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.
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
With no obvious accommodation available at the end of today’s 30km section, the ever-resourceful (and far too energetic) Harri had a brainwave: we could make an already long day’s hiking even tougher by adding another six kilometres to the distance. … Continued
The wind continued to howl throughout the night, or so Harri reported this morning. Yesterday’s walking had clearly worn me out because I’d slept like a baby. We caught up with the Flemish hikers over breakfast and were astonished to discovered they’d abandoned the … Continued
