Alvaiazere - Rabacal - Coimbra Distance and accomodation

[Nauzanplage]

Hi,

My wife and I are both over 60 and are planning our Camino from Lisbon to Santiago in Late August.
We completed the Camino Frances last year and found no problems with accomodation along the way.

However as there appear to be less accomodation on the Portugese route, we have tried to book hostels and accomodation ahead - and have been quite successful. However, I am concerend about the stretch from Alvaiazere to Coimbra. Its over sixty Km and there doesnt seem to be much accomodation along the way.

Rabacal is suggested as a stop off, but I cant find any accomodation there - can anyone help on this section of the route. Accomodation and buses if necessary?

Thanks for any help - will post my list of accomodation when I've finished it.

Richard

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Richard,
There is a place next door to the small museum in Rabacal that has rooms for pilgrims. It's not just for pilgrims, but I can't imagine that it ever fills up. The phone number is on the door for you to call when you arrive. I don't know about reserving in advance, but Albertinho and a few others on the forum have walked from Lisbon recently and maybe will have some more up to date information.

And as an unsolicited p.s., if the museum is offering trips out to the Roman villa (they drive you in their car), go for it -- the tiles are spectacular!

The accommodation situation seems to be improving quite a bit from Lisbon, good luck with this. Bom caminho, Laurie

 

[Former member 22438]

My wife and I walked from Lisbon to Santiago 6th of May and arriving june 7th 2013.

If you send me a personal message with your emailaddress I can give you a lot of information and things you may not miss ! It is such an experience to be in Portugal and it should be a pity if you miss out the special places .
As a matter of facts we did not book a lot of sleeping places on forehand but just looked by the day.
Most of the time the places to sleep were good, we had some disappointments and highlights .

Awaiting your personal message.

Best regards
Albertinho

 

[peregrina2000]

Just one thing to add to my previous post -- Have you seen the CSJ guide and the update, they are both online here: http://www.csj.org.uk/guides-online.htm You'll see there is one guide for Lisbon to Porto, and another from Porto to Santiago.

I've checked my notes, and the place in Rabacal is called the Casa de Turismo. Telephone number may be 92 875 2990. When I was there, the people in the museum made the phone call for me because I didn't have a cell phone.

Bom caminho, Laurie

 

[Former member 22438]

From Alvaiazere where we stayed overnight in pensão o Bras (good and clean place and good restaurant too ) do not forget to get your stamp in the local church. A very special one without ink ! Pressed in your credential.

from there we walked to Ansião. About 14 kms in the middle of the center hotel Adega Tipica with a restaurant and breakfast (very simple)
From there to Rabacal. Entering Rabacal you find a roundabout. Just ahead at the right side is a café where they serve you a soup and cheese and bread. Another restaurant was closed so we ate cheese .
The owner called somebody and a lady who arrived opened the door of an albergue a few meters further on and we got a bed ,hot shower etc.
The next morning the café served us a breakfast.
From Rabacal we walked to Cernache. There is a school ,colegio da Imaculada Conceicão.
On the campus is a house with about 24 bunkbeds, bathrooms with hot showers and you get a stamp in your credential. All for free. Just give them a call on beforehand. Tel. 239 940 030 The concierge is waiting for you. A great experience.
Just at the opposite side of the entrance is a café who serves you a breakfast in the morning

From Cernache the next day Coimbra is 13 kms away.
We stayed overnight in hotel Avenida just over the bridge to the right about 50 meters
A hotel with the grandeur of 100 years ago. Not expensive.clean we liked it.
Coimbra has plenty of restaurants. We stayed 2 nights and visited the university and a Fado music rehearsal at the Fado Center opposite the cathedral in the center. Nice experience

However in Dutch you can see our weblog on the internet with many pictures .
http://nel-en-albert-op-pelgrimreis.reismee.nl/

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Albertinho, Thanks for that information. I'm wondering what your assessment of Lisbon-Porto is in terms of asphalt and road walking. I know that it's been one of the big complaints, and I also know that the Via Lusitana has been working very hard to get paths off the road and onto agricultural tracks and other paths. Since you were just there, what's your impression? Did you feel like you were always on the side of the road? Would you recommend the Lisbon-Porto segment to others?

Thanks for the updates, bom caminho, Laurie

 

[Stephen Nicholls]

Hi Laurie!
I've just completed Lisbon to Porto. There IS a lot of road walking ... but I still enjoyed it very much. I was too blistered to walk more than 15 to 20 kms a day, so had to occasionally resort to lift/train/bus/'thumb' to get me to the next stop. Other pilgrims were few and far between - but I still developed my "camino family".
The complete diary and links to all the photos are on my web site now -
http://www.calig.co.uk/pilgrimage_iii.htm

Enjoy!

 

[Former member 22438]

Hola Laurie,
First and for all I would advise everybody to walk the track Lisbon to Porto . We loved to be in Portugal. Altough I worked some years in Spain and like Spain very much, I fancy the Portugese people and their way of living .
Walking on asphalt. As you see our pictures on our webblog you'll see we are wearing safety vests very often. That says a lot we walked on asphalt often.
From Lisbon as I advised yet is to skip the part from Alverca to Azambuja.
Leaving Santarem was not a pleasure for about a short part .the traffic almost touched us going down the steep hill.Safetyvest and a led light kept us safe .
To Golega there was a part you walk alongside a local road but walking left of the road meeting the traffic ahead and wearing the safety vests it was o.k.
Entering Tomar you follow the asphalt for a while but there we took the train from Guereira.
Entering Rabacal we walked a few kms alongside the road so paid extra attention to the safety.

