A walking holiday in the Algarve

The routes were excellent and the wild flowers, butterflies and wildlife generally magical.

This was an excellent mixture of coastal and inland walking for which we were blessed with great weather, if a bit too windy towards the end. Casa Fajara was a superb boutique hotel with a very attentive owner and staff and a great sense of spaciousness in the public areas inside and out - a real pleasure to stay here. We enjoyed great meals as follows: stone bass en papillotte at the restaurant Agua Na Boca in Salema; shared a wonderful simply cooked and filleted Golden Bream at the Atlantico in Salema; an interesting Portuguese fish stew (not so sure about all the ingredients such as Cod Roe - but big enough to leave some and still be full) at what seemed the most popular restaurant in Vila do Bispo - Ribeira do Poco; the dish of the day (fried baby squid with potatoes and salad) at lunch at Sitio do Rio at Carrapateira on our last day (but ate a bit much to fully appreciate our octopus salad and cod in cream that evening!)

We are keen birdwatchers and clocked up a total of 70 species and that was before most summer migrants arrive. I will send the list separately, but highlights included: The sheer number of Stonechats, Corn Buntings, Sardinian Warblers and Zitting Cisticolas (used to be Fan-tailed Warblers) heard and seen throughout the week, not to mention the elusive Cetti's Warblers, the beautiful Azure-winged Magpies and the occasional Hoopoe. On Day 2, the rather rare views of a Ring Ouzel; a Chough flying nearby as we enjoyed our lunch at Ponta de Torre and a Dartford Warbler later on. A Short-toed Eagle looking for prey above Pedralva before we set out on our walk on Day 3. A small party of Kentish Plovers and a few Audouin's Gulls (mixed in with other gulls) battling winds on Bordeira Beach on Day 5. On an even windier day 6, getting a great view of a Black-crowned Night Heron fighting the wind in the valley of the Lavadouro as well as a party of Black-winged Stilts and another of Avocets along the shore line at Amado Beach.

We thoroughly enjoyed this holiday. The organisation was seamless. The countryside was beautiful and the spring flowers were lovely. The hotels were well chosen and we felt really welcome.

We had an amazing holiday. Portugal is a beautiful place to go walking. The accommodation was excellent, the hotel at Bispo was a little corporate, comfortable and clean with friendly staff, just not the same character as the other places which were all excellent. The walks were just the right length and difficulty level for our first visit. We’ve recommended to friends and will definitely be booking with you again next year. 

A very enjoyable trip, with excellent and varied accommodation. We recommend a night in Faro as a prelude to the walking. If you are tempted to add a night in Vila do Bispo to walk to the Cape, which we thought was worth doing, bus one way is a good option. However it only goes right to the Cape on weekdays. We particularly enjoyed the final days at Casa Fajara - they currently have an excellent cook! At the beginning of March the flowers were not often spectacular but there was plenty of botanical interest. There had clearly been rain but we were lucky with the weather and we only had to walk in the rain for half a day. The surf was spectacular!

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers enjoyed our Faro City add-on at the Aqua Ria Boutique Hotel before travelling on to the Coast of Many Colours self-guided walking holiday.

The staff at Casa Fajara were very helpful. Phillip on reception and Rebecca the chef. Her meals were outstanding. We liked the contrast between coastal and inland walks. The grading was about right for a 1-2 but we felt we could have done a bit more.

A really relaxing, easy paced and enjoyable break. Breezy at times on the coast, but luckily we didn't need waterproofs. Good mixture of places to stay and a variety of walking routes including different coasts and rural countryside. There were a small number of tourists about, though the coastal sites look like they could be pretty busy later in the season. We enjoyed some excellent fresh fish meals. Despite visiting in early Spring, the bird life was notable both in terms of diversity (over 60 species in the week) and the numbers of individuals. In particular the first part of the first walk out of Salema was notable for the number of calling and singing birds. Highlights over the week included white storks in the fields, azure winged magpies and firecrest in the woodland, hoopoe, ring ouzel and numerous black redstarts in coastal vegetation, choughs and ravens along the cliffs and crag martin and red rumped swallow flying overhead. Good range of butterflies and early spring flowers too.  

