Mealhada

How long to stay?

An afternoon is enough. After 23.4 kilometres from Coimbra you arrive here in the early afternoon, and the town fills no more than an afternoon: Mealhada is a quiet country town, famous for its food, not for monuments. Look at the Roman milestone in the town hall, eat suckling pig in the evening and walk on the next morning. If you want to see the forest of Buçaco, about eight kilometres from Mealhada, you will need a day of its own.

Mealhada in Ninja numbers

• 23.4 kilometres from Coimbra to here, according to Camino Ninja, a full stage with a steep climb before Trouxemil.
• 349.3 kilometres still lie between you and Santiago, according to Camino Ninja.
• 1.79 metres is the height of the Roman milestone that stands in the town hall. It belonged to the road from Olisipo to Bracara Augusta, that is, from Lisbon to Braga.
• 1.8 kilometres beyond Mealhada, in Sernadelo, stands the next pilgrim hostel; a dorm bed there costs €12 (as of November 2026).

Arriving: over the railway into town

The last kilometres from Coimbra lead through Mala, Lendiosa and Vimieira. At Lendiosa and Vimieira you walk for a stretch along a road with no hard shoulder and no pavement, so in single file and with your wits about you. In Mealhada you come over a roundabout and a bridge across the railway line onto a long avenue. The town lies on the river Cértima and is the main town of a municipality in the district of Aveiro. Look out for the little yellow Art Deco tourist information kiosk and for the stone fountain with tile pictures.

In brief: a town on the road

Mealhada is a place on a road, and has been for almost two thousand years. North of Coimbra the Caminho Central follows a Roman route with clear traces from the Middle Ages. The section between Aeminium, today's Coimbra, and Cale, today's Porto, belonged to the great Roman road from Lisbon to Braga. In 1856 one of its milestones was dug up, and today it stands in the town hall of Mealhada. Today the N1, the old national road from Lisbon to Porto, accompanies you, and on it Mealhada has made a name for itself: this is where the restaurants stand that roast the Leitão à Bairrada, the suckling pig of the Bairrada.

On the old road: what to see

There is not much, but the two things that make Mealhada are on your way.

• Marco Miliário da Mealhada: The Roman milestone is made of limestone, 1.79 metres high, with a circumference of 1.39 metres. It was dug up in 1856 and today stands in the town hall on the Largo do Município, barely 200 metres from the route. For you it is proof that you are walking one of the oldest roads in Portugal: the stone counted the miles between Lisbon and Braga long before the first pilgrims to Santiago. We have not found opening times; try during the town hall's office hours.
• Leitão à Bairrada: Here suckling pig is not a dish but a landmark. It is roasted in a wood-fired oven and seasoned with garlic, bay, olive oil and plenty of white pepper. People drink the sparkling wine of the Bairrada with it, and if you like it simple, you take the sliced meat in country bread. The restaurants line the N1, above all in Sernadelo, where you are going anyway for the hostel. Since 2020 the Bairrada wine route has been working with municipalities, breeders and roasters to have Leitão da Bairrada registered as a protected geographical indication, because elsewhere the name is used to dress up inferior produce.
• Mata do Buçaco (detour): About eight kilometres from Mealhada lies the walled forest of Buçaco. In 1628 Discalced Carmelites built a convent here, of which the church and cloister survive; between 1730 and 1750 eleven hermitages were built, and nine are still standing. In 1907 a palace in the neo-Manueline style was built there, which is now a hotel. For an afternoon after a full stage it is too far. It is only worth it if you take a rest day.

Food and drink

Mealhada is an eaters' stop. Besides suckling pig, arroz à antiga, snails and the sweet cavacas belong to the town's cooking, along with the bread of Mealhada and the wines of the Bairrada, which have a controlled designation of origin.

Honestly

• Mealhada has little to show. The town is quiet, but apart from the milestone and the food there is hardly anything worth seeing. Do not expect an old town like Coimbra's.
• The pilgrim bed is not in Mealhada. The hostel is 1.8 kilometres further on in Sernadelo, right on the national road. If you are already tired in Mealhada, you still have a bit to go.
• The suckling-pig mile is a road with traffic. The restaurants stand on the N1, not on a cosy square.
• The next day is a tarmac day. Until Águeda you walk mostly on tarmac, almost always within sight or earshot of the IC2 and the national roads.

Where pilgrims sleep

There is no pilgrim hostel in Mealhada itself. Pilgrims sleep 1.8 kilometres further on in Sernadelo, in the private Albergue-Residencial Hilário. It is open all year and has 15 dorm beds; a bed costs €12, and there are rooms too (as of November 2026). The house stands at the entrance to the village on the national road, behind a restaurant, and from the outside looks more like a hall. Inside, pilgrims in the Camino Ninja reviews praise above all how clean it is and how well they are looked after. In the town itself there are a few private places to stay.

Ninja tips

• Eat the suckling pig in Sernadelo. Many of the well-known restaurants stand there on the N1, and the hostel is next door. That way you do not have to walk back after the meal.
• Check your mattress at the hostel. In the reviews pilgrims praise the albergue, but one voice complains about sagging mattresses in the dorm. Have a look at the bed before you claim it.
• Set off early the next morning. Shortly before Águeda, about two kilometres lead through the industrial estate of Barrô, with a lot of lorry traffic on weekdays. If you start early, you get there before it gets busy.
• Beyond Sernadelo it turns green. There a well-marked path leads through eucalyptus and pine woods, a rare stretch without tarmac on this stage.

Onward: through the Bairrada to Águeda

Next morning the Camino Portugués Central takes you north via Sernadelo, Aguim and Anadia. After 8.7 kilometres you are in Anadia, the town of sparkling wine, and after another 16.6 kilometres in Águeda, 25.3 kilometres in total. The way is well marked and flat and leads through vineyards, but mostly on tarmac. The Fátima: Caminho do Norte also runs through Mealhada; its pilgrims come towards you, heading south to the sanctuary of Fátima.

What awaits you tomorrow

Águeda, a town on a river, which you enter through a park and over a small wooden bridge. In summer hundreds of colourful umbrellas hang over the Rua Luís de Camões. Before that there is a reward for the tarmac: the Fonte do Atalho of 1467, with the first view of the town.

Deep dive: The road of the milestones

A short read, in case you want to learn more about Mealhada. About 2 minutes' reading.

A stone in the town hall

In the town hall of Mealhada stands a stone from Roman times. It is made of limestone, almost as tall as a person, and traces of an inscription can still be made out on it. It was dug up in 1856. It was a milestone of the Roman road that joined Olisipo with Bracara Augusta, today's Lisbon with today's Braga. Between Aeminium, today's Coimbra, and Cale, today's Porto, it ran through here.

Who has walked here

For centuries people travelled on it, and at some point pilgrims too, on their way to Santiago. The route descriptions of the Caminho Central say that north of Coimbra the way follows a Roman route that continued in use in the Middle Ages. So when you leave Mealhada tomorrow morning, you are walking not just a pilgrim way but one of the oldest arteries of the country.

Today's road

The road has stayed, only its face has changed. Beside the pilgrim way now run the National Road 1, the expressway IC2 and the railway line from Lisbon to Porto, and Mealhada has a station on it. On the national road arose what makes the town known today: restaurant next to restaurant, in whose wood-fired ovens the suckling pig of the Bairrada roasts. Whoever is on the road stops here and eats.

What Mealhada gives you

Mealhada is not a place you visit for its beauty. It is a place where people have been stopping for a rest for centuries. Perhaps that is enough: a road, a stone that counts the miles, a table in the evening. The way to Santiago is still long. Tonight you may simply eat.