even farther north and off-Camino is the donativo albergue, Refúgio de Senhora da Hora, if you don’t mind walking 2.5 km west from the Central Route towards Matosinhos. 

For the private albergues, there are many in the center of town, including the Wine Hostel, the Best Guest Porto Hostel, the Cats Hostel Porto, the Hostel One Ribera, the Being Porto Hostel and The Passenger Hostel. I placed on my interactive map below, many accommodations in Porto with the word "hostel" in the name, to help you locate other less expensive places with dormitory beds. 

There are many additional accommodations in Porto, and you can pre-book them all. This may be necessary to get the best price and/or best location for your needs. Click here to see your choices on booking.com. They are always running specials, especially in this large tourist city! In addition to the Chateau Flores and it's nice apartment, with a kitchen, I placed several more very inexpensive hotels on the interactive map for your reference.

In the elevation profile below, for the day, you can see the initial drop from the Porto Cathedral, followed by 25 kilometers full of ups and downs, with 440 meters of vertical ascent (about 1444 feet). Because of all the elevation changes, the day will feel like an industrious one, especially if it is your first day. It did to us. Fortunately, there is a descent on the final steps of the day into Vairão (or Vilarinho, with only a slight variation, not shown).

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Photo-Rich Travelogue of Day Fifteen, Central Route of the Camino Portugués

This first day of our Camino, and as the above quote suggests, would be a day of gathering. We just didn't know it when we set out!

Unfortunately, just behind this concrete waymark, at the top of the ramp on each side, the old arrows and waymarks are still present, but these are now for the Sendal Litoral, at least initially! If you try to follow these arrows, eventually they will peter out for the Central or Coastal route, so do not be tempted!

Below is Rich and I at these first arrows on the one side. The yellow arrows are towards Santiago de Compostela, the blue in the opposite direction for the pilgrimage to Fátima. I have included this photo, for information only, for you, so do not be confused by them. This is not the start of the Central Route! 

To start day fifteen of the Central Route on the Camino Portugués, as you face the concrete waymark and the ramp, look to your right to see the first, metal waymark. This metal signage will become very familiar, and it signifies that you are starting the Camino Portugués da Costa. The Central Route shares the same route with the Coastal Route, for a full 6.3 kilometers from the cathedral, where the routes split off from one another.

Head in the direction of the arrow, towards the top of a set of stairs that you can see in the photo, beside Rich, pictured above. Pictured below are the stairs up close. 

At the bottom of the stairway, you turn left onto the Rua Escura, paying attention to the metal waymarks, now on the street below your feet. In a few steps, you stay right at the Y-intersection, seen in the next photo.

50 meters later, at the next intersection, stay straight, onto the narrower, Rua do Souto.

Continue farther along the Rua dos Caldeireiros, for about another 250 meters, continuing to climb a nice hill. 

When you arrive at the large tourist square at the top of the hill, the famous Clérigos Tower can be seen on your right (See article on Porto). On your left is the open square shown below, and the park and University of Porto are straight ahead. 

Stay walking to the east of the square, cross the street in front of you, see below photo, and head through the park, following the now-prolific yellow arrows on the trees. 

Walk through the park called the Jardim da Cordoaria, by the University of Porto on your right, below.

Passing the University building on the west side, come to another open plaza, the Praça de Gomes Teixeira and the Lions Fountain. The twin churches now loom in front of you, the Igreja dos Carmelitas Descalços on the left and the Igreja do Carmo on the right. You are about one kilometer from the start at the cathedral, in this square. 

The azulejo tiles on the side are fabulous if you haven't already seen them on your tour of Porto. This famous square is a lovely place to hang out on a sunny day before your Camino!

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Follow the waymark straight on past the twin churches to the right and in a few more steps encounter the next plaza and statue of Praça de Carlos Alberto. Turn left here. We had trouble finding the yellow arrow by this plaza. 

Within a few more steps, enter the lovely walking street and shopping area of the Rua de Cedofeita, below photo. This lovely pedestrian way continues for over 300  meters and creates a nice diversion while you walk it. 