We had a wonderful, well organised trip from our transfers ar Faro Airport right through to the days a packed lunch was provided. The walks took us through some beautiful areas and the notes were comprehensive and accurate. Our accommodation was comfortable and well chosen. This was our first trip with Inntravel. We have recommended it to all our friends and will be booking again!

This was an excellent holiday. We enjoyed every moment. It was especially interesting to visit the Mediterranean and the Atlantic coast. We highly recommend this trip. For extra days we would recommend staying in Salema to enjoy the wonderful beaches. 

Our favourite memories are of taking a swim halfway through a days walk, enjoying the stunning scenery of the coast of the Algarve and more interestingly experiencing the inland views too. We loved the accommodation provided at each stop and the friendliness of the people and we definitely enjoyed the slow pace of life.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined our A Coast of Many Colours walk with Lisbon & the Palaces of Sintra.

An excellent Inntravel walk, with no large impersonal hotels. Beautiful walking in a lovely area.

The quiet nature of the tracks. You've done a very good job of finding walks off the beaten track yet also well defined. It meant we could concentrate on the landscape rather than route finding. The variety on each walk was a highlight. The flowers were stunning. The bird life was fascinating. Apart from bird song and insects buzzing we heard nothing: that was a wonderful contrast to the usual noise of 20th century living.

Lots of highlights. Can't single out any particular one.

The holiday exceeded our expectations in almost every way. The walking instructions were good, with plenty of unambiguous landmarks given for reassurance that you were on the right route. The accommodation was excellent and there were useful recommendations for local restaurants when meals were not included. Having three nights in one place at the final destination was a great way to relax and wind down at the end of the trip.

As other people have commented, these walks may not have the variety of other holidays with Inntravel but the wild flowers at this time of year are delightful and the coastal scenery is lovely. There was a strong wind on most days which made some of the walking a bit onerous at times but otherwise the weather was very good - not too hot and usually sunny. The overall quality of accommodation and the friendliness of the staff at the hotels made this a very enjoyable trip. The last three days at Casa Fajara were a real treat - great accommodation, very helpful staff and delicious food.

The walking was not taxing but it was very interesting.  The wildflowers were stunning, not to be missed at this time of year, before the sun burns them off. We have never seen mile after mile of white Cistus in bloom. It really was a botanist's delight.

We particularly enjoyed staying in Salema at the Casa Praiamar and also Pedralva and Casa Fajara. Staff at the latter two were lovely.  We were not particularly impressed by The Hotel Mira Sagres: the receptionist ignored us for five minutes on arrival while she spoke to another staff member but she was then perfectly friendly and took us up to our room. The aircon unit did not work and although we arrived promptly at the advertised time for breakfast, all the tables were taken and we had to wait to get places. Breakfast start time is obviously to be ignored or else had been changed without us being told. We guess that there is little accommodation choice in Vila do Bispo suitable for Inntravellers.

We did see the cliff-nesting storks but we were highly amused by the stork which had built its nest on the lamp post in the beating heart of Faro, oblivious to all the people, traffic and children's carousel pumping out music beneath it.  If you like bird life, you will see other storks nesting in the centre and if you take the bus to Estoi, at this time of year, some houses are covered in martin nests. We watched swifts from our window at the AquaRia Hotel. We enjoyed two snacks at Cafe Allianca which is right next door to the hotel: the business, initially a dairy, is 110 years old and has a beautiful interior.  It now calls itself a Cerverceria. The staff were very friendly and helpful with the large choice of beers. Up till now we had been drinking Vinho Verde so beer made a welcome change.

Rather too many highlights to name - but the peacefulness, the wildflowers in April, the views of the coast, the excellent hotels and food and well-designed walks are some of them!

