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 mapGuarda is the watch on the mountain: at 1,056 metres lies the highest town in Portugal, founded in 1199 to guard the border. After 35.8 km and the final climb from Belmonte, a cathedral like a fortress, the old Jewish quarter and the stamp in the museum await you. 42.7 km remain to Trancoso.
Via NascenteIn Mértola the centuries lie on top of each other: Roman river port, Islamic town, and from 1239 the first seat of the Order of Santiago in Portugal. The main church was a mosque and has kept its prayer niche. A rest day is worth it, not least because 66.4 kilometres to Beja lie ahead of you, just not on a Monday.
Via NascenteNisa is the town of white pebbles: women press quartz into red clay, the Rua de Santa Maria is paved with it, and ceramic shells show you the way. As early as 1218 the Templars founded an albergaria here. An afternoon is enough; tomorrow you walk 19.8 kilometres down to the Tagus.
Via NascenteThe Via Nascente begins in Tavira, at the church of Santiago, where above the door the apostle raises a sword. After the conquest around 1242 the town on the Gilão belonged to the Order of Santiago, and in the chancel of Santa Maria lie the tombs of seven of its knights. You set off with the shell in a place where St James was venerated as a fighter. Come a day early.
Via NascenteTrancoso is the handover: after 661.2 kilometres the Via Nascente ends here, and the Camino Torres carries on to Santiago. Behind the Porta d'El Rei awaits a walled town where King Dinis married Isabel of Aragón in 1282 and Christians and Jews lived door to door. There is no pilgrim hostel.
Via NascenteCamino TorresThe official stage from Cuba ends in Viana do Alentejo, and here you meet a different kind of pilgrim: every year worshippers come to Nossa Senhora d'Aires, some of them after four days in the saddle. The castle, begun in 1313, has a church at its centre. An afternoon is enough, because tomorrow 33.1 kilometres to Évora await.
Via NascenteIn Vila Velha de Ródão you cross a bridge from 1884 out of the Alentejo and into the Beira Baixa. Right beside the town, the Tagus has cut through a 260-metre-deep wall of quartzite, the Portas de Ródão, where griffon vultures circle and a Templar tower keeps watch. An afternoon is enough, and from here the way climbs.
Via NascenteTop rated
The stays pilgrims rate highest right now, across every Camino.
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