Keep on Walking!

Walking is good for the body and it is good for the brain. You get old when you stop walking. A walking holiday in the Algarve therefor, is a great way to spend your time away from the hustle and bustle of daily life. It refreshes the mind, literally clears away clouds of worry and it relaxes thoroughly. This is in short, the theory of Irish “brain” professor Shane O´Mara. He studied this activity and its consequences at length and he wrote a book about it. For those who are really interested, the book is called: In Praise of Walking.

We love walking. When we were still office-jobbers in Holland, we used to walk in the weekends. Then we started our bed and breakfast Cas al Cubo, and  we quickly resorted discovering our new surroundings on foot. The first tracks are plotted in the Eastern Algarve around 2012. During the past ten years, we have both added new trails and checked the trails, plotted by the different councils. The reason for the last action is, that signs tend to go missing because not all councils maintain the walking routes. Meanwhile we have all routes, or « percursos pedestre », as they are called in Portuguese, available as a GPS track. We also organise a walking holiday in the Algarve and we have made an overview of all official and several home-made walks in the area between Loulé and Vila Real de Santo Antonio.

Algarve Coast Line

The Algarve is divided in three distinctive landscapes. First, there is the coast line, that is called the Litoral. In our area, the Eastern Algarve, coast means: wetlands. Ria Formosa Natural Park, offers long stretches of sandy beach, dunes and salt pans. All have their specific wildlife, birds and flowers. During the warmer period, it is always possible to make a walk along the coast line, catching just that lovely sea breeze that makes walking pleasant.

Barrocal

Just above the coast line, starts the Barrocal with our B&B Cas al Cubo in it. This natural sub-region of the Algarve is a unique natural area with specific flora and fauna. Located between the Serra (mountains) and the Coast, the influence comes from both sides. In geological terms, the Barrocal characterises itself by the presence of several calcareous elevations of irregular form, that rarely exceed the 400 meters of altitude.

The endemic vegetation consists of Holm Oak, and the influence of man added shrubs such as the zambujeiro or myrtle and small carob trees. Agriculture finally added almond, olive and fig trees that all need little water only for survival. This landscape is crisscrossed by small paths, (goat)tracks and old historical roads that offer amazing walking routes.

Serra

North of the Barrocal starts the Serra. The western part of the Eastern Algarve mountains are called Serra do Caldeirão. Most official walks of the Loulé and the São Brás de Alportel councils run in this area. Further to the southeast, roughly starting north of Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo, the mountain range names Serra de Alcaria do Cume. Most of the Tavira walks run through this area. Only around Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo, there are five official walks already and we added numerous others that we designed ourselves.

The Algarve is a true gem when walking is concerned. At our B&B, you will find peace and quiet, beauty, a choice of good and clear GPS tracks, excellent advice and a lovely place in the middle of nature to put up your feet after a long-days walk. Come and enjoy your walking holiday in the Algarve and keep on walking!