writing and hiking in the sun
Portugal is a great place for walkers, particularly during the winter when it is generally mild and sunny. Spring and autumn are also good for hiking.
There are plenty of way-marked walks, ranging from long-distance trails like the Via Algarviana and the Rota Vicentina in the Algarve and the Portuguese Way from Lisbon or Porto.
Northern Portugal is more mountainous and is home to the Peneda-Gerês National Park, while the Silver Coast and Algarve provide hikers with some spectacular coastal scenery.
Inland, there are cork forests, eucalyptus groves, white-washed villages, lakes and rivers.
One of the reasons we decided to spend the winter in Albufeira was to enable us to hike every weekend. As winters in the UK have become warmer and wetter, our inclination to go walking regularly has dwindled. If we had a … Continued
Well it’s all been happening since we arrived in Albufeira at the beginning of December. It seems the Portuguese press is far more enthusiastic about our Via Algarviana books than the Welsh press was about O Fôn i Fynwy (Harri’s new … Continued
Our last day on the trail. By early afternoon, we would have reached Cabo de São Vicente and the end of the Via Algarviana. Rather than feeling elated that we were about to achieve what we’d set out to do, we … Continued
In the early morning sunlight, the view from the terrace towards the mountains was uninterrupted and perfect, and I experienced a sudden pang of nostalgia for our long days of walking in the tranquil inland regions of the Algarve. The peaks … Continued
