Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina — Attraction in Odemira

Fantastic hike on the Portuguese West Coast!

I did a four day hike on the Fisherman’s trail from Porto Covo to Odeceixe in November. This is a very beautiful trail with many breathtaking views of the coastline and the ever-present sea, all along the way. You hike between 16km and 20km each day on an fairly easy and well marked trail.

I booked the holiday with VICENTINA TRAVEL headed by Ricardo Estevao. Everything was very well organized and I had a briefing meeting the with Ricardo on the first evening. He provided detailed information sheets for each stage of the route. I stayed 5 nights in various pre-booked hotels along the coast. Ricardo’s restaurant recommendations were excellent and thus I could enjoy quality dinners in particular at Adega 22 and Costa Alentajana in Vila Nova de Milfontes and Zamubjera do Mar, respectively.

The Rota Vicentina is unique in Europe and forms part of a long protected area where nature is very much intact, people are authentic and tourism is low key. May it stay this way!

I recommend visiting this part of Portugal, and hike at least some of the way. VICENTINA TRAVEL provided a very efficient and friendly service at a very fair price. A unique chance to visit a beautiful and authentic part...

Don’t believe the photos on Google. The park covers a large area and it’s impossible to know where the photos were actually taken from. Also, be aware Americans, this is not a national park like you are accustomed to. It’s just a bunch of coastal trails. The trails are minimally marked and there is also no information available about them. There’s not so much as a trail head with a map or a sign. The area of the park I ended up in had one trail that went up a very steep cliff side and was loose rock and shale and a very narrow path. It’s the kind of trail where you would want poles in order to descend, but there was no way to know that in advance. Once you got up to the top of the cliff it was all sand. The views might’ve been nice from the top, but I wasn’t ready to risk a treacherous descend to find out. The town where the trail head is located in is a tiny fishing village with exactly one restaurant to cater to the tourists who think they’re going to see a national park. The only restroom in town is also in this restaurant, but they do have a walk up counter where you can get just a drink and a snack for take away. It’s very out of the way and not worth the trip,...

Try the rota de vincentina, Google it, its a walk down the west coast. I think it starts just south of Lisbon and goes all the way to Sagres but you can just walk sections of it. Be quick this part of Portugal is changing fast. More popular than 3 years ago so more commercial. Go to some of the less popular beaches like Carvalhal just south of Zambujeira do. Mar. You must go to the fish restaurant at Azenha do mar you cannot book have to wait for a table, high season 2 hrs, order the octopus salad while you wait. Surf schools are many. Odeceixe beach lovely but best June and September ditto Monte Clerigo just south of Aljezur. Go to the Museum of the sweet potato in Rogil for coffee cake pizzas etc lovely gardens and kids play area. Sunset watching at Sagres, Odeceixe etc a joy best September and October. Saturday Market at the top end of Aljezur is great for local produce but go early its manic. In high season. This is a lovely and still relatively unspoilt part of Europe I have been coming for the last 14 years and lived here for the first 4 years. Try to get away from the crowd walk the cliff tops to your own private beach or walk part of the rota to really see...