Algarve Tread Portugal's wildest corner

 With flower-filled meadows, rocky coastline and wildlife-rich deltas, the Algarve is an all-year round walkers’ paradise…

With its rocky coves, sculpted bays and creamy sands, the Algarve has become a haven for beach seeking tourists in Portugal. But sun, sea and sand isn’t the complete picture here – much wilder corners lie within.

The Algarve’s rich interior tapestry of flower-filled meadows, gouging valleys, whitewashed villages and castle towns are left largely unspoilt. It’s an unhurried way of life here, and one that can be enjoyed by travellers – and especially walkers – at any time of the year thanks to a countryside streaked with hiking trails that stretch the region’s length and breadth.

Coastal tracks The watery fringes of the Algarve’s western edge is truly wild. The Vicentina Coast has been a protected Natural Park since 1995. A wealth of walking routes – both long-distance and shorter trails – vein the area, collectively known as the Rota Vicentina; these shepherd visitors through its wild terrain and history. One route in particular, the 230km-long Historical Way, shows more than most. It traces the old route of the Catholic pilgrims who walked from the Cape of St Vincent on Portugal’s south-western tip to Santiago de Compostela in Spain – the alleged burial site of apostle St James. The Way ‘only’ goes from the Cape to Santiago do Cacém, but its 12 stages can be tackled individually for bite-size walks. Each has its own charm, whether spying migrating birds from the clifftops of Sagres or wandering the herding plains between Odeceixe and Aljezur.