Camino Portugués desde Lisboa

🟡 Portuguese Way by bicycle – Stage 08

Esposende → Caminha
🚴‍♂️ Distance: 54 km
🌊 General orientation: coast / sea on the left (although at times not visible)
🧱 Road surface: cobblestone + asphalt + dirt roads + punctual technical sections
⚠️ Critical points: N-13 (crossroads), Viana bridge, maze of walls, stairs, final exit avoiding the N-13
🏁 End of stage: Caminha (Praça / historic center).

🏨 Accommodations in Caminha 🥇 Design Wine & Spa Hotel (Bicigrino recommendation)

🔗 https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/design.en.html?aid=1656934&no_rooms=1&group_adults=2
✅ The best treatment of the whole Camino.
🚲 TOP facilities for cyclists (cyclotourist quality seals).
💦 Spa / water area + themed rooms.
⭐ A “prize” stage end.

🏡 Esteiro House

🔗 https://www.booking.com/hotel/pt/casa-de-esteiro.en.html?aid=1656934&no_rooms=1&group_adults=2
🕰️ House with character and a spectacular collection of antiques.
🏊 Pool + family treatment.

🛏️ Caminha Hostel

🔗 https://www.facebook.com/alberguecaminha/?fref=ts
📍 Av. Padre Pinheiro 36, 4910-105 Caminha, Portugal
📞 +351 914 290 431
💶 Affordable option.

🚴‍♂️ Description of the stage 🌅 Departure from Esposende: easy

🏨 If you sleep at Hotel Suave Mar: go out and link directly to the promenade and the bike path.
🌊 If you sleep in other accommodation: look for the sea and cycle north to the fort.

At the end of the walk, leaving behind the fort and its red lighthouse, you arrive at the Dunas Bar.
🪵 Here walkways and sand appear… but beware: it is only a “mirage”, it lasts only a short time.

⚠️ Cepães → Marinhas: be careful on the N-13

Soon the Camino takes you on a straight road to Cepães.
️ You go up the main street, and soon you reach the N-13.

⚠️ Dangerous crossing.
✅ You must cross the N-13 and take it to the left for a short stretch to Marinhas.

📍 In Marinhas: just past the cemetery, you will see on the right a long street with the parish church in the center.
➡️ Go up that street and look for yellow arrows between the streets.

🛏️ (Useful fact) If someone had slept at the Marinhas hostel: it is to the right of that church.

🧱 Marinhas → Belinho → Capela dos Remédios: walls, cobblestones and “boxing”.

From Marinhas you continue up narrow streets between walls, lots of cobblestones and a “corridor” feeling.
You reach a fork with a crossroads and the Capela de São João do Monte in the background.

➡️ Here, take the street on the right.

You continue north, crossing Outeiro and then Belinho (main church).
In Belinho the road surface alternates: cobblestone, some dirt, and then back to asphalt.

📍 Key reference: Capela N. Senhora dos Remédios (white).
An arrow on a post directs you to the left and then to a street on the right.

🌲 “Teleport” section: forest + river + bridge without railings

Suddenly you enter a dirt road uphill to a pine forest, with a boxed river (mini gorge).
🎥 It’s one of those stretches that begs for photo/video.

⚠️ There are large stones and a narrow bridge with no railing.
✅ Many people cross it on foot. If someone crosses it mounted… let it be with head.

🟡 Castelo do Neiva (km 10): Jacobean atmosphere and hard climb

After the bridge appears the Capela de Nossa Senhora da Guadalupe and several lodges (Nausti / Castelo do Neiva).
📍 You are already in Castelo do Neiva.

You will face a sustained climb (about 3 km) to the cemetery and church of Santiago:
🗺️ monolith with map of the Camino
✝️ wooden crosses
⛪ improvised chapel of the Apostle Santiago
🖋️ In the church there is usually the possibility of sealing.

Then the Camino makes a “strange gesture”: it skirts, descends, and enters a rocky and technical area (trialerilla).
✅ Patience: it is demanding but not very long.

🏛️ Mosteiro de São Romão + Chafé: WC and authentic bar

You get out to the asphalt and arrive at the surroundings of the Mosteiro Beneditino de São Romão de Neiva.
🚻 There are WC and picnic area.

In Chafé, next to the cemetery and the church, you have a perfect bar to refuel:
☕ Bar São Sebastião (authentic village atmosphere, highly recommended for a snack).

🔻 Towards Viana do Castelo: downhill… and “don’t let yourself be fooled”.