Although we had a very nice walking holiday, in many aspects it was not as good as our previous trips with Inntravel. Some of the accommodations (the first two) didn't meet our expecatations - they were very plain and uninteresting. The picnics were very mediocre. The fact that dinners were served only in the last two hotels (and were only average) was a disappointment. Also, the area is nice but not spectacular, but we knew this before setting out. We enjoyed eating fish and seafood very much during this holiday.

We liked walking with two other couples who happened to take the holiday at the same time we did. Finally, we would like to suggest that those who do decide to take this trip should do it during April as this is a wonderful time for flowers and the weather is generally good and very comfortable for walking. We were very lucky in these aspects with the holiday.

This was the first time we had been on a self-guided walking holiday and did not quite know exactly what to expect, there seemed to be so many things that could go wrong in moving from place to place, with luggage going a different route. We arrived at Faro late due to a Ryanair cabin crew strike earlier in the day so missed our intended onward train. However, the taxi was waiting for us when we arrived at Lagos and the lovely taxi driver couldn't thank us enough for letting her know that we had been delayed. We arrived at our first hotel late, but still had a very warm welcome. From then on, all the hotels were amazing, the staff were welcoming, and we had some amazing Portuguese food either provided at the hotels or in the recommended restaurants nearby. We were extremely lucky with the weather - it was bright sunshine every day, with nice cool breeze. The walking routes were so easy to follow that there was really no need to look at the maps - and certainly no need for my compass or satnav! We managed to do each day's walk  in pretty much the same time as estimated, and appreciated the options for visiting additional sights and the warnings about water crossings (although the weather had been dry enough to keep all streams and rivers passable). All in all, it was a super holiday and we would certainly do it again. Only other advice we could give is that ATM machines are few and far between, so it's a good idea to take out cash whenever you see one because lots of the smaller cafes and restaurants do not take credit cards!

We very much enjoyed the hills and coastline that this holiday offers. The colours and rock formations on the coast are amazing. The spring flowers could be seen everywhere and we were delighted with the smell of the mimosa blossom. This is a relaxing holiday giving every opportunity to enjoy the variety of the wonderful scenery.

We had a very nice fish meal at the Restaurante O Laurenco in Salema.

Highlights: the variety of the terrain and the walking paths were pleasantly unexpected, and after heavy spring rains, the countryside was green, and wildflowers were starting to bloom. The rains did make for a few problems with river/stream crossings. The weather was variable while we were there but the wind off the Atlantic was always present! It is an unpretentious and unspoilt area with an atmosphere of ease and relaxation. The people in restaurants and stores were friendly and helpful as were the staff at all the inns and hotels. Fish eaters will enjoy the variety and abundance of fish and seafood, which goes well with the excellent Portuguese wines.

Suggestions: to extend the holiday we would suggest adding a night at Vila Do Bispo to add a walk to Cabo de S Vincente. One can walk there following the waymarked trail and catch the 1500 bus from the bus stop outside the lighthouse back to Vila do Bispo.  We also enjoyed an extra night at Carrapateira where the staff prepared delicious meals accommodating our preferences for local cuisine. An extra walk at Pedralva was also easy to plan and it was a charming place to stay. Can highly recommend “Restaurante O Lourenco” in Salema, where we had dinner two consecutive nights. It is very popular and reservations are recommended as is 24 hour notice if you want to order a cataplana. The owner and his son were very professional and the service was excellent. Don’t expect much night life – it is very quiet in all the towns. We would recommend buying the Rota Vicentina Guide book and map for added detail and additional walks in the area covered by Inntravel and beyond in southwest Portugal (www.rotovicentina.com).

