It’s been exactly 10 years since I first visited the Scottish Isle of Skye.

We took the kids camping there for an autumn school holiday (also known as Tattie Holidays). It was the last year we still had four kids under our roof and I was determined to make the most of every family holiday we had together. We explored the Isle of Skye from top to bottom and east to west. We camped near the Cuillin Hills at night and visited the Fairy Pools, Talisker, the Old Man of Storr, and Neist Point Lighthouse on the far western shore of the island. Our favorite hike was the often photographed Quiraing.

Last summer we returned to the Isle of Skye with a group of friends and stayed in some of the many glamping cabins that have popped up on the isle since we lived in Scotland.

I had been warned by folks from Aberdeen that the island is somewhat overrun these days and we would struggle to find parking for our day hikes. It was much busier than I remembered it, but it wasn’t unbearable.

Taido and I gave early wake up calls so we started hiking before the masses on the days where we were headed to the overly instagrammed, honey pot areas. (I’m looking at you, Fairy Pools.)

But also, I spent time researching less popular hikes. In case we were overwhelmed by the crowds, I wanted to have at least one hike where we experienced the Isle of Skye as I remembered it on my first visit: a wild place full of remote hiking trails that you have all to yourself.

I recalled Skye as an island where you can hike for hours and only meet one or two other people on the way.

And I am happy to say that I found a part of Skye that still felt like the place in my memory.

Oronsay.

While part of our group went off to tour the Talisker Whisky Distillery, the rest of us headed to hike this new-to-me walk that crosses a tidal causeway from the small settlement of Ullinish to Oronsay Island.

I had been watching the tide times, because the causeway out to Oronsay is covered in water during high tide, but the stars aligned and we managed to get out there at just the right time.

For our whole week in Scotland, we had a mix of sun, fog, rain and mist each day. Almost all my pictures are full of moody clouds and brightly colored raincoats dotting the trails.

Unsurprisingly, we experienced a lot of the classic Scottish weather on our trip.

I expect fog and rain in Scotland, and indeed, in the UK. I think it’s part of what makes the blue skies feel so special.

We had already been hiking in the rain on this very day, but in the afternoon across the causeway on Oronsay Island, the sky cleared a bit and we had sunshine on our faces as we wandered the short three mile loop to Oronsay and back.

We stripped out of our jackets and down to our t-shirts for what I think was the only time all week.

From the cliff tops on Oronsay, you can see far out southwest into the inner seas of the Scottish Isles.

When we reached the highest point, we sat there in the grass for as long as we dared, just watching the water and the clouds.

But as the tide was on its way in, we soon headed back to cross the causeway while it was it was still uncovered by water.

On the walk back we stopped for a quick dip just off of the pebble causeway, our only swim all week, so I was so glad I jumped at the chance.

When we got back to our car, we drove to meet the rest of the group at Neist Point, where we hiked out to the lighthouse. The sun was long gone by then, but we still enjoyed our third short hike of the day, and we all had hardy appetites after our full day on the Isle of Skye, which was good because we ended the day with the 8-course chef’s choice meal at the Kitchen Table in The Three Chimneys. A Very Special Treat.

But I have to say, even with the gorgeous meal and several more stunning Scotland hikes in the days following, the hidden gem of Oronsay Island ended up being my favorite part of last summer’s trip to Scotland and a little reminder to me to always look for some new treasure at the edges of my trail maps.

You can find this trail on Alltrails if you’re looking to do it yourself. If you find yourself on the Isle of Skye, I highly recommend you check out Oronsay.

The post Oronsay: A Quiet Corner of the Isle of Skye (and my favorite hike + swim day) appeared first on Alison Chino.

the little flower that

heralds the beginning of the end

of winter.

Every year I wait anxiously for my first glimpse of the first perennials that remind me that the days are getting longer now.

After two years of living in Bristol, I know where to look for them to start blooming.

Hello snowdrops.
I’m so delighted that you’ve arrived.

They bloom just outside the library and on the way to the park where I walk Poppy.

There are a few favorite walks in the Cotswolds where I’ve seen them blooming before, and now that I’ve spotted them in town, I want to head to the woods to find the patches that I know are there.

The boys walk right by them, sometimes not even noticing.

Snowdrops start out looking like tiny little upside down tulip blooms.

When they open their petals like wings ready to fly, they are telling me I’ve made it through the deepest part of winter.

Soon all sorts of flowers will be in bloom and I will walk in the light again.

Nothing keeps me as close to the rhythm of the seasons quite like walking.

Throughout the year, my steps on the ground are my fingers on the changing pulse of the days.

I never stop wondering at the way I can know the next day will come.

A new day.

A season ending and another one beginning.

A fresh bloom.

And even though I catch glimpses of snowdrops pushing up from the cold, hard ground in exactly the places I expect them to be,

somehow they still manage to surprise me.