Along this section, as you would expect in a large city, there are lots of open cafés if you need to find coffee and breakfast. (In Portuguese the word for coffee is café and coffee with milk is café con leite). Since the Chateau Flores had a kitchen, we had prepared our own breakfast that we had purchased at the grocery store the day before so we did not stop. There is also a grocery store in this section, which may be open when you walk through.

It is a Romanesque Church originally begun in the 11th century and quite well-preserved (not pictured).

At the very next intersection, with the Rua da Boavista, if you turn left, you will encounter the So Cool Hostel Porto, an inexpensive dormitory accommodation. Another choice in and around Porto. 

The street changes its name here from the Rua de Cedofeita to the Rua do Barão de Forrester and takes you to the next landmark, the Albergue de Peregrinos Porto, the only albergue in the city itself, (see location on our map above). You can see the albergue ahead in the photo below, with the large yellow arrow on it! 

It is a newer place, built in 2016 and looks quite lovely, right along the Camino. Plus, they will take reservations through the link I provided. This albergue is about 2.4 kilometers from the start of day fifteen on the Central Route of the Camino Portugués.

30 meters after the albergue, you come to an intersection with the Capela da Ramada Alta.

Turn left after passing the Chapel and go around the back and through its square.

Pick up the next side street to the right, the Rua de 9 de Julho. Keep following this small street as it bends right and left. 

As the street becomes narrower, it actually walks under this apartment building! 

You cross the street on the other side of the building, and turn left at this next intersection. 

The diagonal street eventually joins the Praça do Exército Libertador, bending to the right. This street passes the gorgeous Igreja Paroquial do Carvalhido.

You know you are on the right track when farther on you see the Repsol gas station, and the overpass to the A20 highway. Congratulations, you have now left the center of Porto after about four kilometers. 

Continuing along the street, now called the Rua do Monte dos Burgos, after passing the long walls of the Quinta da Prelada, you come to the intersection of the N12. 

About 1/2 km farther on, walk by the Lidl supermarket. If you need supplies, here is your opportunity. 

There are still many metal waymarks, some raised and most in the payment to continue to guide you through this section. 

After 6.2 kilometers total, according to my GPS, and after walking about 1.5 hours, we came upon the division of the Camino, designated by the signposts pictured below. The Central Route continues onward here, and the Coastal Route veers off to the left. If you were planning to walk the Coastal Route, here is where you turn. This waymark was difficult to see due to the parked cars all around it, so stay alert if you want to take the Coastal route. It used to be accompanied by a large blue map (see example farther below) that filled in the spaces above to make a large square and was easier to see, but that is now gone. 

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After the Coastal route breaks off, there are no more metal waymarks, just painted yellow arrows, until official blue waymarks on wooden posts take over, farther along. See farther below for photos of these waymarks. 

After this division of the Camino, there is a long, lovely downhill paved section, seen on the elevation profile above as the first long downhill. There is a flat, open long stretch of highway on the Rua de Recarei crossing under the A4, shown below. Pass by a large, blue Camino “waymark!”

After walking under the A4 you enter the towns of Leça de Balio and Araújo, which have many open cafés at about 8.5 kilometers into the walk. We stopped at the first one we came to, for our first coffee break of the day. 

The Igreja de Araújo, below, marks your entrance to the town of the same name, with lovely shade trees and park benches to rest, if you prefer this to a café. 

After leaving Araújo, the Camino crosses the tracks where there is a metro station at Custió, if needed.  

Follow the main street until you are directed left onto the Rua Ponte de Moreira at this Y-intersection, photo below. You are now entering the town of Moreira.

Continue on the Rua Ponte de Moreira and cross over the River Leça at a low point, and begin the second climb of the day at 11.5 kilometers.

One-half kilometer later, cross the A41. 

Come to a T-intersection and turn right onto the N107 (Avenida do Aeroporto), coming from the airport to Moreira. The Porto airport is just to the west of you here, and some pilgrims choose to walk their first day directly from the airport, missing Porto altogether. 

If you start at the airport, and need to find nearby accommodation, click here for a list for the city of Maia. The AirPorto Hostel has inexpensive dormitory arrangements.

Follow the N107 to a roundabout, staying left and joining the N13 briefly.

The Camino turns right, off the N13 highway, after about 300 meters, shown below at the pictured intersection and onto the Rua Monte Clara, by the chapel and large cemetery of Moreira which you can vaguely see in the right of the photo. 

