Explore the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast, one of Europe's most breathtaking coastlines!

We will start our trip in the village of Zambujeira do Mar. Zambujeira do Mar is one of Portugal's most famous and beloved beachside villages, both due to its natural beauty and the "Sudoeste" festival, a 5-9 day musical extravaganza that happens nearby and brings in thousands upon thousands of visitors every august. Perched atop imposing cliffs, its whitewashed houses overlook a beautiful beach that seems endlessly sandy and vast at low-tide, only to see itself be engulfed by a dramatically contrasting high-tide, which almost touches the bottom of the rock walls. Sunsets are particularly beautiful, as the sun disappears against the endless blue ocean. This first stage runs for 18,9kms, starting at the beautiful Our Lady of the Sea chapel in Zambujeira do Mar, overlooking the ocean from its clifftop perch. We will head down to Odeceixe, crossing a stretch of coastline known to harbour many different wild species, such as Egyptian mongooses, skunks, badgers, and otters!
 The town can be easily reached by bus from Lisbon (2h55 away). Here we begin our trek across one of the continent's most spectacular and best hidden secrets, the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park, and head down south on our journey!

Odeceixe marks the beginning of the Algarve region, with a spectacular combination of whitewashed houses, the winding Seixe creek and its floodplains, and a beach to rival any other in the country; a stretch of white sand pinned between two cliffs, with the mighty ocean on one side and the river on the other.
 We can visit the old mill house, one of only a handful still running in the region, before following the riverside down to the beach, observing the impressive fauna, which includes blue herons, different types of egrets, woodpeckers and other birds, as well as the rare Cabrera’s vole! The stage to Aljezur is one of the routes finest, stretching for 22,5kms of unforgettable landscapes.

We will start this shorter, 17km stage at the Aljezur market. On our way to Arrifana, we will go to the Ponta da Atalaia, with its breathtaking views of the Atlantic Ocean and home to one of Portugal’s most unique archaeological sites. Here we will find the Rîbat of Arrifana, a 12th century Muslim fortification built by Ibn Qasī, a Sufi leader born in nearby Silves, an independent Muslim Taifa which he would later rule. This Muslim fortification, the only one of its kind in present-day Portugal, was built around 1130 and contained 8 mosques, a minaret, a madrasa, and accommodation for its marabouts, sometimes known as warrior monks.

We will depart from Arrifana Beach, before heading south towards perhaps one of Portugal’s most beautiful beaches, Carrapateira. Its width and length rival any other, its sandy vastness sheltered by its terracotta-coloured cliffs on one side and a meandering creek following the ridge line all the way to the ocean on the other. On our way bridging the 19kms separating both towns we will find the highest cliffs in the region, some of them being more than 100 metres above sea level! These spectacular cliffs were pushed up during the formation of Pangaea, some 300 million years ago, when the supercontinent was consolidating its form.

For our second to last stage, we will head inland for almost half of our 15km-long walk, starting at Largo do Comércio. Before leaving the ocean behind, though, we will enjoy the absolutely stunning views of the Amado and Murração beaches, the last of which one of Portugal’s coastline’s best kept secrets! Just before the Amado beach, though, we can visit another example of Portugal's Islamic heritage, the Povoado da Ponta do Castelo, a 12th century fishermen village used seasonally for fishing and whale-spotting (and hunting) until its abandonment in the 14th century. Along the way, we can find many nightingales and storks nesting close to the shore.
 We will also go by Pena Furada, a rocky beach with impressive geological formations.

Atop the last cape diving the west and the south coasts sits the Ponta de Sagres, where we will visit the Fortaleza de Sagres, a 15th century stronghold overlooking the ocean. Although this fortress was severely damaged by the 1755 Lisbon earthquake and therefore rebuilt afterwards, some of its elements still date back to the initial period, such as the Nossa Senhora das Graças church, built under the guidance of Henry the Navigator, one of the leading figures in Portugal’s golden age of maritime voyages. This site was already known to the Greeks and then Romans as “the end of the[ir] known world”, according to the famed historians Ephorus and Strabo, under the names of Hieron Akroterion and Promontorium Sacrum, respectively, the last of which gave rise to the current name of Sagres, the “holy cape”.

We will conclude our journey in Sagres, a rugged village east of the famous fortress, known today for its laid-back surfing scene, one of the nation’s most challenging due to the area’s confluence of winds and currents. The town has an unassuming cool vibe and we can enjoy some of the west coast’s best sheltered beaches, enjoying our much deserved rest, overlooking the endless ocean.