What a wonder.

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The Fisherman’s Trail

Vila do Bispo to Cabo de San Vincente 14.5 km/9 miles

You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here.

We all woke up well-rested and happy for our final day on the trail.

The breakfast at our guest house, Pure Fonte Velha in Vila do Bispo, was absolutely gorgeous, so we filled up before hitting the road.

Once we finally got going, we walked from the village toward the sea, through wildflower fields and over dusty roads.

We continued on our last day with our theme of not being in a hurry, trying to soak up these last hours along the cliff tops.

From early in the morning, we could see the tiny speck of the lighthouse that we were walking towards.

We knew we would reach it eventually. There was plenty of time and we were loaded up on snacks.

We talked as we walked and as we sat looking out at the waves rolling up on the beaches and rocks below. We had all finished telling our life stories so we talked about our hopes and dreams for the years ahead. And where we’d like to travel to next.

The last stretch was super rocky, so you had to watch your steps. We could also see more and more people, as the lighthouse receives a lot of visitors.

When we reached the lighthouse, we walked around a little while and took some photos. It was kind of busy right inside the main area, and we were all hungry and tired. So we found a food truck outside the main gates and had some lunch while we waited for the bus to town.

It’s funny how sometimes getting to the end is a bit anticlimactic. Especially on a walk like this one where the sum of all the views during the days of walking by the ocean was far more impressive than the lighthouse itself. But still, we had the feeling that we did what we set out to do.

We had to wait a while for the bus so we ended up sitting around on the ground playing cards. We got so tickled and laughed so hard that when the bus driver arrived, he joked that he was not going to let us on the bus because we were too loud.

I think the giddiness was the feeling of finishing the sweet week of walking washing over all of us.

When the bus dropped us in Sagres, we checked into our place and then headed to the beach for a celebration sangria, followed by dinner at a place called A Sagres. Another favorite meal for sure.

The charming restaurant owner told us which dishes were the best. We took his advice and ordered all his recommendations. More fish soup and shrimp and mussels and yummy garlicky buttered bread to sop everything up.

It was a perfect final night on the Rota Vicentina.

The next morning we caught the bus back to Lisbon for one last night together, but this was our final night by the sea.

Goodbye Rota Vicentina! I’m sure I’ll be back one day. It’s just too beautiful not to return!

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The Fisherman’s Trail

Carrapateira to Vila do Bispo 16 km/9.6 miles

You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here.

On Day 4, we had a decision to make. The Rota Vicentina is a network of trails. Sometimes all the trails converge and there is only one trail, but other times there is a historical inland trail (marked by red and yellow stripes) or a seaside trail (marked by blue and green stripes). The seaside trail is generally known as The Fisherman’s Trail and it is the one we mostly walked all week, for obvious reasons. We love to be by the sea.

However, I had read about a village that has been recently restored from ruin that I wanted to visit called Pedralva. This village, which is making a name for itself in the “slow travel movement” by offering longer term rentals to digital nomads and surf enthusiasts, is on the historical inland route.

So if we wanted to see Pedralva, we needed to walk a longer inland route, or we could skip it and walk by the sea, which would be almost five miles shorter.

It didn’t take us long to decide to skip over Pedralva in order to walk the shorter route and stay along the sea. A theme of this trip was to choose the more gentle option.

What feels easier?

If I asked a question, someone usually could answer for us with the option that felt the most friendly to them.

Would it be easier to eat dinner now while we are already up here in the village even though we didn’t shower yet or do we want to walk all the way back to our apartment, shower and then walk back up the hill again?

Easy. Eat now.

Would it be easier to drop off our packs before we walk to the store and go have a drink or to go on to the store now?

I am ready to lose my pack.

Would it feel easier to wait until this coffee shop opens or to walk on to the next town in search of coffee?

The sun is shining. Let’s sit at this outside table and wait for this one. We’re not in a hurry.

I am not saying the whole walk was easy.

But I am saying that there was an ease to this entire walk.

Some of it was ease that we chose and some of it was just the generous nature of this particular trail and time.

The constant sunshine and blue sky.

The cliff trail with constant views of the big wide expanse of sea and the wild rocks below.

The wildflowers in bloom.

The storks flying all around us.

I guess maybe the ease of the trail created a theme that permeated the choices for the rest of the walk.

It was not hard to choose what felt lighter.

It was not hard to choose to not go hard.

When I hike with my husband and our friends in the mountains, we go hard. I am always very proud of myself at the end of it.

But I am also exhausted and sometimes even injured.

I think that’s probably why I spend the rest of the year seeking out walks that feel a little softer.

I try to strike a balance between not rushing folks along during the day and getting to the destination at a reasonable time.