Continue onward on the Rua Monte Clara for not quite a kilometer until you are directed right, photo below. (If you expand this photo, you may see an official waymark sign, leading you straight instead. Either way you go, it is waymarked, but the route to the right is shorter, so this is why I believe the yellow arrows contradict the official waymark.) 

We chose to follow the yellow arrow, turning to the right, and in another 50 meters, a left. A few meters later, you will see a casual path that goes to the Pingo Doce supermarket. Take this path to cut a few more steps off your day, turning right after the supermarket. 

If you miss the path, here is the intersection below, and another Lidl supermarket on the left.

At this juncture you have only about 11 kilometers left on day fifteen of the Central Route on the Camino Portugués, so this may be another opportunity to buy groceries for your dinner, with not a lot of distance to carry it. Especially if you plan to stay and cook at the monastery of Vairão, which only has a very tiny mini-market.

The Pingo Doce was most certainly a lovely restroom stop as well! 

Take a right at the Pingo Doce or the Lidl and continue your eastward ascent into the industrial zone of Moreira Maia. A large sign denotes your entrance into the industrial park. 

Walk only about 1/2 kilometer into the industrial park, a very, very busy place full of trucks, then turn left as directed on the first major intersection.

After turning left off the main industrial street, start the second, nice downhill through the remaining section of the industrial park. The Tenco Café is on your left soon after the turn. 

All-in-all the industrial zone walking is only about one kilometer or so, and then soon, the Way is nice and rural and turns left and westward to walk towards the next town of Vilar de Pinheiro.

After about one more kilometer, turn right here into the town itself, shown in the photo below. Notice the change in waymarks if you haven't already.

Very soon you come to a conveniently located café, the Café Beiracampo in Vilar de Pinheiro. It was bustling with activity when we passed through!

One-half kilometer after the café and at about 17.8 kilometers, you come to the sign identifying that you have come to Mosteiró. 

Walk through town and past the cruceiro in the center with a large open town square, called the Largo de Lameira, where market days and fairs are held. It is not pictured, but just before the large, main square, there is a park with benches, where you can take a nice break. After the park is the town cross and the square. If you look closely, after the cross and across the square to the right, there are restrooms! 

After walking through town, continue walking on a cobblestone road for about another kilometer. This is Portuguese countryside at its best. 

Enter the next town of Vilar and its cross at the center. 

It was here in Vilar that we decided it was time for a lunch break and stopped at the bright pink Café Ramiro at about 19.4 kilometers. The attached restaurant was bustling with people having lunch, while we sat at the bar and had a quick coffee and sandwiches. 

While we were sitting in the bar, a nice, tall young man smiled at us and we struck up a conversation. He was Magnus from Germany. He asked if he could join us on the walk, and of course, we said "yes! We had gathered one pilgrim. 

The day was quite hot as we three left the bar, cheerfully, having been told by the barman that we had only 6.0 kilometers to Vilarinho. 

About 1/2 kilometer after Vilar, the Camino joins the EN306, and walks northward. In most places the busier road has either sufficient shoulders to walk on safely, or a sidewalk. We walked on about one more kilometer to enter the village of Gião. There are cafés and two grocery stores here as well if need be. If you plan on cooking at the Albergue de Peregrinos do Mosteiro de Vairão, you may wish to get your groceries here. 

Shortly after entering Gião, you will pass by a very convenient station to get a stamp! Help yourself!

In yet another kilometer or so, at 22 kilometers total, when entering the town of Joudina, we came to its main intersection and a decision point, pictured next. Here is where you must decide whether or not to go straight and continue on the EN306 to walk directly into Vilarinho, or take the scenic route to the right to Vairão and the monastery albergue. Regardless of your destination choice, there is only a bit more than three kilometers left in the day!

The more direct route walks you by the Casa Mindela, a rural home in a farmhouse, and in the town of Vilarinho, there are two possible accommodations, the Casa Familia Vidal Vilarinho and the Casa da Laura Hostel.

Since we wanted to stay at the monastery, we turned right. In about 1/2 kilometer, the Camino goes to the left, by this beautiful cruceiro, shown here. 

If you look to the right you can see the beautiful church of Gião.

