Walking & Hiking

Walking & Hiking

With year-round sunny weather, compact geography and friendly people, the Algarve is a wonderful place to walk or hike.

It is also filled with beautiful, contrasting, and varied landscapes. There are many different types of landscapes within the Algarve – Mediterranean scrub forest, oak woods, and riverine woodlands predominate in the upland areas, whereas karstic landscapes and rainfed orchards cover the Barrocal (the area between the coast and the hilly countryside to the north).

The coast is bordered by cliffs, enclosed beaches, and sandy coves in the west, and by dunes, lagoons, and wide beaches in the east. The Algarve is also very rich in animal life, particularly birds. The region’s many wetlands, especially its estuaries, reed beds and ‘rias’ – like Ria Formosa and Ria de Alvor – play a vital role for fauna, as they provide food and shelter for important invertebrate, fish, and bird communities. They serve both as wintering and breeding grounds, as well as stopovers during the annual migrations.

Protected areas in the Algarve include the spectacular Vicentine Coast, the placid Ria Formosa Natural Park, the Castro Marim Nature Reserve, as well as Rocha da Pena and the Fonte da Benémola Protected Landscape. In fact, approximately 40 per cent of the total area of the Algarve enjoys conservation status.