We want to enjoy the day, and we want to get to the village before dinner, with time to rest.

This day ended up being one of our favorites. It had the most up and down of any other day, so we descended to the water and back up again several times, but we enjoyed the rhythm of the climbs and descents.

We could always see where we were headed, the next time the trail was going to dip and climb again.

I was grateful all day that we chose the route by the sea.

I will go back to Portugal and visit Pedralva another day.

But not this day. This day was for walking down to the water, dipping a toe into the sea, and climbing back up again.

At the end of the day, in order to get to Vila do Bispo, we had to head inland on a long, dusty road.

It probably took us about two hours to reach the town once we turned away from the sea.

The last part of the day I can sometimes just switch to autopilot and kind of march to the end. This road definitely felt like a long march. It was a good road for a set of headphones and an audiobook.

We were tired by the end of it, but we finally rolled into town around 4pm, dumped our packs and went to a little bar for cold drinks. Our host gave us a dinner recommendation for a seafood place down the road. We ordered (for the second time) Cataplana, which is a seafood soup that is served in a big stainless steel pot for your table to share. The broth is super rich, so you soak it up with bread. It was delicious.

We finished off our meal with a chocolate almond cake that our waiter said was special to the region. I think it was my favorite dessert of the week.

With full bellies, we headed off to bed. Tomorrow we would reach the lighthouse at the southwest tip of Portugal for our final day of walking on the Rota Vicentina.

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The Fisherman’s Trail

Arrifana to Carrapateira 20 km/12.4 miles  

You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. 

Day 3 started with some happy faces because we had a beautiful breakfast at the Utopia Guest House and another day of sunshine!

We walked a while to get back to the seaside.

It’s funny how we were always happy to see it again. The sea, the sea!

Somehow it never disappoints.

We could see a dip in the path for a long time before we reached a spot where you could walk out to a rock beach.

We rested for a bit on the rocks before tackling the next hill.

For each day of walking, we took turns telling our life stories throughout the day. So when we would pause and rest, sometimes whoever’s turn it was would take a break from talking or we would ask questions. When it was your turn, you could take as long as you wanted and stop when you needed to rest.

After some time on the rock beach, we walked a little out of the way because there was a lunch spot on the map that looked pretty inviting.

It was a long dusty road to get there, but we agreed we wanted to try.

When we arrived, they were closed for vacation. Bummer.

So we sat down in front of the place and ate our snacks. We were all tired and hot so I also used their water faucet outside to fill up our water bottles. I didn’t think they would mind.

Then less than a mile down the road, we came across another place that was not on the map but was open!

We had just eaten all our snacks, but we stopped again anyway! Because why not?

The guy running the place looked like maybe he was closing down soon and he was little bit grouchy, which has been soooo unusual in my (short) experience in Portugal. But he didn’t dampen our spirits.

We fueled up for the rest of the walk.

The afternoon passed by quickly and soon we reached the long beach that marked the end of Day 3.

We took off our shoes and walked on the beach barefoot. At the other side we had to walk along a little channel to get to the town of Carrapateira. It was a rocky path along the side of the channel, so we put our shoes back on and headed to town.

We found our little apartments that had loft bedrooms over kitchenettes, and a courtyard with chairs and a swimming pool. It was cooling off quickly by then, so we didn’t swim but we did sit by the pool.

After we dumped our packs, we walked the rest of the way into town to grab breakfast foods and snacks for the next day. We thought we would come back later for dinner, but we ended up deciding to stay in town and eat early. No one wanted to make the walk up the hill a second time.

We found a place to eat dinner called Microbar that had these gorgeous elaborate salads and toasts.  It was super yummy.

After dinner, we walked back to our little apartments and sat by the pool with a bottle of wine to finish off the day.

Day 3 was our middle day. I went to bed a little sad that we only had two days left. We were all loving the Rota Vicentina!

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The Fisherman’s Trail

Praia de Monte Clerigo to Arrifana 13 km/7 miles  

You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. 

I woke up before everyone else on our second walking day. (It’s always an advantage not to have jet lag.)

We didn’t need to get an early start because we were only a covering 7 miles to the next town: Arrifana.

So I wandered out around the little village under the pink sky before everyone got up.

The sun was creeping up high by the time we all headed off. The trail goes right up behind the village. We were all carrying a few snacks, but we didn’t have breakfast at our apartment and there weren’t any open cafes in the village so just headed out and hoped we would see something along the way.

Even on empty stomachs, we started out in awe once again of all the beauty surrounding us.

I particularly enjoyed seeing all the different flowers that were in bloom this time around.

And again, we walked under clear blue skies.

When I first heard about the Rota Vicentina, somewhere I read that it’s probably not the trail for you if you’re prone to vertigo. I have a healthy fear of heights (as I’ve mentioned before), so I keep well away from the edges of the cliffs.