It was lovely to see this corner of Portugal, including all the beaches, off season, i.e. with few people around. The walks were lovely, and the flowers and cacti etc were a delight! I took photos of all that I saw, a variety of at least 30-40 I would say. We did get drenched 3 times - but also sunburnt on a day in between! The lovely resurrected Pedralva was wonderful, we absolutely loved the way that Antonio had rebuilt it in the traditional style, even recreating the cobbled streets, and importing the building style for balconies etc into the interior of the houses, so that settees and beds consisted of cushions and mattresses respectively placed on white-washed plinths, as it were!  Amazing!

Meeting people along the way - particularly hotel owners and staff. Almond blossom and burgeoning spring flowers. You could make it clear that there is a choice (excellent) of menu at Fajara - your literature suggests a fixed meal.

This was an excellent and relaxing holiday. The walking was in general straightforward and with only one longish day transferring to Vila do Bispo. All the steep slopes, of which there were a few, quickly ended and rewarded the walker with new vistas. None of them gave onto too vertiginous a drop either! Seeing all the almond blossom on the Algarve coast was a delight. The hotels were great as were all the meals provided, or the restaurant suggestions. Worthy of a special mention is the final hotel, Casa Fajara, where the welcome, food, and accommodation were all lovely. The west-facing coast here was quite different to the south-facing coast at the start of the holiday, much more undeveloped and uncrowded. Many thanks Inntravel for another wonderful holiday.

We had a very enjoyable holiday walking from hotel to hotel. A particular highlight for us was the birds which we saw. Approx 50 species including Ring Ousel, Black Winged Stilt, Hoopoe, Serrin and Sardinian Warbler.

We were impressed by the diversity of the landscape, which ranges from spectacular beaches and cliffs to green rolling hills, pine forests and sheep pastures. The accommodation is also very diverse. Pedralva in particular is an amazing place. We felt we were very lucky to stay there.

We loved the rustic unique hotels (Casa Fajara and Casas de la Pedralva). We loved the diversity of the landscapes during the walks and feeling off the beaten track. You may want to consider a North American office and a toll free number to better service Canadian clients. We were amazed at the attention to detail of the notes and the very professional package we received. 

A thoroughly enjoyable holiday. The walking was varied specially along the coast with superb beaches and amazing cliffs with stunning views. The little village of Bordeira is certainly worth the walk there and Bordeira beach is fabulous. The vegetation was interesting and varied and must be beautiful in spring with the cistus in full bloom. It was sad to see all the deserted places and fields that once had been productive, also the dryness everywhere as the whole area is desperate for rain. We loved all the small places we stayed in, each one different but hidden gems. We particularly enjoyed our small house in Pedralva - we stayed 2 nights there and found everyone so friendly and helpful - a delightful place. We enjoyed many delicious meals, and would thoroughly recommend the "Bacalhau no Pāu" in Pedralva, the marvellous "Fish of the Day" at restaurant O Laurenço in Salema and the very simple Cafe Correio opposite the hotel in Vila do Bispo. If you go in November, as we did, be prepared for cold winds when walking North and cool evenings. Thank you Inntravel for all your excellent research and  organisation.

Although the vegetation was very dry at the end of a long summer with no rain, the countryside and villages we passed through gave a real flavour of this unspoilt region of the Algarve. The hotels and apartments were very comfortable and the food at the Casas da Pedralva and Casa Fajara was excellent. This was our first walking holiday but it will not be our last and we will definitely book with Inntravel. Thank you to everyone at Inntravel and in Portugal.

The walking was not as scenic as some we have done, partly because everything was very dry and dusty though lack of flowers was partly compensated by variety of butterflies and dragonflies and the coastal scenery was magnificent. We really enjoyed all the hotels and Portuguese fish is something special. Anyone doing the walk in early October should be aware it can still be very hot (up to 30 degrees) and many of the routes have little shade. Travelling there by ferry and train added an excellent dimension to the holiday and we enjoyed seeing dolphins from the ferry, 24 hours exploring Lisbon and even visiting an excellent art exhibition in Madrid between trains!

We were very pleased with both the choice of hotels and with the walking routes. The accompanying notes were detailed and accurate. Casa Fajara was a very pleasant location for a more relaxing end to the holiday.

