Overview
- Name: Ecovia, Fisherman’s trail, …
- Country: Portugal
- Length: 640 km
- Difficulty: einfach
- Stages: 22
- Season: Spring
Route
Actually, I just wanted to start a short tour between my Patagonia trip and my upcoming PCT adventure. To break in my new hiking boots, I was looking for a shorter tour in Europe where I could relax a bit as well as hiking. As I had been eyeing up the Fisherman’s Trail in Portugal for some time, I wanted to tackle it.
The Fishermen’s Trail is a 120 km long hiking trail on the west coast of Portugal. It starts in Porto Covo and runs all the way to Odeceixe. The historical version goes a little further to Sagres and covers around 230 km. In the meantime, the path markings are even available as far as Lagos.
As I had just under 4 weeks available and 230 km was not enough for me, I started my journey further east.
Arrival
I took the plane from Karlsruhe to Faro. From there, I took the train to Vila Real de Santo Antonio, where I started the Ecovia cycling and hiking trail. If you only want to walk the Fishermen’s Trail, you can either fly to Faro or fly to Lisbon and then take the train to the starting point.
I flew back from Lisbon to Basel, as this was the cheapest connection for me. I then took the train back home to the north of Baden.
Ecovia
So I set off from Vila Real de Santo Antonio, on the border with Spain. I first spent a few days walking along the south coast on the Ecovia cycling and hiking trail. This tour took me through the beautiful landscapes of the Algarve and I kept walking along beautiful sandy beaches and rugged rock formations.
After about a week, I reached Lagos. Here I changed to the aforementioned fishing trail. Just a few meters outside Lagos, I was able to see a beautiful cliff, which was unfortunately also overrun by tourists.
Fischermen’s trail
I first followed the path further west to Sagres and from there to Cabo de St. Vicente, the most south-easterly point in Europe.
From here, the route took me further and further north. In addition to the beautiful cliffs directly on the Atlantic, I was able to descend to smaller beaches again and again, which I often had completely to myself.
As I walked this long-distance hike from south to north and therefore in the opposite direction to most other hikers, I was alone most of the time and could listen to the calming sound of the waves and relax.
Arrival in Lissabon
My hike on the fishing trail ended in Sares. However, as I still had a few days left, I continued on my way towards Lisbon. Instead of continuing along the coast, I walked a few kilometers further inland to get further north from there. After a short detour to the Arrabida nature reserve, I reached Lisbon.
I then rested there for a few days after the 22-day hike, during which I had covered a little over 640 km. As I had already visited the city a few years ago, I avoided the typical tourist stuff and enjoyed the city in a more relaxed way.
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