With a coastline that is postcard perfect at every turn, it’s not a surprise that Portugal has lured backpackers, cyclist, surfers, fisherman, outdoorsmen and scores of self-styled travellers for centuries. For us, our love affair with The Algarve region (from Arabic: الغرب al-Gharb "the West") began more recently with driving trips from our tiny village “basecamp” in 2019. There never seemed to be enough time to soak up all of the breathtaking vistas we snapped pics of from scenic stops or watched disappear through windows and rear-view mirrors. The only solution was to get out amongst it. And this time we did with a 5 day walk along the coast from Lagos to the south-western most point of Portugal - the town of Sagres – which some historians say was once considered the end of the known world. These well-worn paths are part of The Fisherman’s Trail and have endured countless shoes and boots before us. Their easy-to-moderate-grade made our first attempt at one of these self-guided hiking extravaganzas even more enticing.
Online research landed us on MACS ADVENTURE who promised “. . . travel – at your own pace – using a customised Adventure App”. We normally don’t use travel agencies online or otherwise, but our main concern in planning was how our year’s worth of luggage could be waiting for us at the end of each walk-day destination. Wheeled suitcases, rocky coastlines, stone paved village streets and sand trails don’t mix. Besides ensuring our bags were waiting for us each day, the company booked all accommodations, mapped out additional trail options depending on level of fitness and provided local contacts where needed. Our “adventure app” tracked us throughout like big brother was watching, but we didn’t mind when we reached a confusing fork in the road or when we needed an alternate route to cool off with an ocean swim. Travel brokers aren’t on the agenda for every move we make anytime soon, but we were glad we brought in the professionals for the logistics on this one. If this sounds like your kind of holiday, start researching and plan one. We can’t recommend it enough. And if you’re wondering why we loved the entire experience, we’ll let the images speak for themselves.
From Lagos to Praia da Luz
Starting at the Hotel Tivoli, we wandered and prepared with dinner in the lovely town of Lagos, our last meal before really roughing it! Highlights of the walk included a swim at Praia do Canavial and the unmistakeable stench of drying seaweed as we entered into Luz. Fortunately, a change of wind cleared the air and our R&R at the Hotel Belavista before dinner at a Portugal stalwart Nah Nah Bah Burgers refuelled us for Day 2.
From Praia da Luz to Salema
Highlights: More amazing vistas, the cute town of Burgau, a swim and lunch at Praia das Cabanas Velhas where we had the whole beach to ourselves and a beach afternoon napping under guarda-sols at Praia de Salema.
From Barão São João back to Salema
A change from coastal walking with a drop off in a national park 16K out of town gave us a different perspective of the region on Day3. Our semi-retired driver talked to us about his passion for fishing but also gave us a few bits of intel on the villages we were passing – mainly that younger people no longer wanted to work the land and that so many had left in the last generation. The local school closed ten years ago without enough students to teach – naturally occurring retirement villages. Hmmmmmm
From Salema to Sagres
The “short option” to our final destination started on the beach in Zavial giving us more time to explore Sagres at the end of the day and less need for emergency pedis. Our semi-retired-fisherman-driver once again dropped a few more pearls of local wisdom during the short transport – including how Zavial has become home to a number of American families. He was neither positive nor negative about this, but it confirmed what we suspected all along: a large number of our native tongue speakers we’ve overheard on this trip are not all travellers.
Once again MAC ADVENTURES had us along the coast, through cliffside meadows ending the trail with a looming collection of white boxes in the distance overlooking Praia do Martinhal. “What is that monstrosity”? The Memmo Baleeira of Sagres proved to be far more subtle and tasteful on closer inspection. Once in the room, their marketing material reminded us that we'd visited their flagship location in Lisboa in 2019. What an exceptional property – even if a sprawling “monstrosity”.
Wandering Sagres
There was another 14K walk on MACS "Adventure App". We created our own "less adventurous" route on our last day in Portugal: a fairly gentle tramp along the coast to Fortaleza de Sagres billed as "Europe starts here!" The familiar terrain morphed into a unique rolling rock moonscape that brought us to one of the most beautiful beaches we've sunned and swum. Praia do Beliche wraps two coves joined by a small cave and was surprisingly not too crowded. Incredible!
