First stop from Coimbra

Vaneek said:

I don’t speak Portuguese, so calling them will probably not work. Any experience with this location ? Any recommendations in the area ?

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English is widely spoken in Portugal, on par with Northern European countries like Belgium and much more so than Spain/France/Italy, per commonly cited statistics. Try, ‘Bom dia. Excuse me, do you speak English?’ and I would be surprised if someone working in the tourism industry would be incapable of making a booking for you over the phone in English.

Vaneek said:

I consider my first stop to be in Santa Luzia: Quinta da Fosca.
I sent an email and I sent a WhatsApp to their phonenbrs (found on Gronze app). No reaction so far. I don’t speak Portuguese, so calling them will probably not work. Any experience with this location ? Any recommendations in the area ?

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We are starting from Coimbra on the 5th August. We may stop here as my partner likes shorter days. I will suggest when you get to Mealhada to try any of the restaurants if you are not vegetarian. The specialise in suckling pig. Divine! p.s two stages after Aguedo we did book to stay at a old watermill hostel to break up a longish stage. Looks amazing and fantastic reviews. All hostels found on Gronze.com. Enjoy your trip. Daniel

The basic stages are Coimbra to Sernadelo to Agueda. From Agueda, a few options like Albergaria a velha/Albergaria a nova/Branca/the watermill, depending on how far you want to walk.

Sernadelo has an albergue with private rooms available (Hilario)

Agueda,(Sao Antonio & Residencial Celeste) up the hill from town.. There's a garden area and patio, relaxing vibe and good laundry facilities

Branca has an donativo albergue, a homely vibe, a fully stocked kitchen and dinner is included.

I've heard good things about the water mill albergue near Pinheiro de Bemposta, it was a toss up between that and branca for me.

My stages from Coimbra were, Sernadelo, Agueda, Branca, Santa maria de feira, Porto. Ah, good memories.
I started earlier at Tomar, so I already had 4 stages of walking to warm my legs up, no need for you to do the same as me..
You do you.

Accommodations easy to organize with gronze, email and whatsapp. Had no issues with any language barriers doing that.

I've been looking on Gronze and there are two routes out of Coimbra. One via Sernadelo and the other via Penacova. Which would be better in terms of accommodation, flechas and scenery?

Thanks a lot, Peregrina. Very useful info.