Stage two of the Camino Portuguese Central Route takes pilgrims on an 18 mile stretch from Vilarinho to Barcelos. This section of The Way incorporates natural pathways and mostly avoids the busy roads and highways, unlike the first stage out of Porto. The major highlight of this stage is the arrival in Barcelos, where pilgrims cross a bridge and then approach Paço dos Condes, the old palace of the Dukes of Bragança.
The first stage of the Camino Portuguese Central Route takes pilgrims from the Porto Cathedral to the small town of Vilarinho. This 18 mile stretch is mostly sidewalks and cobblestone with no natural pathways.
This summer, I set out to hike the 150-mile Camino Portuguese from Porto to Santiago de Compostela. Unlike my solo hike of the 500-mile Camino Frances in 2012, I would be accompanied this time around by my wife and 2 year old son. In this post, I’ll cover our day of sightseeing in Porto and our visit to the Porto Cathedral to get our pilgrim’s passports.