My husband doesn't walk regularly but really enjoyed this walk and the variety. We enjoyed equally the coast and countryside. This was our first visit to Portugal and we found it a very friendly place, clean and great food. It doesn't have the best scenery on this walk, but it's still very enjoyable. We really liked the little seaside resort of Salema, and preferred this to the coastal areas in the latter part of the holiday though these were very spectacular, if windy beaches.    

A stunning walking holiday that never became boring at any point. Bravo Inntravel!

Excellent walking holiday. Great hotels, good food and wonderful walking. The local cafe where we had breakfast in Salema was a great experience. We ate with the locals but were treated like royalty. The owner would see us coming, set a table for us and bring out an amazing choice of bread, cakes and pastries. Casa Fajara is a fantastic hotel in a most relaxing setting, really did not want to leave.

It was a real pleasure to explore this unspoilt corner of the Algarve in May, we were very lucky to be able to enjoy this wonderful variety of scenery in perfect walking weather.

You have found a real gems for the accommodation, all different and distinctively Portuguese.

We really liked the kitchen areas as well as the simple but restorative swimming pools at each place. The coastal walks around the headlands of Carrapateira were fascinating for their cliffs, colourful rocks and sandy bays and the marine stork that swooped overhead.

Try the little restaurant opposite the hotel in Vila Do Bispo - unique!

Excellent holiday apparently very hot for May. Walking was good taking in the beautiful beaches. Swimming was not easy but the surf looked amazing and we enjoyed watching the surfers.

Walking notes were very clear. 

Restaurante Sitio do Forno perfect for lunch after leaving beach on Rota Vicentina circuit.

Mini market in Carrapateira closed on Sunday.

Another really enjoyable holiday with Inntravel. We are very grateful to you for the opportunity to walk through places that we would probably never otherwise discover. We had no problems at all. The taxi service from Vibel was excellent, and our stays at Casas des Pedralva and Casa Fajara were quite outstandingly good. The setting at Pedralva is beautiful, the staff were lovely, and the food marvellous; we would love to go back there! Teago and Maria at Casa Fajara made us very welcome and were superbly in tune with the ambience of the lovely house and the beautiful rooms. Without those two, we feel that the experience might not have been quite as good. 

We thought this a very well structured walking holiday and enjoyed each day, helped by the excellent (May) weather.  The walking notes were probably the best yet provided by Inntravel so no problems there. And we thought the accommodation along the way well chosen. Foodwise the breakfasts at the Salema cafe were a highlight, impossible to do justice. And we have to confess that we made little use of the packed lunches as we found a well-placed restaurant everyday. Finally, we found the transfers by Vibel taxis very efficient.

Good combination of quiet beaches and inland countryside trails. Seeing all the flowers in bloom was a reason for us choosing this time of year. Pedralva was our favourite, a lovely quiet location and the accommodation was a surprise, vaulted roof in the bedroom. The staff at Casa Fajara were particularly welcoming.

The scenery was stunning and the walking fairly easy. The route notes were outstanding. The coast lives up to the description of many colours. We particularly enjoyed the 2 routes from Casa Fajara as they were so different. One was into the countryside where the cistus bushes were everywhere and then a lovely pine forest before the sand dunes and a welcome paddle on Bordeira beach, whilst the other took in all the lovely headlands and sea views along the coast to Armado beach.

We have probably done about 20 walks with Inntravel, and this one was one of the most enjoyable. Mid-May seemed a perfect choice, temparature in the low 20s, a sea breeze, flowers in abundance. The walking was varied with some lovely inland sections complementing the coastal sections. I have vertigo and was worried beforehand about some of the cliff walks but in fact had no issues at all as the paths were a discrete distance from any drops. We ate fabulously well, there are some very good restaurants for lunch and dinner where meals are not provided. Too many highlights, but the final hotel in Carrapateira and its' fantastic beach, the Praia da Bordeira were outstanding.

