PR routes – Algarve and Alentejo

This section of the website provides firsthand information about PR routes in the Algarve and the Alentejo.

For anyone who doesn’t already know, PR routes are officially marked short-distance hiking trails, typically less than 30 km. PR stands for the Portuguese ‘pequena rota’ (small route).

PR routes offer walkers a chance to explore Portugal’s stunning landscapes and cultural landmarks with some degree of confidence that they will not encounter difficulties, like fenced-off land or impossible-to-cross rivers.

Over the past few years, PR routes are becoming more and more popular in Portugal – which can only be good news for the hiking fraternity and for those who are less confident about walking in unknown landscapes.

Here, in southern Portugal many of them link up with popular GR13 routes – a Grande Rota is an official European long-distance path.

Fortunately, online resources like the excellent Via Algarviana and Rota Vicentina websites are making it much easier to check out these shorter trails.

In addition to its two long-distance trails – the Fishermen’s Trail and the Historic Way – the Rota Vicentina now boasts 24 circular routes in the western Alentejo and Algarve.

The Via Algarviana (GR13), which only had a handful of link routes when we walked the 300-km trail in May 2015, now has an incredible 12 link routes, four thematic routes and 19 PR routes.

There are also several GR routes which are shorter trails branching off the main Via Algarviana trail, e.g. GR13.10 in the Serra de Monchique. These lead walkers to nearby points of interest or natural landmarks.

Local councils (câmaras) are rapidly recognising the benefits of waymarking and promoting walking trails and getting in on the act. The result? New waymarks are appearing all over the Algarve landscape. It’s all very exciting.

Why choose PR routes?

While it’s still fun to devise your own hiking trails, there are definite advantages to following a PR route:

• there is almost always a detailed information board at the beginning in Portuguese and English highlighting what you will see on the route
• the route is graded based on terrain, distance and surface: easy (fácil), moderate (moderado), difficult (difícil) or very difficult (mojito difícil)
• a PR route is officially recognised and maintained so there should be no issues with accessibility
• the PR route is waymarked throughout so you don’t need to use a hiking app
• if you do want to use a hiking app, then you can usually download a GPX file from the official website (or often on outdoor sites like All Trails, Outdoor Active, Komoot and Wikiloc)
• o why, if there is so much information online, am I embarking on this new section of my website? Here, I plan give honest appraisals of the PR routes we walk – either on holiday or with Hiking Algarve.

We have not always found the ‘official’ description of a route to match what we find on the ground. For example, we walked one route in the Alentejo last year which quickly became impassable due to overgrown paths (we turned around). At other times, information which we, as hikers, would find really helpful is missing. For exxample, are there toilets near the start of the walk or on route? As we have discovered, passing through an Algarvian or Alentejan village does not always equal facilities. Some have bars and/or small shops, whereas others have nothing.

If we don’t think the PR is worth walking or there are problems, I will tell you.

I will also add my own photographs to give a flavour of the trail.

Where an official page (with GPX/print downloads) is available, I will add that to the page.

Back catalogue of PR routes in the Algarve and the Alentejo

Some routes have already been described in blog posts – where this is the case then I’ll link to the original blog.

I also have a lot of notes for Alentejo PR routes we hiked in May/June 2023, which I will gradually upload.

Future plans

This section of the website will grow over time as Harri and I continue to explore and document more PR routes in the Algarve and the Alentejo. Most of our exploration will inevitably be across southern Portugal, although we may occasionally venture farther afield.

Keep checking back for new additions and updates as I add more routes. More PR routes in the Algarve and the Alentejo are being created all the time.

HINT: we hope to be heading back to the Alentejo in autumn 2024.