Mysteries of the Caminho in Porto: fork in the path to Braga

[Prentiss Riddle]

The Porto to Braga trail on Flannery's excellent map runs near my apartment in the Constituição/Paranhos area of Porto. It's shown in burgundy on the map. It branches off of the Central in the Cedofeita neighborhood and runs by Lapa church, then northeast through the Porto suburbs.



However, I'd been puzzling about a fork in that trail not far from my house. Both branches of the fork have yellow arrows but only the right fork is on Flannery's map. What could they mean?



Well, I finally used my head and checked out the QR codes on the signs at the fork. It turns out that the left fork is the older path and follows the ancient Roman road known as the Via XVI, from Lisbon to Braga by way of Gaia.

Right fork - on Flannery's map
https://www.raidbttdatrofa.pt/caminhos-de-santiago.php?i_e=6

Left fork - Via Romana XVI
https://www.raidbttdatrofa.pt/caminhos-de-santiago.php?i_e=7

The two forks converge just after Trofa. They're almost identical in length. I wonder whether anyone here has walked them both and can compare?

As a day trip I followed the left fork all the way to the city center of Maia and a little beyond, where somehow I lost the arrows. (See my addition to the map in pink.) For the most part it follows the route of the 600 bus and has lots of interesting buildings which are older than the surrounding modern suburban construction of Maia. It was a pleasant day hike and I was able to easily catch the Metro or a bus back home when I was done. I'm looking forward to picking up again where I left off in Maia.



More mysteries to follow in another post!

 

[Adelina]

So many trails, so little time!

 

[KathieAu]

Wondering if you have explored any further up the Romana XV! ?
Very curious as I'm still undecided on a route north of Porto, and Braga looks incredible and far too amazing to bypass. ( excuse my antipodean enthusiasm)

 

[peregrina2000]

Wondering if you have explored any further up the Romana XV! ?
Very curious as I'm still undecided on a route north of Porto, and Braga looks incredible and far too amazing to bypass. ( excuse my antipodean enthusiasm)

And once in Braga you have two options —back to the Portugues Central or the relatively recently marked Geira e dos Arrieiros. It goes through Portugal’s only National park. Very solitary but beautiful.

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

Wondering if you have explored any further up the Romana XV! ?

Thanks for asking! No, I haven't. What's more, last I looked the "left fork" sign had been torn down and I've been meaning to contact the organization to ask whether that's intentional or just vandalism.

In your shoes I might hinge my decision on studying the map and finding accommodations. I suspect there are no albergues, so you'd likely be dependent on Booking (perhaps sided by Uber).

BTW we recently took the alternate Central starting at Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho in Maia (easy access from the Fórum Maia metro stop, as suggested by Brierley). It was lovely.

Santuário de Nossa Senhora do Bom Despacho · 4.5 ★ (416) · Catholic church

R. Padre José Pinheiro Duarte 39, 4470-184 Maia, Portugal

maps.app.goo.gl

 

[Prentiss Riddle]

And once in Braga you have teo options —back to the Portugues Central or the relatively recently marked Geira e dos Arrieiros. It goes through Portugal’s only National park. Very solitary but beautiful.

Thanks for this. What are the accommodations like on the Geira route? Does it have as many elevation changes as one might expect?

 

[peregrina2000]

Thanks for this. What are the accommodations like on the Geira route? Does it have as many elevation changes as one might expect?

Take a look at @jungleboy ’s thread.

My FindPenguins blog is linked in my signature below. There are other good threads in the Geira subforum.

I stayed in private places (by choice) and I think there’s only one albergue, but prices were reasonable.

 

[KathieAu]

Thank you both for the great advice. I have some serious study to do and some convincing of my travel companion. Both the Alt central and the Geira sound beautiful, (A National Park may be my trump card).
Not so worried about lack of albergues, (we're used to being at the mercy of booking sites) more concerned about long walking days, but hopefully by starting in Lisbon, we'll be reasonably trail fit.