But I walked this time with people who have no such fear. I felt like these gals dangled way too near the edge all week. But thankfully we didn’t lose anyone. And they kept reassuring me that it always looked worse from wherever I happened to be standing.

We also saw several folks fishing here and there along the Fisherman’s Trail. They always had these long poles with super long lines that went all the way out from the cliffs. It seemed like such a wild way to fish.

Stork season was in full swing during March, so we spotted a lot of stork nests on the rocks below us.

Mid-morning, we stopped and hung out in the sun for a little while and shared whatever snacks we had between us.

Then we finally rolled into Arrifana around lunch time, which we were all ready for!

Arrifana is a surfing hub with very fun vibes. We had lunch at the “Sea You Cafe,” which was super yummy. Acai bowls and salads and such.

Then we made our way to the beach for a swim and an afternoon nap in the sun.

It was hard to pull myself away from the beach, but we finally made a move to go check into where we were staying, a place called the Utopia Guest House.

I knew that it was up the road a little bit, but actually it was up the road quite a bit more than I realized.

We discovered this because Kristie headed off ahead of us, ready for a shower and a break from the sun, so she was texting us updates to let us know how far we still had to go. It ended up being about a 40 minute walk, but at a time of day when 40 minutes feels like 2 hours.

So we stopped for a cold drink and a snack on our way at a little pizza spot.

We loved the place so much that we ended up coming back there for dinner. Thankfully it was really close to our guest house, which we finally reached late in the afternoon.

They had a pool and great places to sit outside so we soaked up the last few rays of sun before we got chilly and headed inside.

You can take surfing lessons in Arrifana, so lots of folks come here to learn to surf, but there were also several other walkers staying at the Utopia Guest House. It was our first time to run into other walkers. The Rota Vicentina is not at all busy.

Even though it’s a bit of a haul from Arrifana, we loved the airy feel of this guest house.

It’s very earthy. They did a great breakfast, and they have the whole place decorated thoughtfully with stuff that has washed up from the sea.

We got cleaned up and headed back to the pizza place for dinner, which was delicious.

The sky turned pink while we were sitting at dinner. Another great day in Portugal!

These are the faces of some folks who are about to sleep well after a sun-soaked day.

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The Fisherman’s Trail

Odeceixe de Praia to Aljezur 20 km/12.5 miles

You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. 

As soon as I got home from walking about half the Rota Vicentina with my sister in January, I wrote to three of my friends who were planning to join me for a wet winter walk in Cornwall and suggested we go to Portugal instead.

I’ve been hooked by the Fisherman’s Trail and I’m ready to go finish the rest of it!

They all wrote back that they were willing to meet me there instead, so that’s how I found myself back in Lisbon less than two months after my first visit (and my third visit to Portugal in less than 12 months, my first being the previous June for the Portuguese Camino. Clearly, I am having a moment with this hand-tiled, codfish-loving, ocean-hugging country.

After a day in Lisbon, we took the bus right back to Odeceixe where I had stopped in January. Then we hopped in a cab to our lodging on the beach. It was already dark but we woke up to the same beautiful sea views I had left.

I can’t even explain how gratifying it is for me to talk people into coming to a place that I think is drop-dead gorgeous and then to stand back and watch it take their breath away.

Portugal showed out with blue skies and sunshine on our first morning, but I think in any weather, these gals would have been scrambling to get their phones out for these cliff top views.

We moved slowly through the morning because there were so many photos to take of course.

By mid-morning we left the seaside to walk inland for a while to the small village of Rogil, so we picked up some speed.

By the time we reached our lunch spot, it was almost 1pm.

We ate at the most delightful spot with tables under straw umbrellas outside, and all fresh local produce and seafood.

It’s called the Museu da Batata Doce, which is The Sweet Potato Museum. We had gorgeous mixed salads, grilled shrimp, bread, olives, pickled carrots, a homemade fish spread and sangria of course. The shrimp we ate that afternoon was maybe the best I’ve had in my life.

It took us a while to get moving again after lunch, but we finally crawled away from the table and headed off to Aljezur. It had warmed up and we were in the hot sun for a lot of the afternoon. After many rainy months in the UK, I could not have been happier to be hot for a minute.

Aljezur is inland town and though it’s a historical stop on the Rota Vicentina, I knew after January that I wanted to try to sleep by the sea as often as possible.

So after a quick stop in Aljezur for ice cream and beer, we hailed a cab to the little seaside town where I had booked us to stay for the night.

In a not totally unsurprising turn of events, our cab driver ended up being related to the man we were meeting to rent the house from, so he knew exactly where to take us in Praia de Monte Clerigo.

We threw off our packs and headed straight for the praia…the beach.

Celebration of a fabulous first day!

