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.
25 towns on the Via Nascente
View on the mapAlcoutim looks across the Guadiana to Sanlúcar, its Spanish neighbour. In the castle courtyard Portugal and Castile made peace in 1371, and today tourists fly over the border on a wire. An afternoon is enough, because 37.6 kilometres lie behind you and 45.1 to Mértola lie ahead.
Via NascenteAlpalhão is a crossroads: here the route from Valencia de Alcántara ends, and you carry on north along the Via Nascente. A 16th-century granite cross stands in the village, and crosses are carved into old doorposts. A quiet village for an evening, not for a rest day.
Via NascenteValencia de Alcántara - AlpalhãoAlter do Chão is the village of horses: since 1748 the royal stud farm here has bred the Alter Real, which Turismo Alentejo says has stayed in the same place without interruption. In the middle of the village stands the castle that Pedro I had built in 1357. An afternoon is enough; if you want to see the stud farm, plan around the 3 pm tour.
Via NascenteAlvito is the town of mornings: in 1979 Saramago found a Rua das Manhãs here, a street of all the mornings of the world. Above it stands the castle of Portugal's first baron, built from 1494 to 1504, and on the edge of town a chapel with old frescoes. An afternoon is enough, and then it is 13.3 kilometres to Viana do Alentejo.
Via NascenteIn Beja the cathedral belongs to the apostle St James: the Sé de São Tiago Maior stands in the middle of the town, and on its tiles the scallop shell recalls the Order of Santiago. Above it rises the 40-metre castle tower. After 175.7 kilometres of the Via Nascente, an afternoon is enough for tower, cathedral and convent.
Via NascenteBelmonte is the place that preserved: in the Santiago church the apostle has stood for centuries as a fresco above the altar, next to it rest the Cabrals, and the town's Jews lived their faith in secret for almost 500 years, until a synagogue opened in 1996. After 41.1 km from Fundão, a quiet day is well spent.
Via NascenteIn Castelo Branco you have three quarters of the Via Nascente behind you: 494.9 kilometres since Tavira, with 166.3 still to go to Trancoso. The city of the Templars has a bishop's garden where the kings stand on a staircase and the Spanish ones have deliberately been made smaller. An afternoon is enough for the garden, the castle hill and the embroidery.
Via NascenteCastelo Novo is the first of the Aldeias Históricas on the Via Nascente: a granite village of the Templars on the slope of the Serra da Gardunha, which you get to know through its fountains. After 34.1 kilometres from Castelo Branco, an evening is enough for fountains, castle and the wine press in the rock. Tomorrow you cross the mountain, 12.6 kilometres to Fundão.
Via NascenteCastro Marim is the castle above the salt: after 26 kilometres from Tavira you stand beneath walls that in 1319 became the first seat of the Order of Christ, and below you the salt pans of a nature reserve gleam with flamingos. An afternoon is enough. Tomorrow the Via Nascente turns north to the Guadiana.
Via NascenteTop rated
The stays pilgrims rate highest right now, across every Camino.
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