Portugal's Algarve Way & Wild Atlantic

This holiday is a combination of our one week holiday Along the Algarve Way and our one week holiday Portugal's Wild Atlantic Coast.

Embark on an unforgettable first week exploring the Via Algarviana, a 300km-long path tracing the Algarve, from Alcoutim on the Spanish border to Cape St Vincent in the west. Monte Gordo, a charming beach town near the Portuguese-Spanish border, and Portimao, situated in central Algarve, serve as ideal centres. The best walks have been selected to take you through unspoilt villages and historic towns such as Messines, Alte and Silves, with their cobbled streets, moorish influence and old world charm. The path winds through green and peaceful landscapes, past traditional farms, alongside the habitats of wildlife and birdlife...a relaxing way to explore the undiscovered areas of the Algarve.

Your second week follows the best parts of the Rota Vicentina, a 100km long distance path starting in Santiago do Cacem and finishing at Cape of St. Vincent, once known as the edge of the world. The Rota Vicentina is split into two routes, the Fisherman’s Trail and the Historical Way. The Historical Way is the longer of the two paths and takes you between villages, through Portugal’s agricultural heartland, past forests of cork and oak, through flower filled meadows and between green valleys. By comparison, the coastal Fisherman’s Trail, which forms most of the walking trails on our holiday, winds its way along the dramatic coastline, above the rolling Atlantic waves offering cooling breezes, superb seascape views and majestic cliffs. 

Stay in two centres during your second week. The small villages dotting the coastline are remote and accommodation can be challenging to find as options are small, sparse and simplistic, therefore we are extremely lucky to be able to walk this remote route of Portugal as a group. Stay in two carefully selected centres, Porto Covo and Aljezur, providing easy access to the Rota Vicentina and your walking routes. During November and December, many hotels close for the winter, so you'll stay in Sagres for your second centre, a remote town located on the western tip of Algarve, surrounded by vast wilderness and extraordinary rugged scenery.

Spend two weeks exploring Portugal's best long distance walking paths!

This is a Grade 4 walking holiday but please be aware many of the walks are at the higher end of the grade, with some walks being more like a grade 5 during your second week along the Rota Vicentina. Terrain can be challenging as some paths are along sandy beaches, along steep coastal cliffs and over rocky terrain.