By the way I forgot the address we slept in Albergaria a Velha !!!! We slept in santuario de Nossa Senhora del Soccoro, a "retraîte home with nuns. Very kind people.. Lunch, diner breakfast, showers. Bunkbeds. We were there alone in a big room. In another room was one German peregrino. It was super. Just outside the village of Albergaria

To Sao Joao de Madeira there was some asphalt but the trip was acceptable because you pass a lot of villages. Not bouring
To Porto we skipped the last part. We took the bus from Grijó because we did not like the part along asphalt in Vila Nova de Gaia a big urban part to walk. In Grijo is a busstation from where they take you to the Batalha busstation in the center of Porto for 3 euros and you avoid all the heavy traffic in the Porto suburbs.

But we loved to walk the track anyhow. So do not forget your safetyvests. You'll need them the second part now and then as well

 

[Former member 22438]

Hi Laurie!
I've just completed Lisbon to Porto. There IS a lot of road walking ... but I still enjoyed it very much. I was too blistered to walk more than 15 to 20 kms a day, so had to occasionally resort to lift/train/bus/'thumb' to get me to the next stop. Other pilgrims were few and far between - but I still developed my "camino family".
The complete diary and links to all the photos are on my web site now -
http://www.calig.co.uk/pilgrimage_iii.htm

Enjoy!

Take my advise Stephan. Blistering. Buy a pair of panty socks in the local supermercado and they are likea second layer between your skin and your socks after wearing them no blisters no more for me ! Great help and cheap solution

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Stephen and Albertinho,
I've been enjoying the pictures you both have posted in your blogs, as well as Stephen's blog. It really seems like the pilgrim traffic is increasing. When I walked in 2009, I never met another soul. I was living in Lisbon at the time and did the stages from Lisbon to Tomar on a "day trip" basis -- took the train in the morning, walked, took the train home at night. Then from Tomar to Porto I walked Tomar-Coimbra and Coimbra-Porto in several days each. Kind of a weird way to walk the camino, but someone on this forum had introduced me to the fact that there was a Camino starting in Lisbon, and I wanted to see it. It was the start of the CSJ guide, http://www.csj.org.uk/CamPortLisbonPortoA4.doc, which has been updated once.

Updates: http://www.csj.org.uk/update-caminoportugues.htm (Lisbon to Porto updates are at the end of the document).

I am pretty sure that someone has agreed to revise the Lisbon-Porto guide, so keep those comments coming!

My pictures are here: https://picasaweb.google.com/1041057787 ... p72psbzYFw

I think you'll see that a lot has remained unchanged. Bom caminho, Laurie

 

[Rose Rubino]

My wife and I walked from Lisbon to Santiago 6th of May and arriving june 7th 2013.

If you send me a personal message with your emailaddress I can give you a lot of information and things you may not miss ! It is such an experience to be in Portugal and it should be a pity if you miss out the special places .
As a matter of facts we did not book a lot of sleeping places on forehand but just looked by the day.
Most of the time the places to sleep were good, we had some disappointments and highlights .

Awaiting your personal message.

Best regards
Albertinho

Hello this is Rose and I too will be walking with my husband the Lisbon to Santiago route starting May 10. I to am concerned about accommodations from Rabacal to Coimbatore. Any suggestions?

Note from Moderator -- we routinely remove private email addresses to protect everyones privacy. Answers to Rose's questions can be placed in this thread, or feel free to start private conversations.

 

[peregrina2000]

Hi, Rose, welcome to the forum. I think the earlier posts have a good suggestion -- Rabacal to Cernace and then the next day to Coimbra. Those are two short days, but it will give you time to visit the Roman city that has been excavated outside of Condeixa a Nova, right on the Camino! Well worth a visit, many lovely mosaics. Bom caminho, Laurie

 

[frida1]

I stayed at Condeixa a Nova. There are two local hotels, and a really beautiful parador. I treated myself to the parador that night before going on to Coimbra. And the ruins at Conimbriga are worth seeing. It does make for two short days, but you have time for the ruins, and then an afternoon to sightsee in Coimbra.

 

[rgutena]

Another option is what I did a couple of weeks ago: Alvaiazere-Alvorge (25km from Alvaiazere)-Condeixa-A-Nova (21km from Alvorge)-Coimbra (18km from Condeixa).

In Alvorge, I stayed at Casa Vale Florido, and in Condeixa-A-Nova, I stayed at Pousada Condeixa Coimbra, both of which can be found on booking.com. (I assume the reference to 'parador' in the response above meant the pousada.)

Note, however, Condeixa is a little off the Camino and the way to get back on the Camino is not marked. Do seek advice from your place of accommodation. I didn't see the yellow arrows again (apart from one single arrow on road EN 1) until I got to Rua da Cruz, near Cernache.