Our Portuguese Camino: Day 2 Redondela - Pontevedra (21km)
We had a pretty good night's sleep until about 6am when I woke up to the distinctive hum of a mosquito. Groan.. We'd left the window open and had been joined during the night by a couple of hungry mozzies. I naively hoped I hadn't been bitten but luck wasn't on my side and by that afternoon I could count 25 bites. Luckily for Phil I barely mentioned the itchiness! ;-) After two days he'd a system in place where he fined me a €1 every time I moaned about them. Chancer!
So...back to the point. The nice people in Torres Agrello dropped us onto the Camino after a hearty breakfast. It was a gentle enough stroll out of Redondela, under a rail viaduct, alongside a busy road through forest track - so a nice mix of terrain.
Arcade is lovely, very picturesque and would make a great alternative stop to Redondela, although it is about 6/7km further on than Redondela. Our book (John Brierley) said that there were some places to swim in Arcade.
There is a little river-side beach in Arcade but we didn't think the water looked very enticing so we gave it a miss. Maybe there's another spot we missed. Nevertheless we stopped in Arcade for our morning coffee in the little place on the far side of the Pontesampaio bridge over the Rio Verdugo and it was perfect.
There was a steep enough hill coming out of Arcade but it didn’t last long.
The rest of today’s walk was a mix of quiet roads and pathways. We took the alternative route into Pontevedra to avoid the busy main road. This was delightful, easy terrain alongside a small river and beneath trees.
Finally we passed underneath this bridge and arrived into Pontevedra.
There is quite a long walk into the old City so don’t be disheartened by the outer edges of the town. Once you get into the older part it’s lovely. In fact I believe the city was to hold a Medieval Festival the following weekend. We met other Peregrinos later in our trip who had been there for it and said it was great so that could be worth looking out for.
We stayed in Hotel Boa Vila. The staff were kind and courteous and our room on the 3rd Floor was perfect for the price we were paying. The main bonus of this Hotel is it’s central location; it’s in the heart of the Medieval area.
We ate lunch in a Tapas/Wine Bar called Boavina Enoteca and I’d highly recommend it, the food was delicious.
There’s lots to see and do in Pontevedra, explore the medieval centre (Barrio Antigo), have a beer in the Praza de la Peregrina, visit the 19th century Sanctuario de Peregrino, etc. The Museo de Pontevedra was closed but it sounded like it would be worth a visit. There’s loads of little squares to sit down and sample the local tapas and wine – which we did! All in all we had a lovely evening in Pontevedra.
