Gronze will soon have a page for the INTERIOR route in Portugal

[peregrina2000]

The terminology has often confused people, but this Gronze article is a good introduction to the Caminho Portugues Interior. This is not to be confused with the “standard” “normal” Caminho Portugues, which uses the term “central route” to distinguish it from the “coastal route.” The article describes the route and notes that they will soon list it as one of their caminos with stages, distances, lodging, elevation, etc etc.

ANYWAY..... this route goes from Viseu (there will someday be a link from Coimbra, so people starting in Lisbon can just move on over), up to Verín where it merges with the Verín alternative of the Camino Sanabrés, then heads up to Ourense and continues with the “normal” Sanabrés and on into Santiago.

From Viseu it is 387 kms, so it makes for another shorter opportunity for those who can’t spare 6 or 7 weeks. It crosses the Douro River at Peso da Régua and continues to Mesao Frio. It goes through parts of Portugal that I like very much. In 2015, I saw an arrow outside a place where we were staying on the Douro (as tourists), and I now think it must be the Interior route. You can see the arrow on the pole outside our Casa Rural.

Forum members who have walked it have written very positively about it, so why not add it to the wish list?

 

[Camino Chrissy]

Ahh, Laurie, you have evoked my own tourist memories of the beautiful Duoro river valley.

 

[Saint Mike II]

Ah Laurie - if the number of "caminos" keeps increasing I look like having to take out EU citizenship and spend a whole year walking these historic trails. Cheers

 

[Zac123]

The terminology has often confused people, but this Gronze article is a good introduction to the Caminho Portugues Interior. This is not to be confused with the “standard” “normal” Caminho Portugues, which uses the term “central route” to distinguish it from the “coastal route.” The article describes the route and notes that they will soon list it as one of their caminos with stages, distances, lodging, elevation, etc etc.

ANYWAY..... this route goes from Viseu (there will someday be a link from Coimbra, so people starting in Lisbon can just move on over), up to Verín where it merges with the Verín alternative of the Camino Sanabrés, then heads up to Ourense and continues with the “normal” Sanabrés and on into Santiago.

From Viseu it is 387 kms, so it makes for another shorter opportunity for those who can’t spare 6 or 7 weeks. It crosses the Douro River at Peso da Régua and continues to Mesao Frio. It goes through parts of Portugal that I like very much. In 2015, I saw an arrow outside a place where we were staying on the Douro (as tourists), and I now think it must be the Interior route. You can see the arrow on the pole outside our Casa Rural.

Forum members who have walked it have written very positively about it, so why not add it to the wish list?


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I regret to inform you that the path that goes through Mesão Frio is the Caminho de Torres. CPI heads towards Vila Real, Chaves, Verin (Caminho Sanabrês).

 

[peregrina2000]

I regret to inform you

Thanks Zac, no regrets on my part, just another lovely camino to add to the mix! Do you have a map that shows how the Interior and the Torres relate to each other? It looks like they converge in Regua and then diverge again? Or do they overlap more than that?

And just to keep things interesting the caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros is in the vicinity as well. Does it overlap with one or both? I had started to figure this out a while ago but never got clarity

Downloads caminho peregrinos

debragaasantiago.com

One thing is certain — Northern Portugal has a lot of lovely caminho options!!!

 

[lt56ny]

Sounds great. Does anyone know about albergues? As a budget pilgrim in my retirement I can not afford 30+ Euro accommodations every night. I could do it in France in 2014 but almost every night that included dinner and often breakfast.

 

[jungleboy]

Do you have a map that shows how the Interior and the Torres relate to each other? It looks like they converge in Regua and then diverge again? Or do they overlap more than that?

Not many town names but the Wise Pilgrim map shows both routes and it looks like they cross each other once.

 

[alansykes]

I walked the Camino Torres from Salamanca, which joins the Camino Portugués del Interior (CPI) at Lamego, and then carried on the CPI from Peso da Régua up to Verín.

It was gorgeous. Highly recommended, especially the Corgo Valley up to Vila Real and on to Chaves.

 

[Donovan]

The maps I’ve downloaded from this forum's Resources section show three caminos meeting at Lamego – Torres, CPI and Lusitana. The three run together to Peso de Régua (about 15km) then, as others have pointed out, the Torres goes to Braga and Ponte de Lima, the CPI to Verin and the Lusitana to Ourense.

Laurie, I believe that the caminho da Geira e dos Arrieiros starts in Braga, so that would link in nicely with the Torres from Salamanca, which is a lovely route. I wasn’t aware of that extension when I walked the Torres. A pity – it looks lovely.