Caminho do Norte: Day 10 – Coimbra to Ameixieira

We woke to thick fog. The river that had looked so captivating last night looked grey and depressing in the morning light. Harri had been kept awake by the early-hours partying of Coimbra’s student population; I had somehow managed to sleep through the revelry.

We’ll be picking up the Rota Carmelita on the opposite side of the Rio Mondego this morning. This six-stage, 111-kilometre pilgrimage follows moreorless the same route as the Caminho do Norte from Coimbra to Fátima.

Today’s destination is Ameixieira, slightly south of Condeixa-a-Velha where the official stage ends. It’ll be a short day for us at around 19 km (the official stage is 16 km). Harri has built in some free time this afternoon to enable us to stop at Conímbriga. The site is one of Portugal’s best-preserved Roman cities. It’s rare for us to visit tourist attractions on our long-distance hikes (no time), but we occasionally make an effort, particularly when ancient ruins are involved, e.g. we spent several hours visiting the incredible archaeological site at Empúries when walking the Catalonia coast.

The Astória Hotel’s dedication to the past certainly didn’t extend to its breakfast offering. In a rather grand dining room, we tucked into what can only be described as a feast. There was scrambled egg, bacon, an assortment of cheeses, bowls of nuts and seeds, breads, croissants, pain au chocolate, decent quality yoghurt, fruit, etc. I couldn’t believe the variety of teas either. I opted for Earl Grey (of course). Breakfast at the Astória felt rather special. It was a shame our stay was so short.

In no rush to leave, we were lingering in the dining room when I spotted the two Danish ladies at a nearby table. Obviously, now we’re all best friends (that’s what pilgrimages and hardship do for you), we went over to say ‘bom dia’. It turned out they’d arrived in Coimbra last night with no pre-booked accommodation; the Astória Hotel had the only available rooms in town and they paid considerably more than we did (we’d booked two months in advance). More horrifying – for Harri at least – was they didn’t seem to know how to leave Coimbra, thus he patiently explained how their onward route began on the far side of the bridge where they needed to pick up the waymarks for the Rota Carmelita. Sadly, we never set eyes on our new friends again.

When we set off at nine o’clock, we were a little sad to be leaving Coimbra. I was even sadder when I realised we’d be starting the day with a long, uphill climb.

Although the gradient wasn’t too bad, we went up and up and up. The views over  Coimbra would have been amazing had the surrounding hills not been shrouded in mist. From this great height, we could see that the historic part of Coimbra where tourists congregate constitutes quite a small area of the built-up area. Things got a bit surreal when we realised we were as high as the University of Coimbra – one of the oldest universities in continuous use in the world – and gradually climbed higher still.

There was a new thrill today. The Rota Carmelite has kilometre markers telling us how far we are from Fátima. Believe me, this steady countdown was extremely motivating at times. We’ve got to the point where we’re evaluating the route by the quality of the road we’re walking along … seriously. We discuss the volume of traffic, the gradient, whether there’s a pavement or a hard shoulder, etc. If we veer off road at any point, we view the ‘cross-country’ section as a pleasant surprise.

It was nearly ten o’clock when the sun began to break through the mist. We reached a place called Antanhol, which was surprisingly pleasant for somewhere with the N1 running behind the gardens. An interpretation board urged, ‘Come and discover the ruins of the watermills and olive presses/mills of Antanhol and let yourself be enwrapped by the singing of the waters and nature …’

Cynics that we’d become, we turned around, acknowledged the cars whizzing past us and sighed heavily. And then a miracle happened and we wandered into a world of visual delight centred around a levada and an adjacent stream. There’s one word that comes to mind when passing Casa Amazonia and that is FUN. The entire outside area has been designed around the water channels that gush under and past the property. Real ducks waddled past plastic penguins and an ugly drainpipe was transformed into a palm tree.

So bowled over were we, that we found ourselves pondering the logistics of creating a levada-like water feature to flow under our own home (a townhouse). Sadly, the project was quickly ruled out on the grounds of Algarve water shortages during the summer months.

