Camino de Portuguese Day 5: Rates to Barcelos
Porto Day 5 | Hiking the Camino de Portuguese from Rates to Barcelos | June 2026
Today was our last day of section hiking the Camino de Portuguese and commuting back to our hotel in Porto. It was also our longest day of hiking and commuting since we were getting further away from downtown Porto. We would be walking from Rates to Barcelos on our first ‘official’ segment of the Central route, which would be about 15 miles counting a side quest and walking around Barcelos at the end of the hike. In preparation for today’s plans, we had purchased train tickets in advance for Barcelos to Porto, and return tickets to Barcelos the following morning. For today, we took the metro out to Vila do Conde and then took the bus to Rates where we had left off on Saturday. Because of the limited routes to Rates, we had a later start than we would have liked, but were able to buy early evening train tickets leaving us with around 7 hours to complete the hike.
After our 2 hour morning commute, we were dropped right where we left off in Rates and started on the trail immediately. It was shaping up to be a warm and sunny afternoon, not ideal for a lot of hiking in the direct sun. As much as we were enjoying our long morning breakfasts at the hotel, we were ready to start getting earlier starts to our hiking days.
Today’s walk took us through a wide variety of surroundings. We walked through towns, residential areas, farms, along busy roads and forest roads, and even hiked up a mountain! We also saw the most pilgrims that we had seen so far — not actually on the trail, but all crowded into a small cafe halfway through the hike. Though it still didn’t fully feel like we were walking the official Camino de Portuguese, we didn’t feel as out of place as we did while walking from Vila do Conde to Rates. There were more signs and yellow arrows pointing the way to Barcelos, and besides a few busier roads and towards the end while we were walking through the more urban side of Barcelos, a lot of the walking was on quieter roads or dirt paths through farmland and was very pleasant.
As we were walking North through the town of Pedra Furada, we came to a point where the trail splits and you can either continue following the road North to Barcelos, or you can take a side road and walk up a small mountain to a church and historic site, then walk down the other side and meet up with the main trail South of Barcelos. Curtis had already expressed his interest in taking the side path because he could summit a peak along the way (there were very limited peaks he would be able to summit along the entire trail). I had been a little skeptical because we were already walking a long distance today and the way he presented it didn’t make it seem very official, but when I saw the large sign laying out both options it felt more like a legitimate path and didn’t look to be too much longer, so I agreed. The way up the hill had a longer, more gradual ascent than the way down the North side, and I appreciated what shade we found on the way up. The actual summit of this mountain is up a small service road and not where the small church and restaurant sits, so after finding a shaded picnic area for me, Curtis backtracked to go stand on the official highest point. We enjoyed a small lunch in the shade consisting of meats, cheeses, and breads that we had brought from our hotel breakfast, and a coke that we picked up from a cafe along the way. After that, we wandered up to the Santuario de Nossa Senhora da Franqueria that sits picturesquely on the hill with great views to the North, East, and West, and even provided views out to the Ocean. Amazing to think that we had walked the distance from the Ocean to here! Unfortunately though, the cafe and church were closed today, so we couldn’t get a stamp to commemorate our side quest.
Luckily after we made it to the top, the rest of today was downhill and easier walking, though not the most enjoyable as we were entering the outskirts of Barcelos and it was hot and not very scenic. But as we made our way to the center and the more historic part of the town, it of course became more lively and enjoyable to walk through. We finally crossed over the Cávado River and made our way up to the Barcelos Cathedral. This was the area where we saw the second largest group of pilgrims that we had seen so far, which made obtaining the stamp in the church much less awkward than the day before.
Having made it to Barcelos, we were officially done with our hike for today, and we still had about an hour and a half to spend here before our train would depart. We spent a little more time relaxing near the church and enjoying the view over the river, then set out to find something for dinner. We struggled a bit to find a place that was open as many restaurants in Portugal don’t open until after 7, but we eventually found a place closer to the train station. On our way we walked through a shopping district with some upscale places, and felt very out of place with our large backpacks and hiking boots. When we were handed our menus that were in Portuguese, we used our phones to try to translate some of the items, but there was one that we couldn’t figure out, called the Dogão. Our curiosity led us to ordering it anyway just to experience this mysterious Portuguese(?) dish. It turned out to be a hotdog in a bun…also with mashed potatoes, corn, fried onions, and ketchup in it. Definitely not what we were expecting, but after walking 15 miles, it honestly hit the spot and mix of flavors made it taste sort of like something I’d call a ‘comfort food’ dish back in the US.
Finally, we made our way to the train station and caught our first train which took us to the town of Nine, then took our second train back to Porto. Out of all the public transiting we had been doing, this was my favorite because of how smooth the ride was and how it offered beautiful views of the countryside. When we arrived in Porto, we took a little time to admire the São Bento train station with blue and white tile murals on the walls, then made our way back to our hotel for one last night. I knew I was going to miss having our own private room and shower, and the certainty of knowing where I’d sleep every night, but I was ready to be more focused on the trail, and to enjoy the social aspects of walking the Camino.
