(Walk 31)
INTRODUCTION
The Azeite – ‘Olive oil’ – route follows cobbled paths next to olive groves (Walk 15)
Why go walking in Portugal? This delightful country enchanted two self-confessed walking addicts so much that after just a short visit we were captivated, returning again and again. There are so many reasons to fall in love with this relatively undiscovered gem of a country. The diverse terrain includes the rugged north with a multitude of mountains, many higher than Ben Nevis, and the beautiful Douro valley. Further south, the Serra da Estrela mountain range provides alpine, snow-capped peaks and plateaux. There is nearly 1000km of coastline including the dramatic arid scenery of the southern coastal areas, bordered by wave-pummelled cliffs. All this is encapsulated in a narrow strip of the Iberian Peninsula.
Another reason is the weather. With such a variety of meteorological microclimates within its borders, there is always somewhere to enjoy hiking at any time of the year in Portugal. The Arrábida Nature Park is good for walking in winter, as is the Algarve, whereas in the heights of summer when it is too hot to enjoy a good walk in many parts of Europe, you will find balmy temperatures in Serra da Estrela Nature Park.
The major draw remains the space. This is not a large country compared to its more massive Iberian neighbour, but you will be able to walk in peace and tranquillity, very likely in the delights of just your own company. Even if its popularity as a walking destination were to increase over time, this is a place that could absorb many visitors. In addition, there are the warm and friendly people. For those who don’t speak Portuguese, some effort plus sign-language will be rewarded with smiles and helpfulness.
And then there are the wildlife and flowers. The hillsides carpeted with fragrant blooms in spring, or the almond blossom of late winter lying like snow on the ground are truly a sight to behold. Should you wish to be surrounded by trees, Portugal is the world’s largest cork producer and has widespread arboriculture. The birdwatching is phenomenal with a plethora of resident raptors, and uncountable millions of migratory birds. You may even be lucky enough to spot an Iberian wolf in Peneda-Gerês National Park, or a previously extinct lynx in Guadiana Nature Reserve.
These selected walks take you on a 175 million-year journey through time. From fossilised dinosaur footprints in Arrábida (Walk 28), via megalithic sites around Monsaraz (Walk 33), and the Roman roads from Portugal all the way to Spain (Walk 9), to the deserted schist villages that are now undergoing a resurgence, becoming superb bases for outdoor activities (Walk 17). Allow some time on your visit to see why UNESCO has decided that Portugal deserves to be the proud home of a dozen World Heritage Sites.
The food and drink is another understated attraction, with the unsung hero being the desserts and the doces conventuais (convent sweets). The good, heavy rich red wines from the Douro or Tejo valleys could compete with those of Bordeaux, but as their best are not often exported, you will have to come here to sample them. The same applies to the crisp vinho verde from Minho.
This is just a taste of our experiences after walking more than 6000km over a period of three years. Enjoy these favourite routes in Portugal. Boa viagem!
About Portugal
Panoramic view of Manteigas and the Zêzere glacial valley (Walk 23) with Penhas Douradas above (Walk 21)
To many people, the country’s best-known region may be the Algarve, but there’s a whole lot more to Portugal – especially for the walker. There are mountains upon mountains, and huge amounts of space, nature and solitude. Portugal has a population density only a quarter of England’s, so even though it is a smaller country there is much more space.
Adding further to the undercrowding is that most Portuguese do not walk for leisure. One local explained that ‘during the dictatorship, we all had to walk. Now that we don’t, why should we?’ Often when the Portuguese do walk they do so in big groups of up to 400 at a time, as a pilgrimage, a short walk with a long lunch, or a torch-lit night walk.
This is a relatively undeveloped country in some ways – where else in Europe would you expect to find people washing clothes by hand in communal lavadouros – yet surprisingly ahead of its time in others. It is astonishingly green in terms of energy production and usage, with 63% of all energy used in 2014 being from renewable sources: mainly wind turbines (as seen on Walk 26) and hydroelectric (Walk 17).
In Portugal, high places are often punctuated with radio aerial masts and accessible by road, so don’t expect pristine summits apart from on top of Carris (Walk 7) and the Montesinho peaks (Walk 12). Other summits are graced with beautiful chapels, such as São João da Fraga (Walk 6), Monte Farinha (Walk 13) and Peninha (Walk 27), or with castles such as Castro Laboreiro (Walk 2) and Marvão (Walk 31).
Freshwater swimming is another particular delight in Portugal; a praia fluvial is a freshwater beach, either on a riverbank or on the shores of a reservoir. There are opportunities on Walks 7, 8, 9, 17 and 29.
Geology
The geology of Portugal cannot be covered in full here, but to put it in a nutshell, Portugal has three main geological areas: north, central and southern. The north is essentially a stack of five layers raised when the Iberian plate collided with the Meguma Terrane plate 410 million years ago. This collision formed the mountains of the Picos de Europa, Montesinho and Peneda-Gerês. Its top layer is sedimentary schist (pronounced ‘shist’), a metamorphic rock formed when mudstone has been highly compressed and heated. The word comes from the Greek skhistos, meaning to split (see Walks 17 to 19). Revealed by the erosive forces of the Rio Douro is Miranda do Douro gneiss, the lowest layer of the stack and the oldest rocks in Portugal, which are pre-Cambrian (about 600 million years old). Another stripe in this stack is granite, evident in Peneda-Gerês (also with much evidence of glaciation, such as moraines and erratic blocks), Montesinho and Alvão.
The central portion of Portugal is mostly sedimentary rocks from the Cenozoic and Mesozoic basins – notably the massive Jurassic limestone deposits in Aire e Candeeiros Nature Park. This porous rock contains at least 1500 caves, including the biggest and most stalagmite-decorated Mira de Aire, and the best dinosaur footprints (at Monumento Natural das Pegadas dos Dinossáurios da Serra de Aire). Along the coast, the limestone is mixed with other rocks, both sedimentary and igneous, left over from the formation of the North Atlantic. The coastline is very rocky, indented by small bays with white sandy beaches and usually surmounted by cliffs of considerable height. Dinosaur footprints are also found here (Walk 28). Serra da Estrela features the most dramatic evidence of Portugal’s ice-age existence with the gigantic glaciated Zêzere valley (Walk 23).
The southern geological area is from a separate continent and the rocks are much younger – from the Upper Devonian to Carboniferous eras – and are mostly sedimentary. They form stunning cliffs along the coastline, as witnessed on Walks 34 and 35.
History
What we now call Portugal has been inhabited since prehistory, as evidenced by the astounding 27,000-year-old rock carvings found near Vila Nova de Foz Côa (near Walks 15 and 16). It was then colonised by the Phoenicians, followed by the Celts. The Romans took about 200 years to conquer the area, facing great resistance from the feisty northern tribes. The best Roman archaeological sites are to be found in Conímbriga, near Coimbra.
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the Suevi occupied the north of the Iberian Peninsula, and the Visigoths (who introduced Christianity to the region) the south. They were both replaced by the Moors,
