Long hike on the Via Algarviana: Westward until the sausage comes

Luckily the eucalyptus trees cast shadows on the road. The slope has it all. Between the mountain village of Monchique and the Pico da Fóia, the highest point of the Serra de Monchique, it is up to twelve percent. Even guide Marco Gomes has to pedal vigorously. His excursion guests fight up the serpentine road. The route is one of the more difficult bike rides in the mountainous hinterland of the Algarve .

But it's worth the effort. At the 902-meter-high summit, participants enjoy a panoramic view over the hilly landscape. On the horizon, the west coast of Portugal can be seen.

The Algarve with its cliffs and bays is impressive. But there is more to discover. "It's just a shame that so few holidaymakers even know how beautiful the hinterland is here," says Gomes. The Serra de Monchique is just 30 kilometers from the tourist stronghold of Portimão.

Villages with a proud past

Up here are mountain villages like Caldas de Monchique with its thermal baths. Otters, foxes, wild boars, wild cats and the rare Iberian lynx are at home in the nature reserve. The network of hiking and biking trails is enormous, the routes usually lead through dense cork oak forests.

Trekking holidaymakers are particularly drawn to Via Algarviana. The long-distance trail , which can also be negotiated by bike or horse, meanders almost 300 kilometers through the hinterland. It is rare to meet other hikers. Occasionally one sees peasants in their fields cultivating oranges, figs, olives, lemons, almonds and wine.

It takes about two weeks for the route from Alcoutim on the border with Spain to the Cabo de São Vicente at Sagres, the most south-westerly tip of mainland Europe. Alcoutim is one of those villages where tourists rarely get lost. Over cobblestones, it goes through centuries-old streets and past the pilgrimage church. Small sailboats moored in front of the fortress walls of the old border town.

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Like Alcoutim, many other towns along Via Algarviana can look back on a proud past. Here settled Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Goths. For almost 800 years, the region was occupied by the Arabs. So the name Algarve is derived from the Arabic "Al Gharb", which means something like "the West". Castles, fortresses and medieval bridges still bear witness to the splendid past.

If you hike on Via Algarviana in the spring, you will be walking between Salir and Alte along stone walls through flower landscapes and orange and lemon groves. In villages like Benafim there are no shops, no cell phone reception.

Hiking with sea views

In the woods, old pigs live in the woods, from which the popular acorn ham is made. Then the route turns towards Sagres to the southwest. The proximity to the Atlantic will be felt. Pines grow, the air is saltier and more humid.

The last few kilometers you drive through the nature reserve Cabo de São Vicente to the world-famous cape of the same name, where the steep cliffs drop spectacularly 70 meters into the roaring Atlantic Ocean. In the Middle Ages, the Cape, named after the patron saint of sailors, was considered the end of the world. Today there is a sausage stand, which advertises the "last sausage before America".

In the far west, in the Costa Vicentina Natural Park, the 19-kilometer-long tidal path lures around the village of Carrapateira. At the river Ribeira da Carrapateira we head towards the sea. From the rocky coast, hikers enjoy views of the Atlantic Ocean, before heading back inland past rock roses and cork oaks to Carrapateira.

In the far east of the Algarve, the Ria Formosa Natural Park attracts hikers and cyclists as well as kayak fans. Paddle tours lead through a labyrinth of lagoons, dunes and salt pans. Here you can admire the variety of birds with flamingo colonies and white storks. In front of the wetland, it is worthwhile to cross over to the islands in the Atlantic. The circumnavigation of Ilha de Tavira is the longest beach walk in the Algarve at 22.5 kilometers .

Naturally. Portugal's south has beautiful beaches. But who also uses the well-marked hiking trails that connect the beaches, wins in two ways. On the one hand, he discovers the beauty of the hinterland. And on the other hand, he also arrives at bathing bays, to which the bathers from the tourist centers do not get lost. An example of this is the approximately 20-kilometer coastal path between Salema and Lagos , which leads to beaches such as Boca do Rio.

From the Ponta da Piedade is in any case an end to the loneliness. The rocky coast is the figurehead of the Algarve. "Far more spectacular is the rocky world, however, from the sea," says Yolanda Tati. The Portuguese therefore participates in a kayak tour through tunnels and caves . "The rocks look like Swiss cheese," she says. And the bays, which can only be reached by water, are perfect for cooling off.