Unfortunately, the excited-at-what-we-were-seeing vibe rapidly disappeared when we rejoined a road which took us underneath the motorway. We were heading into Condeixa-a-Velha when we spotted a signpost informing us that the town was twinned with our very own Pontypool. To those who aren’t in the know, Pontypool is the town where Torfaen council’s civic centre is located and  is where Harri and I first got to know each other back in 2007. Imagine. We’re walking through Central Portugal and we just happen to stumble upon Pontypool’s twin town (since February 1999).

Hot and thirsty, we decided to stop for drinks. With Portugal’s local elections around the corner, a political rally was well underway and, while we rested, a noisy convoy of cars circled the central square time and time again. A mind-boggling 20 parties were standing in the elections with eight different coalitions already formed.

By this point, we’d done most of the day’s hiking. After Condeixa-a-Velha, we’ll have no access to a shop, cafe or restaurant until tomorrow, so we popped into the local Mini Preço to stock up on food and beer.

And then it was on to Conímbriga, where we were surprised to learn that we weren’t going to be charged the regular entry fee of ten euros per person afterall. The museum was closed and there was a notice pinned to the door saying something about a strike.

We were taken aback when, with a broad smile, we were instructed to leave our rucksacks at the entrance. I know there are unscrupulous people who think nothing of stealing ancient relics but, after our shopping trip, our packs were quite heavy enough without us tossing a few Roman tiles into them.

Conímbriga is an extensive site, with excavation still ongoing. As is often the case, the translated interpretation boards made little sense in English so we just wandered around, enjoying the well-preserved tiled floors of the Roman villas and the rows of fountains in the former courtyard area. There was also an impressive amphitheatre which we entered via an arch.

The approach to conservation is very different in Portugal and Spain, where ancient ruins are restored and rebuilt to make them safe and accessible for visitors … with varying degrees of success. This commitment to rebuilding has resulted in ugly blocks being used to renovate the Roman temple here at Conímbriga. What must once have been an elegant building boasting tall columns now resembles Newport’s Uskmouth Power Station with its three brick chimneys.

Although we didn’t hand over any money, I think the ten-euro entry fee would have felt a little high considering the brief nature of our visit (compared with other Portuguese attractions, not the UK). In fact, we actually think Miróbriga near Santiago do Cacém is more impressive and, in 2024, that site was charging visitors just three euros each.

Some days you just get lucky and today was one of those days. It transpired that right to the Roman museum, a craft beer festival was getting underway. It was still mid-afternoon and only one stall had started serving so Harri’s options were limited. He bought his beer festival glass (and carried it for the remainder of our trip) and tried two different fruity beers while I sipped water and ate more crisps. Maybe I need a new pseudonym … the Beer Drinker’s Wife perhaps?

We decided against doing an 800-metre detour to the Mouros waterfall because there was no water downstream. For the final 850 metres of today’s route, we left the caminho and joined a local PR route. The drystone walls, olive and pine trees made it feel a lot like the Algarve’s hinterland. We hoped it was a sign that the caminho was about to improve.

Summary

Our first day on the Rota Carmelita was promising – and a definite improvement on some of the sections that had come before. It’s been fascinating to watch the vegetation gradually changing. Walking a shorter distance meant we had time to visit a tourist attraction, linger over beer and arrive at our accommodation in time to relax in the private garden.

Accommodation

At 89 euros for a double bedroom with no breakfast, Pedra Oliveira was our most expensive accommodation of the caminho. It’s run by a friendly French couple, Amelia and Phillippe, who are clearly very talented interior designers. We were particularly enthralled by the wall alongside our bed, which was polished rockface with a lamp set into it. In fact, it’s this attention to detail that makes Pedra Oliveira so gorgeous.

There are no shops, cafes or restaurants within walking distance – and no proper kitchen facilities at Pedra Oliveira (just a microwave and a kettle). Our ready noodles were pretty revolting. We’ll stick to olives, bread and cheese in future.

Our route

This tenth stage from Coimbra to Ameixieira was mapped at 19 km with 293 metres of ascent.

I recorded 22.1 km on Outdoor Active with 273 metres of climbing. The extra distance was down to all the wandering we did around Conímbriga.

Download the GPX file of our original route hike here.