GR22 - Historical Villages of Portugal

[efdoucette]

Good day,

I was wondering if anyone on the forum has experience with the GR22 route? It's called "Aldeias Históricas De Portugal" (Historical Villages of Portugal) The north loop of this trail intersects with the Camino Torres at Almeida and Trancoso. I've found some limited information on-line but was wondering of first hand experience. It has been given some awards and at first look seems fantastic.

Many thanks,
Eric

 

[Former member 22438]

Discover the Historical Villages of Portugal on foot - Aldeias Históricas de Portugal

Among the hills and valleys of the green countryside inside the central region of Portugal, full of legends and castles, tastes and traditions, there are 12 simple villages where you can feel at home. to get lost, never to see yourself again. The historic villages of Portugal, a destination of...

www.aldeiashistoricasdeportugalblog.pt

 

[jungleboy]

I have long wanted to do this too but I looked into it a couple of years ago and basically the conclusion was that it's not really possible to do the entire thing as a continuous walk because of the distances between villages/services. I spoke to someone from the tourism office and this is what they told me:

If you are indeed interested in doing this solo, you can find more information on this website: https://aldeiashistoricasdeportugal.com/en/oferta-turistica/percursos/grande-rota-cycling/ - although for some distances it is more orientated for cycling, they have information regarding accommodation and etc. There is some accommodation in between the villages, and some possibility of camping, however, I wouldn't recommend the latter as usually the camping places are only open during the summer, and could be very tricky to find another suitable place.

Some of the villages are closer together so you could do an abbreviated walk taking in those ones, or if you walk the Caminho Nascente you go through three of them (Castelo Novo, Belmonte and Trancoso).

 

[efdoucette]

I have long wanted to do this too but I looked into it a couple of years ago and basically the conclusion was that it's not really possible to do the entire thing as a continuous walk because of the distances between villages/services. I spoke to someone from the tourism office and this is what they told me:



Some of the villages are closer together so you could do an abbreviated walk taking in those ones, or if you walk the Caminho Nascente you go through three of them (Castelo Novo, Belmonte and Trancoso).

Thanks for your post @jungleboy, great info. I'm going to investigate the potential to walk starting in Belmonte, on to Sortelha, Sabugal, Alfaiates, Vilar Maior, Castelo Mendo, Almeida, to Trancoso. If I can get a warm fuzzy feeling for accommodations through those towns and in between, I could then connect to the Camino Torres in Trancoso and on to Braga. That would be enough to wet my appetite for this year.

 

[peregrina2000]

I was in 4 or 5 of those towns last November, but I don’t remember seeing any markings at all for walkers. But wow, those are some of the nicest old towns in Portugal, all linked by a walking path!

There is a lot of info about the aldeias históricas posted at the entrances frequently, though. There are lots of tracks on wikiloc, but this one (whose author walked this last month) says the following about Belmonte to Sortelha.

When I did this stage there were places without any markings and in some spots the trail was overgrown.I recommend walking with GPS.

Even if you don’t use wikiloc as a gps app, I would take a look at the tracks that are there, because they have a lot of text and pictures. It looks like a lot of off-road trails.

Would love to hear back from you if you walk this route! Just a heads up on the Torres from Trancoso to Braga - it’s got a lot of asphalt, unlike the first part from Salamanca to Trancoso.

 

[Camino Chrissy]

I have long wanted to do this too but I looked into it a couple of years ago and basically the conclusion was that it's not really possible to do the entire thing as a continuous walk because of the distances between villages/services. I spoke to someone from the tourism office and this is what they told me:



Some of the villages are closer together so you could do an abbreviated walk taking in those ones, or if you walk the Caminho Nascente you go through three of them (Castelo Novo, Belmonte and Trancoso).

Wow, @jungleboy, those are some beautiful photos! All I know is that if you have decided it isn't quite doable for you, then the majority of the rest of us will probably not be adding it to our bucket lists, either, unless seeing those outstanding villages by car.

 

[efdoucette]

I was in 4 or 5 of those towns last November, but I don’t remember seeing any markings at all for walkers. But wow, those are some of the nicest old towns in Portugal, all linked by a walking path!

There is a lot of info about the aldeias históricas posted at the entrances frequently, though. There are lots of tracks on wikiloc, but this one (whose author walked this last month) says the following about Belmonte to Sortelha.

