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Avoiding the highway into Golegã

peregrina2000

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I will be in Lisbon for a couple of weeks and will have some free days. I definitely will be walking the new river path from Sacavém, and I may be able to do as many as 6 or 7 day stages!

Looking at Gronze, I see that they advise getting off the busy highway for the last 7 km into Golegã:

“After Brôa, turn to the left on the Estrada dos Lazaros and keep on straight. It’s all asphalt and adds 1.4 km to the day.”

Has anyone done this, or can anyone comment on the 7 kms on the national highway into Golegã? I walked this route, but it was more than 15 years ago, so I don’t have many/any details in pull up out of my memory.
 
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I was wondering why I didn't recall this, but when I walked this two years ago, I walked to Fatima from Santarem. However, having walked a couple of sections of busy highway when I stayed off-route that year, I would be inclined to take the advice from Gronze seriously.
 
If you’re going to do this do take a look at the map and make a note of the forks in the road.

The first is to the left and feels like it takes you in the wrong direction but does swing back in the right direction. However at that fork, if you want to get back to the marked Camino, turn right and it will take you back to the road (after another right hand turn).

I honestly don’t know what makes this alternate any better. The road is not that high traffic.
 
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wisepilgrim said:
I honestly don’t know what makes this alternate any better. The road is not that high traffic.
Click to expand...

Superamos una rotonda y enfilamos la carretera nacional EN-365, rectilínea, estrecha y flanqueada al principio por plátanos de sombra. Debemos caminar con mucho cuidado, pues los coches pasan cerca y a gran velocidad.

Maybe Gronze is being hyperbolic? I will probably stick with the road unless it seems dangerous. If it were a dirt track, I’d go for it, but why add 1.4 km of asphalt to the day?!
 
Looking at both on Google Maps in Streetview, I think @wisepilgrim's assessment is pretty accurate. Both routes look like quiet country roads. Little or no shade. The more direct route seems to start with a stretch of cobblestone, but the verges seem to be concrete. The other looks like it is ashphalt.
 
Ask any Spaniard that lives near the border and they will all tell you that the Portuguese are the worst drivers; simultaneously going to fast and too slow at all times.

The road between these two towns is not one likely to be used by non-locals meaning that most drivers here will know and expect pilgrims on the Camino. I would not necessarily say the same for the detour.
 
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I feel this section is indeed, quite dangerous. The first time through, the truck traffic seemed to me to be worse than the second time through. Both times were in the afternoon, maybe the second time was a bit earlier before rush hour. However, I looked at the beginning of the paved road of the alternative route, and I just didn't want to add another 1.4 km of asphalt to an already long day. I may have considered it if it weren't for the additional asphalt! Here are photos of the N365, showing the lack of shoulder! Prudence is a must through here.

This first photo is the road before Brôa, the second, after. You can see a bit of a worn pilgrim's path, but it is definitely not enough to keep you safe.





Good luck and enjoy the new boardwalk! It is very lovely! (Although you hear traffice noise, just keep looking to the right!)
Elle
 
I do not remember it being overly busy when I walked it this past April. Bom Caminho
 
I loved the boardwalk
 
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