One reason why I love Algarve so much is because it combines two things I truly enjoy: amazing, natural beaches and stunning landscape with amazing walking trails and hikes, like the Amoreira Beach circuit
We spent more than 3 months at Algarve now and discovered several walking trails and easy hikes for example in Aljezur, Lagos, Carvoeiro and many more. Today I want to show you my favorite walking trail of Algarve by far.
The best walking trail (for me personally) at Algarve is at the Armoreira Beach circuit in Aljezur on the west coast. Because the hike is very diverse and passes several different kinds of landscape, first along a river, then along the beach, then on top of the cliffs with so many stunning views and in the end it goes through the backland.
I also wrote a blog post with more walking trails in Algarve, mainly in the Lagos area: find it here.
Summary of the Walking trail „Amoreira Beach circuit“
Length: 8 kilometers
Duration: 2.5 – 3 hours
Maximum altitude: 90 meters
Level: easy
Best time: September till May (when it’s not so hot)
Restaurant: At Praia do Amoreira – you can stop here in the end of your walk
Starting point: 37.344142, -8.837310
Link to official Website and description of Route 16 of Rota Vicentina: https://rotavicentina.com/en/trilhos/amoreira/
Description of the best hike of Algarve in Aljezur
The walking trail I will describe in detail in this blog post is route 16 of the Rota Vicentina Trails on the West Coast of Algarve, the Praia da Amoreira beach circuit. In total there are 24 walking Trails of Rota Vicentina.
The official route starts next to Praia da Amoreira and just goes along the cliffs and through the backland. I changed the route a little bit because there is a very beautiful part in Aljezur that make the walk even more pretty.
So instead of starting in the backland I started the walk at the river Riveira de Aljezur, which just means „river of Aljezur“. You can park you car hear:
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From the parking you can walk in the sand bed of the river, always following the river towards the sea. This part that leads along the river is also great to spot some rare birds, so take your binoculars if you like bird watching!
After 10 to 15 minutes you will arrive at the beach Praia da Amoreira. It is a lovely small stretch of beach with beautiful dunes. In order to protect the dunes you should not walk through the dunes, but along the water. These first 20 minutes are a very beautiful stretch of the walk and not included in the official route 16 of Rosta Vicentina.
When you arrived at the end of the beach, head to the parking lot and look for a big signpost with a map on the left. This is where you can join the official walking trail of the Praia da Amoreira beach circuit in Aljezur.
At first a small sand path leads you up to the cliffs. After a few minutes the ground turns from sand to a bit harder ground that makes the rest of the hike easier. Just when you arrive on top of the cliffs after only one or two hundred meters you’ll already have a stunning view over Praia do Amoreira. Always follow the official walking trail that is indicated with small red and yellow signposts.
It is worth it to leave the hiking trail once in a while and walk closer towards the edge of the cliffs – you will have amazing views no matter when you do so. But be careful and don’t go too close to the edge of the cliffs.
The walking trail leads around 1.5 kilometers along the cliffs towards the North and then bends inland of Aljezur. Don’t forget to wave goodbye to the amazing view from the cliffs!
Now the 4th kind of landscape comes into play: the backland. It is characterized by long stretched hills, covered all over with lush vegetation and aromatic plants. If you are lucky you will find wild rosemary and thyme – you can pick some for your dinner if you want to.
The walking trail leads you another 1 or 3 kilometers straight into the backland of Aljezur and then the signposts will guide you to the right and another 45 minutes will bring you back to the parking lot at the beach which is the official end of the Amoreira Beach Circuit, Route 16 of Rota Vicentina.
As we changed the trail a little bit you have to take the same way back as where we came from, walk down to the beach till the end and follow the river back to where you parked the car.
Alternatively you can stay a bit more at Praia da Amoreira. Here is also a restaurant at the beach where you can reward yourself with a fresh fish. But bear in mind that it that it might be closed during winter months, especially December and January.
I hope you enjoyed this walking trail at Praia da Amoreira in Aljezur – for me it’s really the best walking trail in Algarve due to its diverse landscape.
Hope you will love this walking trail of Algarve as much as I did. Let me know how it was in the comments below!
And don’t forget: never stop exploring!