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The route on this diversion is quite charming as you can see, walking toward the next town of Tresval. The wisteria were magnificent and filled the air with a wonderful aroma. 

And then, just after leaving Tresval, enter the town of Vairão at about 23.8 kilometers total. Just a little longer for today. 

About 200 meters later, pass a large park on your left with picnic benches, (you can see the park ahead in the photo above), where the Camino now bends to the right and passes the town cross, below. 

A few hundred meters onward and Rich and Magnus pose in front of the gate where the Camino turns left onto the Rua Pias.

In barely another 100 meters it's another right at the next cross, below.

After walking onward only 700 meters more you come to the point where the Camino turns west (left) and back towards Vilarinho or onward by the small chapel to the Monastery albergue directly in front of you. 

We walked straight on and down the hill to the albergue which appeared shortly before us.

Here is the entrance gate to the complex, farther on. 

The albergue entrance door is to the left, in the photo below. The reception is up on the 3rd floor after entering the building. I am not sure where the hospitalera waits, but suddenly she appeared to show us the place, immediately upon our arrival.

The albergue is enormous, on three floors total, with choices of various rooms, with a different number of beds in each. The rooms with six beds are now 10 Euros, those with four beds are a bit more, but we chose the double-bedded room on the top floor, with real sheets for only 30 Euros for the two of us! The bathrooms are all shared but with a room like this and a great price who cares? 

For four more euros you can purchase a continental breakfast in the morning, of fruit, juice, coffee and pastries.

This is the view from our room!

The Mosteiro de Vairão is a wonderful place. The Igreja de Mosteiro de São Salvador de Vairão, the church in the complex is only open during mass, but the phenomenal cemetery is always open. The inside gardens were also closed to pilgrims. 

We were fortunate enough the second time here to see the church, right after mass (on a Saturday afternoon) and the icing on the cake, the small 16th chapel adjacent to it, the Capela de São João Baptista, the Chapel of St. John the Baptist. I was unable to find the mass schedule online, but the hospitalera is very informative, so be sure to ask.

Below are photos of the inside, the church altar and altar in the rear chapel. The little chapel is behind the sanctuary, to the left of the main door that enters the sanctuary. 

Shortly after securing our beds and while we were hanging our laundry outside another young man came sauntering up to the albergue door. He introduced himself as Matt from Miami. We struck up a conversation and invited him to join us for dinner. We had collected our second pilgrim.

After visiting the tiny supermarket next to the monastery, (see map above) we made a fabulous meal of wine and pasta tossed with turkey, carrots, zucchini and cheese. Interesting choice, I know, but we had to make what we could find at the tiny market. 

Matt, Magnus, Rich and I dined in style. We noticed few others were staying at the albergue that night. Where was everyone? 

If you choose to go onward into Vilarinho, another 1.3 kilometers, the two casa rurals are right along the Camino, the Casa Familia Vidal Vilarinho and the Casa da Laura Hostel, as you turn north to leave town.

Reflections on Day Fifteen, Central Route of the Camino Portugués

Our day fifteen on the Central Route was not all that interesting, nor that inspiring, but it was an enjoyable first day out of Porto. Portugal is quaint regardless of the area, and I didn't mind walking through the urban areas at all. It may be harder on the feet with the pavement, but all the sights and distractions are easy on the mind. Not to mention the many services and cafés that are available to the pilgrim.

Our morning was essentially a solitary walk together, but then as the day progressed, the usual collection of pilgrims was unfolding. However, this time was different, and we were soon to understand why. Our purpose for this day was to gather young, strong men. If we only knew!

Why did I choose the opening quote? "I am you and you are I, and in whatever place you are, I am there, and I am sown in everything. And in whatever place you wish, you may gather me, but when you gather me, you gather yourself."

Indeed God was here. We were attracting these young, strong men to help us, to gather to us our purpose for our Portuguese Camino on the Central Route, on this day fifteen. And by doing so, we were gathering God.

Salutation

May your own day fifteen on the Central Route of the Camino Portugués be filled with God-Energy, meeting those whom you need and those who need you. Read on!

Camino Portugués Stages

Lisbon to Porto

Senda Litoral or the Coastal Routes: Porto to Santiago

Central Route: Porto to Santiago

Variante Espiritual

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