The meal and welcome at Pedralva was first class and a highlight of our holiday.

The approach at Casa Fajara to making a choice of evening meal was sometimes less than satisfactory, in that they had menu choices I would have liked, but not everyone could have that choice, because they only had a few portions. So if you were later back than other guests you appeared to have little choice.

We travelled with another couple, all experienced Inntravelers. We were overall disapointed with this holiday. The first two hotels were poor. The last hotel while lovely in many ways lacking. The food offered was below standard in the evening whilst the breakfasts were good. As two couples with Inntravel we would expect equal rooms but we had one standard and the other very much above standard, this was inappropriote and unacceptable as we all paid the same amount. On a plus side the staff were friendly and helpful but were unable to change the rooms.

The walking was in part good and the coast beautiful. Walking through the many valleys was a little repetetive. We all found three nights in the last hotel too much as there was little to do and limited walked offered in the area. One walk offered was virtually a repeart of two other walks in large part. Maybe for the last night we could have gone to Faro as that was an interesting city to explore.

Overall we were disapointed and will make me think carefully about booking again.

One of the personal highlights is described in the previous section but we both very much enjoyed the whole trip in spite of my starting a cold and subsequent chest infection on our first full day, which my husband later caught. We nevertheless did, and enjoyed, all the place to place walks, though having to rest on our spare day at Pedralva and do shortened versions of the Carrapateira walks. The beautiful scenery, fine walks, helpful and pleasant people and the excellent accommodation provided, especially in Salema at the Casa PraiaMar and at Casa Fajara, both of which were outstanding. And I must put in a special plug for the delicious breakfasts at the Pastellaria SolMar, and its kind host who rescued the walking notes we had carelessly dropped outside!!  Another happy memory is of picnicking above the reservoir on the way to Pedralva with a flock of sheep peacefully grazing  in the distance, and the sound of their bells.

We had a wonderful week - perfect weather, spring flowers in bloom everywhere, excellent walking and the freshest of fish in the local restaurants. Do stop for lunch at the restaurants mentioned in the notes on the days around Carrapateira. They each close on one day of the week - Sitio O Rio (Option 1) on Tuesdays and Sition do Forno (Option 2) on Mondays - so choose your walk accordingly. We have been on lots of Inntravel holidays and this was one of the best, if not the best, to date.

Another excellent holiday (this is our 10th with Inntravel). Very well organised, lovely walks, great places to stay - and we had perfect weather all week.

Good varied walks and accomodation. Weather was mainly fine (one day rainy) but cooler than normal for end-March but suited us. Might be hot any later.

Best and most interesting walks probably the first (Bergau) and last (Carrapateira headland).

Be prepared for exceedingly bad weather. We had rain on 6 of our 8 days; also for the first five days it was cold with strong winds. Sunday (Pedralva to Carapateira) was particularly wet with gales and torrential rain wetting us through and the next day there was an hour's worth of 'biblical' downpour bouncing off the cobbles.

We felt the walks were too short; arriving just after lunch (as we did most days) in poor weather the only option was reading a book in the hotel.

We liked the variety of the walking provided on this holiday - coast and countryside complimenting each other, with a variety of landscapes, flora and fauna. As ever, the InnTravel arrangements worked perfectly.

In the final hotel Casa Fahaja there are some nice walks not mentioned. Turn right out of the hotel and it is easy to follow way marks to a number of other villages.

This walk was a wonderful opportunity to explore a part of Portugal unknown to us, easy walking for the beginning of the season and some superb beaches to sit at and watch the waves whilst enjoying a picnic lunch!

The flowers (at the end of March) and the views were spectacular. 

A very enjoyable holiday beautiful scenery with varied flora . Highlights Salema beautiful little cove the sea view from our room was amazing Casa Praia Mar what a find the place was so bright and airy and spotless. Another wonderful place was Pedralva [even though we had to walk in the rain to get there] Could have happily moved in to my little cottage which was our room for the night.