We played in the sand, stared at sea creatures in little tide pools and completely succumbed to the sweet salty air as it cooled us off from our day of walking.

Our host told us that in the tiny village of Praia de Monte Clerigo, there is a special restaurant run by a guy who used to be a chef in a Michelin star restaurant somewhere, but he decided he wanted a quiet life by the sea, so he opened up a place right here called O Sargo.

After watching the sunset from our balcony, we headed off for dinner.

We were already pretty blissed out from the whole day, and  our lunch had been so divine, I wasn’t sure the evening’s meal could live up to everything else we had experienced.

Of course I was wrong.

Every bite we ate was incredible. After ordering several things from the simple menu, we shared all the dishes between us.

On the short walk back up to where we were sleeping for the night, we all lamented that we could not stay longer in Praia de Monte Clerigo, and even though it was only our first day on the Rota Vicentina, we felt like it was going to be a really hard one to top.

I’m so grateful to Kristie, Kelsy and Tatsuko for coming with me for this coastal adventure!! Let’s do it again soon, y’all! 

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The Fisherman’s Trail

Zambujeira do Mar to Odeceixe 18.5 km/11.4 miles  

You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. 

Rain was predicted on our last day of walking the Rota Vicentina, but the host at Hostel Nature told us that it would not rain.

He was right. We woke up to blue skies, yet again.

After a quick breakfast of coffee, yogurts and bananas, we hit the road.

From Zambujeira do Mar, you descend to the beach and then climb back up out of the cove for views back towards the sea town.

Zambujeira do Mar is for sure a place I would enjoy spending some more time. Anna and I said we would love to go back there one day.

But now we were headed south towards Odeceixe, our final stop on the Fisherman’s Trail, at least for now.

The trail continues south and continues to meander along beautiful coastline.

We spotted more storks hanging out on rocks, and we passed more deserted beaches.

We moved a bit slower on this final morning, just soaking everything in.

Neither of us really wanted to leave Portugal. It seemed like we had made an unspoken pact to take this final day as slow as possible in order to enjoy every minute.

When the path descended again and crossed a wide beach, we walked all the way out to the water.

We took off our shoes and put our feet in the sea.

The water was cold enough that we didn’t want to get all the way in, but it felt good on our toes.

We sat down at a little beach cafe that was closed for the season in order to brush the sand from our feet and put our boots back on. There were signs for a surfing camp and school, which we thought would be another fun way to spend time in this part of the Portugal.

On our next ascent, we followed the trail away from the sea and around a large private wildlife park.

We’d been told that a wealthy man keeps a lot of African animals in this wildlife park near the trail, so we were watching for it. It was hard to see because the trail follows a tall fence, but in the distance you can spot zebras, antelopes and water buffalos. Kind of crazy.

That part of the trail is a bit overgrown, so we were glad when the route left the wooded area and took us back out to the water.

About mid-morning we reached a place on the trail where a kind of plateau jutted out into the water, so that you could stand on it and see the curves of two beach coves, one behind and one ahead at the same time.

We decided to stop and rest there for a while. We had a snack while we watched the storks and other sea birds fly all around us.

We both took videos from this spot because it was so gorgeous.

I think we were a bit tired from the previous days of walking, so the rest was welcome.

We kept commenting on what a perfect day it was.

We knew we had been so fortunate with the weather all week and this day was no exception. Some clouds rolled in now and then, and just when would think maybe we were going to get a little rain, they would part and clear.

Again, since it was our last day, I spent more time looking at the vegetation and flowers.

Also we had seen on the map that there was a small town about half way through this section of the trail.

We were excited and hopeful that there would be an opportunity for a lunch stop in the town.

I reflected on what a gift the whole week had been, what a beautiful start it was to a new year. I’m super close to my sister, and we catch up regularly on the phone, but to have a whole week of being able to walk and talk was such a treat.

Expansive time for conversation is a delight. To tell stories. To dream. To confess.

And then we had times of walking along in silence as well.

It’s for space like this that I so appreciate these long walks. The trail holds equal space for all the talking and all the silence. And I need both.

At the end of the walking days, if we were lagging, we would sometimes share a set of headphones and listen to a podcast together.

After our short rest, we carried on a few more miles before spotting the town:

A Azenha do Mar…which I believe translates to the seat of the sea.

We entered by way of The Fisherman’s Street.

And then we found our restaurant.

It was quite busy and they said they only had tables left outside!

We found that so funny because of course we wanted to sit outside.

Since we were outside, Anna could discreetly dump all the sand out of her boots!

We ordered up too much gorgeous seafood, and then of course we ate it all!

Plus dessert!

We had a long, lovely lunch, and even had coffees afterwards. Almost too full to walk, we eventually dragged ourselves away from the sun-soaked terrace of A Ahenza do Mar.

Onward to the final stretch.

