Hiking the Fisherman’s Trail in Portugal
Millions of years of wind and waves have formed the rough beauty of the Alentejo coast south of Lisbon. Our aim when visiting this unique landscape was to explore the area and to hike at least parts of the Fisherman’s Trail that hugs the coast.
Jagged cliffs, the end of the world and thousands of storks
From our base camp in Odemira we undertook several day hikes that mainly took in parts of the very well developed Fisherman’s Trail (one of three trail networks managed by the Rota Vicentina association.
Hiking here is very accessible with good signage and very little technical trails. The hikes weave up and down along the steep cliffs and secluded beaches. In winter the cliffs are home to thousands of storks who spend the winter here - quite the sight for a northern German boy who is more used to seeing these birds on top of thatched roof farm houses.
Besides hiking, our explorations led us to the Capo de São Vincente (the south-western most point of mainland Europe aka the end of the world) and to Sines, the birthplace of Vasco da Gama.
A special tip for Sines: Visit Adega de Sines for lunch - incredible seafood in a super cozy atmosphere (we were dragged into the kitchen to decide on what to eat!).
We spent the last few days of our time in Portugal in Lisbon. It will not be surprising to hear that I am not super keen on big cities - however Lisbon was worth the visit. Besides the hilly old town and the grandiose waterfront we especially enjoyed exploring the Belém quarter (birthplace of the Portuguese nacional sweet „Nata“) and the FactoryLX (a large factory turned art, party and food plaza).
Adventurers: Brigitte and Bengt