A Guarda 18.1km (Hotel Vila da Guarda)

Day 1 of our Portuguese Coastal Camino saw us set out with a spring in our step. We headed north from Vila Praia de Ancora bound for A Guarda in Spain, a distance that the guide books state is around 13km. There was a heavy sea mist present but the temperature was great for walking. Keeping the ocean to our left we were on a path that passed rocky beaches and what looked like unused small paddocks for a few kilometres, till we entered the town of Moledo, with a few surf shops and bars. Heading out of town we walked through pine forests till we came to the River Minho, the border between Portugal and Spain. Following the river east we came to the town of Caminha, a nice town with a pretty square where we stopped for a coffee. Headed to the water to pick up our boat across the river to A Pasaxe in Spain, a five minute journey for around €6/head. Not much on this side of the river for lunch so continued our Camino Pilgrimage (I’m calling it a walk from now on). Apparently the walk is very well signposted in Spain with yellow arrows regularly showing the direction, however you miss one arrow… (as the goat joke goes) and it can lead to an extra four kilometer walk over a hill half the height of Everest instead of around it. Eventually we got to A Guarda and checked into our hotel. Not having had lunch we were keen to eat but everything is closed from 3pm to 7pm so we satisfied ourselves with avacado dip and a packet of biscuits. An interesting day with the take out being keep a watch out for yellow arrows.Read more