Picked by our team
Towns worth discovering along the Camino de Santiago, chosen by our team. Open one to see its history and sights, and where to stay.
8 towns on the Caminho Central Via Atlantico
View on the mapCastro Verde is where Portugal celebrates St James's Day: the Battle of Ourique on 25 July 1139 is seen as the birth of the kingdom, and in the Basílica Real azulejos tell the story of it and of the apostle's life. All around lies the Campo Branco, wide, shadeless and home to the great bustard.
Caminho Português Central do SulCaminho Central Via AtlanticoAfter the longest stage, Cercal do Alentejo welcomes you with a legend about thirst: at the Bica Santa, Mary is said to have fetched water from a stone for shepherd children. In the parish church an old St James waits at the high altar, and tomorrow you walk to the sea on the Caminho Histórico.
Caminho Central Via AtlanticoColos is the last breather before the longest stage of the Via Atlântico: a quiet village among cork oaks and pastures, once the seat of its own municipality, with the cross of the Order of Santiago on its coat of arms. There is no pilgrim bed in the village, and tomorrow 26.3 kilometres to Cercal lie ahead of you.
Caminho Central Via AtlanticoIn 1982, construction workers in Garvão stumbled on a sanctuary from the 3rd century BC: hundreds of vessels, a skull and thin plaques of gold and silver stamped with eyes, offerings to a deity who helped people see. All that's left to see in the village is the hill, but ten kilometres on, Santa Luzia is waiting for you.
Caminho Central Via AtlanticoOurique gave its name to Portugal's most famous battle, yet nobody knows whether the fighting really happened here on 25 July 1139. The town itself is small: a hill with a view over the Campo de Ourique, a castle of which almost nothing is left, and a reputation as the capital of the Alentejo pig.
Caminho Central Via AtlanticoIn Porto Covo you stand beside the Atlantic for the first time, after 94.7 kilometres of Alentejo. The village was laid out in the late 18th century on the drawing board of a merchant who had grown rich in Lisbon; in 1780 it had four houses. Out in front lies the Ilha do Pessegueiro with its fortress. An afternoon is enough, but do give it the afternoon.
Fishermen’s TrailCaminho Central Via AtlanticoSantiago do Cacém carries your patron saint in its name: in 1186 the castle passed to the Order of Santiago, and in the church by its wall James has been fighting in stone since the 14th century. Outside the town lies Roman Miróbriga. At 227.1 kilometres from Faro, you are halfway along the way here.
Caminho Português Central do SulCaminho Central Via AtlanticoSines is the town of Vasco da Gama and also Portugal's biggest cargo port. Above the fishing harbour stands the church of Nossa Senhora das Salas, which according to legend arose from a vow and was rebuilt by Gama in thanks for India. At the portal of the main church waits the sword cross of the Order of Santiago. 25.1 kilometres still to go to Santiago do Cacém.
Fishermen’s TrailCaminho Central Via AtlanticoTop rated
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