Real Algarve: Exploring Portugal Beyond the Shoreline

I don’t object to taking the same walk again and again,” remarked our guide, bending near a patch of blossoms. “Every visit, there are different details – these weren’t present yesterday.”

Growing on shoots no less than 2cm tall and starring the ground with pale blossoms, the reality that these star of Bethlehem flowers sprung up overnight was a striking testament of how quickly life can regenerate in this hilly, inland area of the Algarve, the protected woodland of Barão de São João.

It was also reassuring to learn that in an zone affected by blazes in September, types such as arbutus trees – which are fire-resistant thanks to their low resin content – were beginning to regrow, together with highly inflammable eucalyptus, which hinders other fire-retardant trees such as oak. Community members were being enlisted to help with rewilding.

Traveler Statistics and Upland Interest

Tourist arrivals to the Algarve are increasing, with 2024 recording an increase of over two percent on the last year – but most visitors make a beeline for the coast, although there being a great deal more to explore.

The beachfront is definitely rugged and dramatic, but the locale is also eager to promote the charm of its upland zones. With the establishment of all-season walking and cycling trails, plus the addition of nature festivals, interest is being directed to these equally compelling sceneries, featuring hills and thick wooded areas.

The Algarve Walking Season hosts a set of several walking festivals with loose themes such as “water” and “ancient ruins” between late autumn and the end of winter. It’s anticipated they will motivate explorers in every season, boosting the local economy and contributing to slow the exodus of the youth departing in quest of employment.

Art and The Outdoors Merge

The trip to the protected parkland overlapped with a weekend festival with the theme of “expression”, focused on the white-washed hamlet to the northwest of Barão de São João.

In addition to guided hikes, setting off from the local hub, complimentary activities ranged from learning how to make natural coloured inks, to drama classes, meditative movement and sketching. There were a couple of photo displays running as well as several other family-oriented pastimes, such as botanical explorations and making seed dispensers.

Even before our informal afternoon printmaking workshop at the local venue, our hike into the woods with Joana had the feeling of an creative path. Signposted at the outset by upright rocks adorned with depictions of local farmers, it was decorated en route with more modest, permanently placed stones showing types of animals, featuring small mammals and feline predators – the lynx’s population recovering, because of a rehabilitation centre situated in the castle town of Silves.

Breathtaking Routes and Wild Splendor

As the route climbed to its peak, the menhir (standing stone) on the Pedra do Galo trail, it became more densely vegetated with the piney aroma of pine. There was a ripeness to the atmosphere and hard, honey-toned droplets bulged from wood. Limestone glistened underfoot and tiny amphibians perched by pool margins, necks throbbing. In the distance, wind turbines cartwheeled against the blue expanse.

Francisco Simões, the tour leader the following day, was once more keen to highlight that these inland areas can be experienced in every season. Signposted trails, established in recent years, are extensions of the Via Algarviana, a path that stretches from the border with Spain for 186 miles, all the way to the coast, and several are now connected to an digital tool that makes wayfinding even easier.

Nature Tourism and Artistic Opportunities

Francisco set up nature tour operator Algarvian Roots in 2020 and provides experiences from birdwatching to all-day accompanied treks, all with the similar aims as the AWS: to showcase the area by way of immersion, education and cultural awareness.

The artistic element is present, also – his family member, potter Margarida Palma Gomes, had instructed us to decorate azulejos, the iconic blue and white decorative panels observed across the country, a couple of days before on a festival workshop. Tours to her atelier, as well as to a regional artist, can further be scheduled through Algarvian Roots.

Francisco encouraged us to contribute for the sector by drinking generous quantities of quality vintage capped with cork

After an delicious midday meal of local specialty and cabbage in A Charrette in Monchique, a pretty upland village flanked by the Algarve’s two highest peaks, the tall Fóia and 774-metre Picota, Francisco took us down sharply stone-paved lanes and into a narrow path, where an senior duo sunned themselves at the doorstep of their house.

A sharp path took us into the woods, the ground strewn with oak nuts. At this spot, Francisco was keen to introduce us to oak trees, Portugal’s national tree and legally protected since the medieval period. Besides are they naturally fire-resistant, but their malleable outer layer is a means of income for residents, who harvest it to market to other {industries|sectors