One more beautiful afternoon of walking by the sea.

The walking with a full belly was a bit challenging, but we were up for it.

I had to rest a bit on the tops of hills.

Soon the little town that was seated by the sea disappeared behind us.

And the blue sky opened up in every direction. The clouds of the morning were long gone.

The last stretch along the sea was beautiful, like every stretch along the sea so far.

We followed these sandy footpaths until we could see Praia de Odeceixe.

The destination for this stage of the trail is Odeceixe, but the Praia de Odeceixe is a few kilometers out from the town.

When you reach the Praia (the beach), you are actually on the wrong side of a river that keeps you from being able to walk straight on to the beach.

The trail twists and turns down to the river, and it’s at this point that we had to say farewell to the sea.

From here, you turn inland and follow the river to Odeceixe.

You walk along the road for at least a couple of miles to get to town. Lots of folks say this bit at the end of the day is not their favorite on this stage, but we didn’t mind it too much.

The sun was out and we were still floating from our delicious seafood lunch by the water.

When we crossed the river and headed into the town, we realized we were the last of our small party of walkers to arrive that day.

Our Dutch friend had arrived at our shared apartment well before us.

And Jan was sitting in the square having drinks and wondering where we were.

We had a quick shower and a rest in our cute apartment. Then we all four went out for a final dinner.

We had such a good time visiting and talking about the walk. I still wasn’t hungry so I ordered a salad and split something with Anna.

The next morning when we woke up, it was cloudy and raining! We couldn’t believe it!

After a quick coffee and breakfast on the square, we caught a bus back to Lisbon from Odeceixe.

We said our fond farewells to Portugal the next morning, but we both said we would be back before too long!

And I meant it! I am heading back to the Fisherman’s Trail this week! I’m going to get a bus to Odeceixe and pick up right where I left off.

This time I will (hopefully) make it all the way to lighthouse at the far southwest corner of Portugal.

I can’t wait to see what is in bloom two months later.  I wonder if the storks have built their nests in the rocks. Also I’ve heard that you can spot dolphins in the springtime. My trusty pack is ready to go and the trail is calling!

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The Fisherman’s Trail

Almogarve to Zambujeira do Mar 22 km/13.6 miles  

You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. 

I woke up on our third day of walking the Rota Vicentina thinking we couldn’t possibly have ANOTHER day as gorgeous as the previous two. It was just unfathomable that both the incredible views and the sunny weather would continue.

But they did!

It’s impossible to chose a highlight, but every day on this trail was as beautiful as the one before and the one after.

Our guest house wasn’t serving breakfast (because I think we were the only ones there), but our host told us where to find breakfast early the next morning.

We had a long day ahead of us, our longest day of the four on the trail, and so we stocked up on snacks at the same little shop where we had coffee and croissants. Everyone in town seemed to be getting their morning coffee and pastry before starting their days.

Fueled and ready, we set out on our journey of passing one beautiful deserted beach after the other.

We waled around the coves, wondering at the rock formations below.

Many of the beaches had tiny little winding trails or even stairs down to the water below. This area is super popular for surfing, but I cannot imagine how hard it would be to tote a surfboard down these little trails.

I’ve included a couple of videos from this day because I think that they manage to capture the grandeur a little more than a photo.

We passed a cove full of fishing boats and saw fishermen getting ready to head out to sea.

There were actually several spots like this on the trail, reminding us that all of the fish we were eating was incredibly fresh.

Soon we were climbing up the sand away from the fishing boats and back up high above the sea.

I love how far you can look back and see where you’ve come from on this trail, as well as where you are headed.

If you walk this trail north to south, you have the sun on your face all morning, which as a winter walk, was such a treat to me, but if you’d rather have the sun on your back, I recommend walking it south to north. It’s clearly marked in both directions.

We were excited this morning because for the first time on the trail, there was a stopping point about halfway through our day with a few cafes and restaurants.

I had wanted to get an early start, and it helped to know we would have a longer rest stop earlier in the day at Cavaleiro before pushing on to Zambujeira do Mar.

But it was a while before we got there. We had a full morning of climbs up and down, maybe the most gains and drops in elevation so far.

But the dramatic drops and climbs are what make for such great views.

We also left the seaside for a while and walked through a small forest, a strangely welcome relief from the sandy trails underfoot.

This entire portion of the trail is in a protected area full of sand dunes. When you walk inland a bit, you get a feel for how vast this protected area is.

The paths show evidence of lots of other walkers, but we only saw a few others. This was the first day we would actually meet some of our fellow walkers.

But when you looked behind or ahead on the trail, usually, we saw no one.

We couldn’t get over the feeling that we seemed to have it all to ourselves. I kept thinking of people I needed to tell about this incredible trail!

As we walked, we were already dreaming of when we could come back.