When I did this stage there were places without any markings and in some spots the trail was overgrown.I recommend walking with GPS.

Even if you don’t use wikiloc as a gps app, I would take a look at the tracks that are there, because they have a lot of text and pictures. It looks like a lot of off-road trails.

Would love to hear back from you if you walk this route! Just a heads up on the Torres from Trancoso to Braga - it’s got a lot of asphalt, unlike the first part from Salamanca to Trancoso.

Thank You L for your advice. I will definitely use an app with GPS, currently looking at a couple. As for the Camino Torres, I could peel off the Historical Villages trail at Lamego and connect with the Portuguese Inland route instead (another route I have no experience with). Have you been on that section of the PI?
Regards,
Eric

 

[jungleboy]

As for the Camino Torres, I could peel off the Historical Villages trail at Lamego and connect with the Portuguese Inland route instead (another route I have no experience with). Have you been on that section of the PI?

Yes you could. Post-Lamego I prefer the CPI to the Torres because of the asphalt on the Torres, but it also depends on where you want to go afterwards as they will drop you in very different spots.

 

[efdoucette]

Yes you could. Post-Lamego I prefer the CPI to the Torres because of the asphalt on the Torres, but it also depends on where you want to go afterwards as they will drop you in very different spots.

Yes, thanks. I just need a train station to get back for my flight, so lots of options.
Regards

 

[efdoucette]

I was in 4 or 5 of those towns last November, but I don’t remember seeing any markings at all for walkers. But wow, those are some of the nicest old towns in Portugal, all linked by a walking path!

There is a lot of info about the aldeias históricas posted at the entrances frequently, though. There are lots of tracks on wikiloc, but this one (whose author walked this last month) says the following about Belmonte to Sortelha.

When I did this stage there were places without any markings and in some spots the trail was overgrown.I recommend walking with GPS.

Even if you don’t use wikiloc as a gps app, I would take a look at the tracks that are there, because they have a lot of text and pictures. It looks like a lot of off-road trails.

Would love to hear back from you if you walk this route! Just a heads up on the Torres from Trancoso to Braga - it’s got a lot of asphalt, unlike the first part from Salamanca to Trancoso.

Well, a friend and I are good to go, arriving Belmonte in two weeks, May 11. We have booked accommodations the first 2 nights, Belmonte and Sortelha, after that - flexible. Our intention is to walk the north loop from Belmonte to Trancoso, divert to the Camino Torres until Lamego and to the Interior to ??? back to Lisbon, fly home May 29. We'll see, we've been known to "all aboard - choo choo" at any time, haha. Over the years, we have come to appreciate the journey over destination.
I'm not a big blogger / communicator but at some point I'll give my impressions of that section of the GR22.
All the best
Eric

 

[efdoucette]

Returned recently from Portugal and as promised here is a brief summary of my impressions of the GR22 Historical Villages of Portugal.

We started our trek in Belmonte and completed the following 4 stages:
Belmonte to Sortelha
Sortelha to Sabugal
Sabugal to Soito
Soito to Vilar Maior
After Vilar Maior we gave up, moved on to Viseu and continued on the Portuguese Interior.

Impressions:
Belmonte is a perfect start point. Beautiful town, good accommodations, restaurants, mercados, but best of all an office supporting the trail. We walked in not knowing what to expect and left with maps, apps but most importantly a contact that would help us with accommodations along the trail. We spoke zero Portugues so this contact was a life saver.

The trail is so beautiful, easy walking, ~20 km days, mostly well signed, great scenery.

The historical towns were magical. It's obvious money has been invested to restore important buildings and structures. The little towns are not inhabited, but still very showy.

Very few services. At the end stages of Sortelha and Vilar Moiar, no food but always a hardy breakfast at the Casa.

Zero other walkers.

I highly recommend this section of the trail (can't speak for the rest of the trail), a great walk, great scenery. But best if you can communicate in portuguese, have cell service, plan to carry days worth of water and food.

We left the trail as we found it difficult to communicate, find accommodations and find food. We were wearing down and decided to move on.

 

[ricardo.ha77]

My partner and I are thinking of hiking this trail in a couple of years.
Thank you @efdoucette for your notes, that will help on our planning.
I think the main challenge for us would be finding accommodation, so we would carry a small tent - I still need to investigate how easy is to find camping spots and how acceptable is wild camping in Portugal.