Portugal’s Alentejo region has it all—some of the finest beaches in Europe, rich history, and mouth-drooling cuisine. The best part? Amazingly, it’s nowhere near as crowded as most other coastlines in Europe, but it’s just as spectacular in its own way. Time moves slowly here—you’ll feel that as soon as you arrive—and Alentejo’s ruggedness and charm are a wonderful setting for a walking adventure! So over the course of 8 days, we’ll embark on a relaxing journey along Portugal’s coastline, and introduce you to the region’s best-ofs, culture, gastronomy, and traditions of our people. As locals who know where to go for hidden gems, you’ll be mostly walking along isolated trails and have the feeling that it’s all yours!
This Portugal walking tour promises 8 days packed with stunning views, hidden gems, and amazing food. Welcome to Alentejo, Portugal’s coastline jewel, where we’ll get to explore medieval castle villages, rugged black cliffs, sandy beaches, and so much more! We’ll traverse around 100 km (60 miles) along mostly isolated and quiet trails, with the prevailing sound being the mighty ocean. All accommodations are included, as well as most meals, luggage transfers, expert daily guidance, transfers during the trip, as well as a wine and cheese tasting! You’ll never want to leave this gem of a region.
If you fly into Lisbon Airport, that’s where we’ll pick you up and take you to the beautiful city of Évora. Settle into our farmhouse, where you’ll stay the next three nights, and join us for dinner. This welcome dinner is the perfect opportunity to get to know your team! Enjoy the gorgeous surroundings of our farmhouse and get some rest for tomorrow, as that’s when the walking begins!
Meals: Dinner
Accommodation: Monte do Serrado de Baixo farmhouse
Leaving the farmhouse, we head towards the 16th-century aqueduct, built to solve the city’s water shortages. This walk leads us to the ancient city of Évora. Along the way, small farms and aromatic herbs growing by the aqueduct keep us company. After visiting the most relevant historical sites, there is nothing better than a cool, calm drink in Évora’s central square, surrounded by age-old buildings and feeling the flow of life passing us by. At the end of the day, we’ll walk to a local winery to enjoy a visit and a wine tasting.
Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner
Hiking: 14 km / 8.7 miles
Elevation gain: 228 m / 750 ft
Elevation loss: 236 m / 775 ft
Accommodation: Monte do Serrado de Baixo farmhouse
The unforgettable village of Monsaraz, built in a castle on top of a hill, is always a spectacular view! Schist Rock walls will guide the walk around the beautiful fortification and finally, the last climb will lead us to reach the castle and its stunning well-kept village, offering wonderful views over the Alqueva lake. If it’s warm enough, you can even finish with a swim or a canoe trip! On the way back to the farm, visit a pottery in São Pedro do Corval.
Meals: Breakfast and picnic lunch
Hiking: 16 km / 10 miles
Elevation gain: 248 m / 814 ft
Elevation loss: 243 m / 800 ft
Accommodation: Monte do Serrado de Baixo farmhouse
Option 1
Today we start by visiting a cheese factory, where we learn about the simple secrets of this delicious delicacy. After that we will drive to the beautiful Alentejo Coast. Porto Covo is a fisherman village with charming architecture and a relaxing atmosphere. We start by visiting the fort of the Pessegueiro Island (no entrance), from where we have a fantastic view over the cliffs. We stroll along cliffs, sand dunes and beaches. In low tide, we can walk along the beach for part of the day. It will be 10 kms until the beach of Malhão, from where a transfer will take us to Vila Nova de Milfontes. Arriving in Vila Nova de Milfontes, we’ll take in the gorgeous views over the river mouth, and enjoy a swim in the ocean or in the river. This is a beautiful little town, perfect for a walk or some shopping! The hotel is just by the river and the beach.
Option 2
Skip the cheese factory and instead, transfer at 7 am to reach Porto Covo by 9:30am. Then we’ll do the walk described above, and then continue for 10 more km (6 miles) until Vila Nova de Milfontes. We’ll walk along wonderful scenery and impressive cliffs, and visit the fishing port Porto das Barcas, where you can walk to “the middle of the ocean”. You can also talk to fishermen and learn about local fish!
Meals: Breakfast and picnic lunch
Hiking: 10 km / 6 miles (option 1), 20 km / 12.5 miles (option 2)
Elevation gain: 167 m / 550 ft
Elevation loss: 149 m / 490 ft
Accommodation: HS Milfontes Beach Hotel
Today we start with a beautiful river crossing on a small boat, enjoying the wonderful view over the village as we get away from it. There’s a lot of variety today, mixing inland stretches with very diversified geological formations, agricultural crops, and grazing animals. There are 2 long beaches where you can walk instead of following the trail. And the cliffs just keep surprising us the whole way through! April and May are especially gorgeous here, as the flowers dot the landscape with a palette of colors.
Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner
Hiking: 15 + 2.5 km / 9.3 + 1.5 miles
Elevation gain: 88 m / 290 ft
Elevation loss: 116 m / 380 ft
Accommodation: HS Milfontes Beach Hotel
Almograve beach is the beginning of the day’s walk just until the fishing port. Then some sand dunes will wait for you, challenging your determination along beautiful scenery. The sand will change colors and sometimes you’ll feel like walking through a desert. Storks and other wildlife keep you company, and maybe you’ll even see their babies in nests, so close that zoom lenses are sometimes unnecessary! This is the only place in the world where the storks build their nests on rocky islets sticking out the ocean. From Cape Sardão until the end of the day, the ever-changing coastline will be a real treat!
Meals: Breakfast and picnic lunch
Hiking: 8 + 8 + 4 km / 5 + 5 + 2.5 miles (either walk the 3 parts or get a taxi)
Elevation gain: 203 m / 666 ft
Elevation loss: 193 m / 635 ft
Accommodation: Rosa dos Ventos guesthouse
If you thought that yesterday’s cliffs were wonderful, wait until you see what’s next! Rocks today become truly black, contrasting with the blue ocean even more than the orange limestone does. Some colorful, smaller beaches will tempt you for a swim—do not fight it, go for it! At the mouth of the Seixe river you will find the most breathtaking view waiting for you. From here, walk down to the beach, where you can choose between a swim in the river or in the ocean.
Meals: Breakfast, picnic lunch, and dinner
Hiking: 8 + 6 + 4 km / 5 + 3.8 + 2.5 miles
Elevation gain: 263 m / 863 ft
Elevation loss: 283 m / 930 ft
Accommodation: Casa Celeste
After the final breakfast, the tour comes to an end. Keep on exploring the area, and feel free to ask us for recommendations, or if you need to catch your flight, we’ll take you to Lisbon or Faro Airport!
Meals: Breakfast
A very enjoyable holiday with very professional and pleasant local guides Teresa and Joanna who have a wonderful sense of humour. The walking distance was tailored to our group each day. A very authentic Portuguese experience of local food and countryside. I especially enjoyed staying at the Turaventur farm with local fruits. We ate breakfast and dinner at the farm and on both occasions the food was good and the service was excellent from Sara and Vanya.
What you get on this adventure:
What’s not included:
This Portugal Castles & Beaches Walking Tour is beginner-friendly! Your guides rate it as easy to medium, and all that’s required is a good level of fitness, as you’ll have 103 km (64 miles) under your belt once the adventure comes to an end.
Check out day-by-day distances and elevation changes in the itinerary, and you’ll also see that there are sometimes more options to choose from for the day’s itinerary.
Here’s a list of the equipment you need to bring:
Dress comfortably and for the weather in clothes you can move in. We suggest bringing clothing appropriate for the season. Layers are best and don’t wear jeans.
Group sizes and pricing
Portugal Castles & Beaches Walking Tour can be arranged for larger groups. Contact us to make arrangements.
Min. age requirements
If your group has hikers under the age of 18, contact us prior to booking to make arrangements.
The starting point of your Portugal Castles & Beaches Walking Tour is the charming town of Évora. If you’re flying into Lisbon Airport (LIS), your guides can come pick you up (and drop you off at the end of the trip, this is included in the price of the tour).
We highly recommend that you cover all your bases with both emergency medical and travel insurance.
With medical insurance, if you have an accident or medical emergency on or off the mountain, you’ll avoid paying out of pocket for costly expenses. This covers everything from hospital treatments to emergency air transportation and more. Travel insurance covers canceled flights, natural disasters and other scenarios that may interrupt your travel plans.
If you need assistance selecting the right insurance for your group, let us know and we will be happy to help!
Deposits
You can secure one of the set dates with a 30% deposit upon booking. The remaining 70% of the trip price is to be paid 90 days prior to departure, at the latest.
Cancellations
Booking fees are non-refundable in all cases. During checkout, however, you can choose one of 57hours’ flexibility options:
Basic
Flexible
Super Flexible
Wonderful 8 day walking tour of rural and coastal southern Portugal. The local guides, Teresa and Joanna, taylored the walks to suit our abilities and interests. We visited Neolithic standing stones, mediaeval villages, a cork factory and an organic herb farm. We followed the trail of an old aqueduct as it descended gently into Evora. We ate loquats and citrus straight from the tree and sampled traditional food and wine at farms and in small fishing villages. We enjoyed picnic lunches of olive oil, salads, cheeses and ham partnered with local wine whilst watching the Atlantic waves in an unspoilt nature reserve. We dawdled in the ocean and traversed long sandy beaches. On a practical level, transfers, meals and accommodation were all well organised