Before lunch we passed another empty beach cove that had a steep staircase all the way down to the bottom.

It had a deep gorge that cut into the landscape so that we had to wind around it a bit.

Here’s a video of this section of the trail.

When we got to the other side, I walked over to the top of the cove to spot the stairs going down below.

The stairs looked fairly precarious so we didn’t make our way down. Besides, we were so close now to our lunch spot.

Just one more kilometer to Cavaleiro!

At lunch we met two ladies from Germany who were walking north on the trail. Plus we finally introduced ourselves to the only other lone walkers walking south with us. One German man was walking in Portugal on his own for several weeks and then the Dutch gal we met in the hot tub on our first night also joined us for lunch.

We all sat outside in the sun on a patio comparing our days on the trail. We swapped advice with the ladies who were walking south. The happy gathering of six was the most people we had been around since leaving Lisbon.

After coffee and some sandwiches, we said our farewells and headed off to Zambujeira do Mar. Do Mar means of the sea in Portuguese, so we were excited about staying in a town that was right on the water. Plus we had a recommendation for a curry place in town for dinner.

The walk back to the beach was through some sweet little farmhouses. We even saw a few sheep, cows and horses.

With yellow flowers in bloom, you would never know it was January.

We had also started seeing storks on this day, perched on rocks all along the coastline.

Once we saw them, we couldn’t stop looking for them. And there were so many!

I think they migrate away for part of the season but it was so warm that we saw quite a few.

They say that in the spring, there are storks nesting all along the rocks on this part of the trail.

As I looked down to spot storks, I was also so fascinated by how the rock shapes seemed to change right before my eyes as I walked.

A long skinny rock would shift into a round shape when I got to the other side of it.

It was just so, so stunning.

It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, so we passed a few other day walkers out for a stroll on the trail.

Even though this day was long, it was easy to keep going.

The sea views practically carry you forward.

I was so distracted by how beautiful everything was that I wasn’t focused on how long we had been walking.

We stopped once or twice to sit and rest and just watch the storks and seagulls flying.

As we got closer to Zambujeira do Mar, we descended far down from the cliff tops again.

We passed another little fishing outpost, and then just above it, there was a restaurant called O Sacas serving food straight from the sea.

It was super busy. The gorgeous weekend afternoon had drawn folks out for lunch, so we couldn’t squeeze in but we did sit and have a drink at a picnic table just outside. As we watched the plates of food coming out to tables, Anna said she would like to come back for dinner. However, we were still about 3 km from Zambujeira do Mar. I didn’t suspect we would want to walk back.

We decided we would plan to eat there the next time we walked this section, because of course there will be a next time!

After our drinks, the trail carried on down a road for a little bit, and then back out to the sea one more time.

The trail circled around another big cove and beach.

We watched another gorgeous beach come into view. And then it disappeared behind us.

Again and again, this is what you see on this trail. I never got tired of it.

Maybe it was the delight of being out in the sun after the dark, rainy months of November and December in Bristol that made these days so special. But I suspect that I would enjoy walking this trail at just about any time of year. They say it can be unbearably hot in the summertime, so I probably wouldn’t come back then. But spring or fall would also be lovely.

Soon our destination appeared in the distance: Zambujeira do Mar.

The town is almost tucked into the cove by the sea. It was the closest we stayed to the water on our whole trip, and we could even hear the sea when our window was open.

There was a sweet little church right on the main square of Zambujeira do Mar. And then just up the street from the square is where we stayed.

Hostel Nature came highly recommended to us, so I was excited about staying in this sweet hostel run by a local family.

It just has a few rooms, but there is a great common area and kitchen to use. And maybe the highlight is that they have a washer and dryer that is free to use for guests! We were excited about washing our clothes for the first time since arriving in Portugal. In fact it was hard to choose what to keep on because we wanted to wash everything!

After we washed our clothes and went shopping for yogurts and fruit for our breakfast the next day, we went closer to the water to watch the sunset.

Jan, who we had met at lunch was also down watching the sunset and he said he had hoped he would see us there because we had all said at lunch that we would go to have a curry at the place the German ladies had recommended.

So after the gorgeous sunset, we went to find the little restaurant. We all ordered curries that came with freshly baked garlic naan. It tasted so good. It’s amazing how good food tastes after walking all day!

We had a lot of fun visiting with Jan and hearing about the many different trails he has walked. He had the most infections laugh!

I made a few notes about routes to check out later.

After dinner, we said farewell and headed back to our hostel where our Dutch friend had also checked in. She was staying in the common bunk room with two other guys. They were also walking the trail, but we hadn’t seen them before.