We particularly enjoyed the coastal walking and the emerging flowers.  On most days the variety of scenery and colours were great, in particuar the northern circuit from Carrapateira made the most of the pleasant weather.  The walk from Vila do Bispo to Pedralva was the least exciting as the scenery did not change very much and it was our only day of dull weather. On this day we also encountered some guard dogs which although generally tethered were rather alarming.

Thank you for organising our two walks in Portugal [A Coast of Many Colours & Along the Costa Vicentina], all arrangements made were excellent.  We consider ourselves to have been very lucky to had very warm sunny weather at this time of year and to have expereinced such fantastic locations. 

This was a very enjoyable holiday with varied scenery, good accommodation and excellent walking weather

The whole holiday was highly enjoyable, possibly the Western Coast ,which was spectacular but I guess the people from the Taxi drivers to the Hotel Staff in all the locations were the real highlight.

The Coast of Many colours was exactly that - fascinating bands of colour on the rocks of Amado and Bordeira beaches, beautiful, huge sandy beaches with brilliant, blue waves. We liked our days on the coast best. None of the walking was too challenging but some of the inland stretches were a little uninspiring. The whole area was very quiet, we saw very few people on any of our walks (apart from the last 2 days on the coastal walks near Carrapateira) and the overall feel was very relaxed.

We arrived after very heavy rains and although the weather quickly improved and we had a good sunny week's walking, the advice given in the notes about stream crossings/detours/taking a towel were not wholly adequate for the conditions. Taking off shoes and making quite long road detours were necessary and if you think you might meet these conditions, we'd recommend taking a pair of plastic shoes in your backpack as well as a towel!

Walking in February turned out to require no more than a t-shirt on most days but a lightweight fleece came in handy on windy clifftops when the sun went in.

Some of the cafes mentioned as possibly being open at this time of year were not but several of the restaurants mentioned on the routes were. Only the Atlantico was open in Salema, good choice of food and speedy service. Excellent meal included at Casa Pedralva (and you have an allowance - 50 Euros on this occasion) so our wine was included (depends how expensive your wine is, of course). The Sitio do Forno above Amado beach is very popular, well-situated and serves great fish.

All the accommodation exceeded our expectation but Casa Fajara especially so. The staff in all the hotels were friendly, welcoming and were enthusiastic and informative about their region. The hotel meals were imaginative plus both healthy and substantial.

The recommended restaurants and cafes lived up to their reputation. We did not try them all but the Atlântico in Salema was highly enjoyed and we surprised the staff in Ribeira do Poço (Vila do Bispo) by finishing the main course completely. (We had warned them we were hungry after a long walk). 

The cafe-bar Verandhas do Burgau was very welcome and welcoming after our first morning walk. Despite the early February low season the cafe was almost full for lunch without any sensation of being busy! That is a very good sign. 

The scenery and early spring bulbs lived up to expectations and there were amazing numbers of birds to see as it was so quiet. The routes let us explore the area and were spectacular and thought provoking too. 

The highlight of the holiday was the roaring log fire at Casa Fajara after a day of prolonged thunderstorms with us wading through flash floods to get there. Exciting day but a great reception!

Gorgeous scenery, perfect walking weather.

I would have preferred two nights in Vila de Bispo, and less in Pedralva.

Some lovely walking with lots of sunny weather even in late November (although the beaches were beautiful and deserted we did not brave the ocean for swimming). The autumn rains "green up" the Algarve so the pine forests were very pretty and we enjoyed seeing some lambs and calves in the fields. The Portuguese people were very friendly and we felt genuinely welcomed.

This was a walking holiday with varying terrain and completely spectacular scenery. We loved walking around this very unspoilt part of Portugal. The locals were friendly and the small villages we visited were lovely. The holiday exceeded our expectations and we would definitely consider going back to this area of Portugal.

We really enjoyed this walk. Being slightly out of season added to its charm, and the weather was lovely.