You go up Anha (2 km) and there are already views towards Viana do Castelo.

⚠️ On the way down, the arrows try to take you to a broken road with big stones:
✅ Bicigrino recommendation: go down by road (safer) and link up with the arrows afterwards.

The entrance to Viana is through a strange area of unfinished urbanization/industrial park.
You continue down towards the river and the bridge.

⚠️ Viana do Castelo Bridge: narrow crossing, no hard shoulder

🌉 Delicate crossing: traffic, little space.

✅ Clear advice:

• crosses pedaling with rhythm and caution,

• integrating you into the flow of cars,

• better than pushing walking.

As you cross, your goal is the marina and the tree-lined avenue by the river.
Then, along Rua Gago Coutinho, you enter the historic center and its square.

🧭 Viana exit: forbidden direction and “walking” arrows.

Here appears the classic Jacobean problem: signage designed for walkers.
You will encounter “strange” streets, some of them in a forbidden direction.

📍 Reference point: statue of Fray Bartolomé de los Mártires (man on mule/donkey).
Then, through the area of Igreja de São Domingos, park, climb and alley leading to a tunnel under the tracks.

From there you leave through a residential area towards Areosa.

🧱 The “labyrinth of walls”: the tonic at the end

Suddenly an arrow pulls you down narrow alleys, cobblestones and high stone walls.
If you miss a junction, don’t panic: 1 km more and you’re back to hooking arrows.

Appear:
💧 streams, mills, small waterfalls
⛪ Capela de Boa Viagem + Quinta de Boa Viagem
🪜 a stretch with stairs that forces you to get off the bike.

🚉 Carreço: church, tracks… and recommended stop (lechón)

You arrive at Carreço crossing the tracks carefully, skirt the cemetery and cross the church square (Sra. das Graças).

🍽️ Bicigrino stop HIGHLY recommended (off the road 2 minutes):
Restaurante do Sérgio (leitão / suckling pig)
Rua, Tv. Padre Domingos Afonso do Paco 18, 4900-278 Carreço, Portugal
📞 +351 258 836 507

⛰️ Last slopes and arrival at Vila Praia de Âncora (km 34 approx.)

After Carreço, about 20 km remain.

🔺 About 5 km climb through forest, with hard ramps near the Convent of São João de Cabanas.
Then asphalt, crossroads (Cruceiro do Vale) and descent to Âncora and Vila Praia de Âncora.

⚠️ In Vila Praia de Âncora: traffic and confusing crossroads.
✅ If you get lost: look for the church and find arrows again.

You go down the pedestrian street, cross the tracks and go out to the promenade.

🌊 Final coastal stretch: already smells of Caminha

You pedal along a comfortable lane by the sea.
In the background you will see a very recognizable conical mountain: it is the silhouette that accompanies Caminha.

📍 Attention: there comes a point where you must go through a tunnel under the tracks.
When you leave, you go through the village on the main street and arrive at a traffic circle.

⚠️ Last important warning: DO NOT enter through the N-13.

The signs “invite” you to continue on the national road (faster but dangerous).

✅ Bicigrino recommends:
➡️ take the parallel secondary road, Rua de Pombal, much safer.

You go straight on and you end up in a wide square with church and town hall:
🏁 Caminha (center).

📍 The Design Wine & Spa Hotel is right here, in the heart of the end of the stage.
🛏️ If you go to the hostel: go straight towards the port, turn right and look for Av. Father Pinheiro.

💭 Bicigrino Reflection

Varied and beautiful stage, with a surprising mix:
🧱 “infinite” walls and cobblestones,
🌲 forests with rivers,
🏛️ a city with character as Viana do Castelo,
🌊 and a coastal end that already puts you in border mode.

🏨 If you sleep at Design Wine & Spa: it’s literally a prize.
💦 Spa, sauna and real rest for body and bike.

🚤 Ferry / boat to cross to Spain (VERY important)

Tomorrow we have to cross the river to enter Spain.

⚠️ On Mondays, the ferry does NOT operate.
On this day, cab boats are used (bikes + cyclists, usually 4 by 4).

✅ Always book in advance (especially if it is Monday).
📞 Taxi Mar: +351 915 955 827

🛠️ Bicycle workshops 🚲 Viana do Castelo

Viana Cycles
R. Ramalho Ortigão 161, Viana do Castelo, Portugal
📞 +351 258 847 376

🚲 Caminha

myBike
R. Conselheiro Miguel Dantas N10, 4910-131 Caminha, Portugal
📞 +351 962 798 310