Apparently, these two men had gotten into a rather absurd altercation. (One of them hadn’t showered and the other one thought he smelled. So he had told him that he was making the whole room smell bad.) As a result, the atmosphere was a bit awkward and we were feeling very sorry for our new friend. We wished we had an extra bed in our room to offer her. But as a consolation, I offered her the extra bed in the apartment we had rented for the next night. That way she could have one night off from the common bunk rooms.

Anna and I went to bed fairly tickled about the whole evening, which warded off the sadness I might have felt about the next day being our last one. I wasn’t quite ready to leave the Rota Vicentina.

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The Fisherman’s Trail

Vila de Nova Milfontes to Almograve 15.5 km/9.6 miles  

You can find all of the Rota Vicentina posts here. 

After a substantial breakfast at our hostel in Vila de Nova Milfontes, we headed back out onto the coastal trail. We had a shorter day today, under 10 miles to Almograve.

First, we walked inland along the River Mira, away from the sea.

It’s about a 3 kilometer detour inland to cross the bridge and walk back out to the coast, which isn’t too far, but it’s for sure not the most pleasant part of the day. You’re basically walking along a highway.

From the bridge, you can see Vila de Nova Milfontes in the distance. After you cross, you walk through forest and farmland to get back out to the sea.

In the busier season, you can hop on a boat to cross the river and save yourself the detour, which could mean you reach Almograve before lunch and might consider walking a bit further.

But soon enough, we were back by the sea again and headed into the beach dunes.

It was another gorgeous day in the sunshine with spectacular sea views.

We climbed up to the cliffs above the sea again and walked the winding trail that dipped into the land and back out to the sea all morning.

The Fisherman’s Trail is quite well-marked with these blue and green striped markers. Sometimes there are red and yellow markings as well but those are a different part of the Rota Vicentina.

We were more ready with supplies on this day. We’d stopped at the store for snacks and we had extra water, which was good because we didn’t pass any open restaurants or shops all day.

The trail turned inland for a while and took us through a forest.

We also walked alongside some farmland for a stretch.

This day was going to be one of our shortest, but as we turned inland and walked along a farm, somewhere along the way I missed the clear markings and we walked inland much further than we were meant to.

We both had gotten in our groove and were just marching on forward, but in the wrong direction. When I finally realized it, we turned around and of course on the way back we noticed that there was a green and blue X indicating that we were not to go in that direction.

Whoops!

Since I turned our 10 mile day into a 13 mile day, it was a good thing we packed snacks.

We made it back to the sea side and walked along the coast for the rest of the day. This part of the trail had very sandy paths. For a while, Anna took off her shoes and walked barefoot. She said it made it a little easier and we had seen one other man pass us walking north in bare feet. But my ankles are so unsteady that I didn’t risk coming out of my boots.

It was a such beautiful afternoon. Heather was blooming all along this section.

One of the highlights of the Rota Vicentina is the flora on the path, but I didn’t expect there to be flowers in bloom in January.

But I was wrong. We spotted quite a few flowers along the trail.

Of course, for sure there are loads more flowers in the spring, which would be a great time to walk it.

Towards the end of our day, we reached a big wide of expanse of beach. We continued to walk along the cliff above the beach and turned back inland to reach our destination for the day: Almograve.

We were staying in a small guest house and our host’s mother was meant to meet us, but we went first for lunch at a restaurant called Churrasqueira Isa that she recommended that was right behind the guest house.

It was 2:30pm when we sat down to lunch. We ordered the special of the day, a fish called Dourada, which is sea bream. It came whole on the plate with vegetables and it was delicious. We devoured it hungrily.

While we were sitting in the restaurant after lunch, our hostess from the guest house came and found us. She treated us each to a small glass of the traditional Portuguese liqueur made from sour cherries: Ginjinha.

Then we headed off to our room for showers and naps.

We walked back down to the beach to watch the sunset before exploring Almograve’s restaurant scene.

It was another beautiful night. We kept marveling at the views and how we seemed to have them all to ourselves, sharing them with a lone fisherman or two.

We found a small place to eat, Torralta, that just had a chalkboard with what was on offer for the day. The menu was fairly meat-heavy so I explained that I don’t eat meat. I said in very broken Portuguese that I would love a big salad, and maybe some fries. A farmer who was hanging out at the restaurant helped the cook by taking our order and serving us drinks.

When he came back from the kitchen he said that the cook could make us falafel along with our other requests. He told us that she is a great cook and really she can make you whatever you want.

We really had no idea what we ended up ordering but when our food came, it was perfect. The salad was gorgeous and we ate all our fries and falafel along with it. We washed it all down with a couple of Portuguese beers (Sagres) and of course, one more shot of the local liqueur, this one homemade from the cook’s own grape skins.

So far everyone in Portugal was so friendly and welcoming.

We laughed as we fell asleep about my communicating with our impromptu waiter. Between his broken English, my broken Portuguese and a lot of hand motions, we made it work.

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