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Stage 3 · Portugués Central
Barcelos → Ponte de Lima
The Long Stage to the Lima
The longest stage of the Central Portuguese Way: 33.5 kilometres with 540 metres of ascent and 520 of descent, high difficulty more for the distance than for the climbs. You leave Barcelos to the north, between houses and industrial estates, and the town ends soon. The first third runs through villages such as Vila Boa and Lijó, with a steady climb up to Tamel, in São Pedro Fins, where there are bars and most people stop mid-morning.
The middle section is the prettiest of the day: Aborim, Balugães and Vitorino dos Piães, granite villages among vinho verde vineyards, maize fields and cobbled lanes, with the crossing of the river Neiva by an old bridge. There are cafés scattered along the way, but with long distances between them, and no reliable shade in the middle of the day. Carry food and do not count entirely on the bars.
After Facha and Seara the stage turns downhill and the tiredness sets in. The arrival in Ponte de Lima is one of the finest on the Camino: an avenue of plane trees along the bank of the river Lima that leads to the medieval bridge and the town, which claims to be the oldest in Portugal. It has everything, and deserves a walk in the evening.
Tips
Leave at dawn: with 33.5 kilometres every hour of daylight counts, and in summer the midday heat among the vines is no joke.
Carry food and water from Barcelos or from Tamel: the village cafés are far apart and not all of them open every day.
Get your departure stamp in Barcelos and the two stamps en route in Tamel and in one of the villages of the middle section; in Ponte de Lima, the arrival stamp at the albergue or the church.
Stop every two hours and take your boots off for a while: this is the stage that produces the most blisters on the Portuguese Way.
The albergue in Ponte de Lima is on the far side of the bridge: allow for one last kilometre when you think you have arrived.
This is the stage most people split in two: there is accommodation in the halfway villages if the whole day seems too much.
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It crosses where you are with the time, the daylight left, the water, the beds and the notice board. Three things at most: the ones that actually change your afternoon.
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Profile and services
The elevation for this stage has not been loaded yet.
The weather
14°C
Fog
- Feels like
- 16 °C
- Wind
- 2 km/h
- Daylight
- 07:44 – 18:56
- Today 🌫️ 23° 14°
- Wed 🌫️ 27° 15°
- Thu 🌫️ 24° 14°
- Fri 🌫️ 25° 13°
- Sat ⛅ 24° 14° 3 %
- Sun ⛅ 24° 14°
- Mon ⛅ 20° 10° 4 %
Data from Open-Meteo, refreshed every half hour.
What's there today
Nobody has reported anything on this stage.
Tips from people who walked it
The things that do not expire: where the fountain actually is, which bar opens at six, where not to go in the rain.
None here yet. If you have just walked this stage, you know something tomorrow’s pilgrim does not.
Emergencies
Call 112112 is the same number in Spain, in Portugal and across the European Union. It works with no credit, with no SIM, and over any operator's network, not just yours.
Say where you are I am walking the Camino Portugués, on the stage from Barcelos to Ponte de Lima.
- Farmácia Central Pharmacy km 0,0
- Farmácia Moderna Pharmacy km 0,0
- Farmácia Lamela Pharmacy km 0,0 +351 253 811 684
- Farmácia A Minha Farmácia Pharmacy km 0,3
- Farmácia Oliveira Pharmacy km 0,3
- Farmácia Filipe Pharmacy km 1,0
- Farmácia Confiança Pharmacy km 12,6
- Farmácia Brito Pharmacy km 33,6
- Clínica de Ponte de Lima Health centre km 33,6
- Farmácia Cerqueira Pharmacy km 33,7
- Farmácia da Misericórdia Pharmacy km 33,7
- Farmácia São João Pharmacy km 33,7
The map
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What to see on this stage 26
- Igreja do Senhor da Cruz Church km 0,0
- Capela de São José Church km 0,1
- Real Irmandade Do Senhor Bom Jesus Da Cruz Church km 0,2
- Igreja do Terço Church km 0,3
- Igreja Paroquial de São João Baptista de Vila Boa Church km 2,9
- Igreja Paroquial de São João Baptista de Vila Boa Church km 2,9
- Capela da Senhora da Ajuda Church km 2,9
- Alminhas do Espírito Santo Church km 3,5
- Cruzeiro do Espírito Santo Church km 3,6
- Capela do Espírito Santo Church km 3,7
- Capela de São Sebastião Church km 5,1
- Capela de Santa Cruz Church km 5,4
- Capela Nossa Senhora do Rosário da Portela Church km 9,7
- Igreja Nova de Nossa Senhora de Fátima de Aborim Church km 11,0
- Iglesia Church km 15,5
- Igreja Paroquial de São Martinho de Balugães Church km 16,5
- Igreja de Vitorino de Piães Church km 22,0
- Iglesia Church km 26,0
- Capela Nossa Senhora Das Neves Church km 31,7
- Nossa Senhora da Guia Church km 33,1
- Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Lapa Church km 33,6
- Capela da Senhora da Penha de França Church km 33,7
- Igreja da Misericórdia de Ponte de Lima Church km 33,7
- Igreja de Nossa Senhora dos Anjos Church km 33,7
- Capela das Pereiras Church km 33,7
- Igreja da Misericórdia de Ponte de Lima Church km 33,7