Would you like to take a weekend trip to Serra da Estrela this summer? Gustavo here talking to you. Today I’m going to tell you a little about my weekend in the Mondego Passages, an incredible place for those who like to enjoy nature, with exotic scenery, surprises on the road by the source of the Mondego River, which rises in the Serra da Estrela and flows into the sea in Figueira da Foz.
Planning a trip to Passadiços do Mondego: Serra da Estrela
Well, this is a tour that will take your whole day practically, but that is not bad, because it is a complete immersion in the Passadiços do Mondego, with a complete path of about 11,5km. Do the shopping, get ready taking a snack, water, cookies, some fruit, preferably bananas to give you more energy, I say that because on the Mondego Steps it is difficult to find water to drink or food. I say that because on the Mondego walkways it is difficult to find water to drink or food.
I am 1,85meters tall, I eat a lot and drink a lot of water, so I ended up buying 10 bottles of water of 500ml, 4 ham and cheese sandwiches, 2 bananas and some cookies. Remembering that I went with a friend, we shared my water, so of the 10 bottles, we had about 4 left to drink at the end. We took two breaks to eat during the tour. This friend of mine also brought some snacks. So as for the food, these are the amounts that were served to me.
How much the ticket to Passadiços do Mondego?
The tickets to access the Passadiços do Mondego costs only 1€. The official website to book is here below:
Official website of Mondego Walkways
How to get to the Passadiços do Mondego?
To get to the Mondego Footbridges you will have to head towards Videmonte, one of the villages in the Serra da Estrela, and that is where your tour will begin.
- Leaving from Viseu: 1 h (69,9 km) through road A25.
- From Coimbra: 2 h 1 min (161,0 km) through road IP3 and A25.
- From Guarda: 30 min (23,2 km) through road N338.
We left from Coimbra, so we took the IP3 road and went in the direction of Videmonte. The way there took about 2h 20 min because we stopped at a gas station on the road to go to the bathroom.
Before climbing the Serra da Estrela you will come across incredible scenery and very beautiful to appreciate, I recommend taking a few breaks on the way to take pictures or make video. Right when you arrive at the foot of the mountain, you will see a sign like this one below ‘Visit Prados’, you will have two roads, go left and start climbing the mountain. Here below I show some pictures and videos that I took before going up the mountain.
The scenery is very beautiful and it is worth taking a few breaks to take pictures and videos.
A few minutes straight ahead you will arrive in Videmonte, a very old village in the Serra da Estrela. Maybe you will find some café open there, but don’t expect there to be markets to buy food or water, because there aren’t any, for this reason I recommend taking everything you need with you. After Videmonte is already our final destination, in fact the beginning of our adventure. I have made some videos and photos below of Videmonte, take a look.
From Videmonte you go to Google Maps and follow straight to the Mondego passageways, remembering that Videmonte is on the left of a traffic circle, before reaching the actual village, in this case, you should follow right on the traffic circle, heading up the mountain. Google maps will help you a lot.
What is the Passadiços do Mondego?
The path is on the wooden walkways from the exit at the Videmonte side to the Caldeirão Dam of the Mondego walkways, a total of 11.5km. During the walk there are many people doing the round trip, which is double, almost 23km, but I’ll give you a hint: If you want to make the best use of the path, do it Videmonte→Barragem, leaving from this place that I’ll show in the photo below.
This link shows in detail the difficulty points in Passadiços do Mondego, click here.
What will you find in the Passadiços do Mondego?
Along the Mondego River Walkways you will enjoy incredibly beautiful scenery, with the best of nature in the Serra da Estrela. Filled with unspoiled nature, you will walk on the footbridges along the source of the Mondego River. Right at the exit you will find the Ribeiro dos Moinhos waterfall, a few meters after the beginning of the descent. Right from the start it is already possible to see what awaits you along the walk.
Where do the Passadiços do Mondego begin?
The Mondego River Walkway starts just after Videmonte, at a point with an approximate height of 908m above sea level. You will follow along the footbridges to a height of 527m above sea level, i.e. you will descend a gradient of approximately 381 meters, reaching the lowest point of the tour at the aldo of Vila Soeiro, then you will have the last ascent towards the Barragem do Caldeirão, climbing about 175 along 600 meters of stairs.
Right after the waterfall you can continue along the walkways, following the Mondego River. It is nice because you will talk to several people along the way, especially if you go at the weekend.
I have recorded a series of videos to show you how beautiful this place is and how worth the ride. You will end up a little tired, but it is worth it, believe me! Walking further ahead you will pass by the Cascata Ribeiro dos Cabris on the left, the Engenho dos Carriços on the right, the Geossítio Metassedimentos de Videmonte. At the bottom you will find a bifurcation with a bridge, follow always to the left.
Further ahead you will find the Trinta Dam, with a dam and a cable bridge to cross, here the tour gets more interesting as we start to interact with the walkways. Don’t forget to take pictures.
Cross the ‘Puente colgante’ cable-stayed bridge and go towards the other side. You will pass the Engenho Grande on your left. If you go there in spring or summer, there are a few spots to go down to the left of the path where you can bathe in the Mondego River, remembering that the water is a little cold when you first enter, but afterwards it is fine.
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A Pit-Stop For Coffee, Honey and Other Stuff
In the middle of the path there is also a small stall called ‘Casa das Abelhas’ (House of Bees), where there are some old men selling cookies, honey, coffee, sausage and other delicacies made in the Serra da Estrela. We took a coffee break, bought my jar of honey and made friends with the 2 who were there. Ah, detail, the honey is produced by the locals themselves, by special bees, they say it’s one of the purest honeys in Portugal.
Let’s continue our tour. Further along our tour you will find several very interesting spots to perhaps get off the beaten path, dive into the Mondego River, lay out your towels on the river rocks, have a picnic, relax a bit and rest. In the middle of the way there is also a support point with guides to help with information, there is also a point with toilets to give support.
After the support point, where the lowest point of the footbridges is, is where the end of the trail begins. You will feel a slight incline and a slight difficulty to walk, but it is part of the tour and becomes even more interesting.
Further on you will pass through Vila Soeiro, a small village in the Serra da Estrela, and then you will come to the Mizarela bridge, where there is a little bar, where you can have a beer, a soft drink, something to drink, something to eat, and then move on to finish your tour.
The End of Your Adventure
Remember that you will cross the bridge and take a right to finish your route. Head towards the Barragem do Caldeirão, where you have the last thousand meters from the little bar I mentioned above.
Here you will experience the most challenging moment of this adventure. Yes, it is a bit difficult, but the view from the top is worth it, I can assure you that. So you’ve rested at the little bar in the back, had your water, had a snack, and now it’s time to face the last meters of the Mondego Catwalks. The view from the top is amazing and will make every drop of sweat poured out worth it hahaha. Don’t worry, you can slowly climb the stairs of the Mondego Footbridge, take it easy so you can better climb the stairs and you won’t get too tired.
By then you must be pretty tired and you will come across scenes like the ones below. Here we come to the end of this article, I wanted to leave on record for those who like this kind of ride, my recommendation, it’s worth it. Call your friends, call your crush, boyfriend or girlfriend and take them on a different trip. I’m sure that the Mondego Passage will stay in your memory.
Thank you very much for staying this far. If you read to the end and liked it, send me a message or anything. If you visited the Passadiços do Mondego on the recommendation of this article, send me a message too, I’ll be very happy to know! My instagram here.
Until next time, see you soon!