Our time at Memmo Baleeira provided plenty of vistas along with amazing amenities complimenting this sleepy surf town called Sagres. We took advantage of it all including haircuts, supply shopping, dinner roadside with the visiting surfies and writing this entry - gotta get it on paper before we forget.
. . . and a final video highlight from the full 5 days gone walkabout
WAIT! There's more! In addition to windmills and walkabouts, there were also plenty of wildflowers. Had to give the phone a workout too.
Before setting out on our walk - and after our slightly troublesome out of step month in Torremolinos - we escaped to a resort in Mexilhoeira Grande, a place worth re-visiting from our 2019 adventure. RandE needed some R&R. Time off can really tire you out at times. (eye roll emoji goes here). All jokes aside, sometimes just being still is the best way to adjust to a better pace in life.
The drive from Spain met all the requirements of your quintessential holiday road trip: a good playlist, conversations that can only occur with a captive audience, vistas that burn images into your memory and a spontaneous roadside stop at La Pausa, a business that to us was the Spanish equivalent of Stuckeys or the twin Caltex (IYKYK). From the iconic Toro Bravo, to roadside bouquets of oleander lining endless sunflower fields, and modern-day windfarms (which last year contributed to its high rate of renewable energy generation) welcoming us into Portugal, we were back on track. For a few days we did nothing but lounge around a beautiful pool and one evening traveled into the seaside village of Alvor.
Playing into timing and location requirements, we chose a weekend in Albufeira to rendezvous with two friends from Australia who were making a pit stop on their way to Lisboa. Billed as “the largest, liveliest and most exciting of all of the resort towns that line southern Portugal's beautiful Algarve coastline”, this town seemed like the perfect host to two couples wandering Portugal for all the sun and old-world European experience it had to offer. What we found was something a bit different. The large and lively part was absolutely on-point in the crowded tourist laneways of cobblestone streets lined with bars named Texas, Piccadilly Circus, Louisiana, Fiesta, and Central Station. The clientele was - let’s say – um – YOUNG. Picture boys on bucks’ nights in matching onesies, girls ogling and egging-on the spectacle from behind their never empty cocktails and loads of bars with big screen TVs broadcasting footy matches over techno soundtracks. We had a taste of this in Torremolinos, but this was next level. The tourist part of town was not for us. We found some other ways to enjoy Albufeira, mostly by staying in the quieter section of this sprawling cliffside community.
We mixed it up with some sun and a swim at Praia da Coelha, along with a daytrip to soak up the historic charms of the villages of Silves and Alte – mostly closed on a Sunday so we had them to ourselves. This gave us more time to appreciate the simple beauty of whitewashed stucco homes framed in primary and pastel colours, historic stone ruins and centuries-old cathedrals.
. . . and of course we had to get out onto the water. This time it was a Dolphin and Caves tour unfortunately with no dolphins and no caves due to the "winds in from Africa", but there were plenty of waves! You can’t have it all.
The most memorable event in Albufeira involved uma deliciosa refeição – and a windmill.
Windmill Restaurant seats only 12 diners in its historic interior where three “chefs” share the accolades of the outstanding menu. If you ever find yourself near Albufeira this place is a must, but book in early – even with additional outdoor seating during season, it fills up. Thanks Del and Pete for sharing time in the Algarve and discovering this unique dining experience.
We both grew up with natural beauty - two completely different types of it - but equally inspiring: the mesmerizing Louisiana bayous with Spanish moss-draped cypress trees silhouetting the waterscape, and New England’s snow drifts and ice-sculpted trees creating a monochromatic winter’s paradise. Poetic yes, but our time in the Algarve showed us something else entirely. Being up close on the coastal walks was nothing more than majestic. It all sounds a bit much, but that’s the overblown emotion we came away with. Now, where do we walk next? We’ve heard the Dolomites are good in spring.
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