It's a Gavination

The Rota Vicentina is a 750-km network of trails – we walked the Historical Way and Fishermen’s Trail portions for a total of 121 miles. We started on April 20th, 2023, and traveled north to south along the southwestern coastline of Portugal’s Alentejo region and Vicentina coast for ten days, finishing in Cabo Sao Vicente, Europe’s most south-westerly point. Having left the planning for the trip to the last minute, we hired Mac Adventures to organize accommodations and luggage transfers for us. They came recommended to us by other walkers in Scotland, and they have an office in Denver, Colorado, which made it convenient for us.

Day	Walk from village to village	Miles	Accommodations
1	Porto Covoe to Vila Nova de Milfontes	12	Casa da Eira
2	Vila Nova de Milfontes to Almograve	14.5	Vicentina Rooms by Isa
3	Almograve to Zambujeira	14.5	Azul B&B
4	Zambujeira to Odeceixe	11.4	Casa Hospedes Celeste
5	Odeceixe to Aljezur	14	Vicentina Hotel
6	Aljezur to Arrifana	11	Arrifana Destination Boutique Hotel
7	Arrifana to Carrapateira	14	Hortas do Rio
8	Rest day in Carrapateira	0	Hortas do Rio
9	Pedralva to Vila do Bispo	12	Pure Fonte Velha
10	Vila do Bispo to Cabo de São Vicente	9	Mareta View

We were a bit nervous about our first day’s walk of 12 miles as it was mostly on the sand and without shade. Just coming out of winter at home, the daytime temperatures were in the 50s, and we were jumping firmly into the mid-80s and 90s in Portugal. I acclimatized to the heat more slowly than Sean and was more affected by the heat, humidity, and lack of shade. But our first day was beautiful, not too punishing, and we finished just before a rain storm, which allowed for a lazy afternoon in an amazing BnB. They even made us a dinner reservation at Ritual, which was the best meal and gin of our entire trip!

Far and away, our fondest memory from this walk was meeting an enchanting Brazilian couple, Beatriz and Carlos, who live in Lisbon. We met them on the fourth day of our walk as we walked inland to Odeceixe; we noticed them taking an alternative trail that wasn’t on our map. It looked as though they were taking a shortcut through private property, so we didn’t follow them, but we ended up catching up with them just before town. We hit it off immediately and walked the next couple of days together until our itineraries split. We enjoyed so many laughs on the trail and over meals and gin tonics! We were destined to see each other again–and we did just that as they hosted us in Lisbon on our last night in Portugal. And we are planning to do another walk with them very soon!

After a rest day in Carrapateria, our day started with a short cab ride to the sleepy village of Pedralva. From there, the route meandered gently through the countryside and a wind farm before descending to the coast and the remote sandy beach at Praia da Barriga. Then, after a short climb back inland, we ended the day in Vila do Bispo. On our last day of walking, we hugged the coast as long as possible before reaching the most south-western point of mainland Europe, Cabo Sao Vicente.

Overall, this walk was less physically challenging than our previous walking holiday, the West Highland Way. This portion of the Portuguese coast is stunning, filled with charming small fishing villages, lovely welcoming people, and great food and culture. We very much enjoyed our time and hope to visit again in the future.

After the walk, we treated ourselves to a few days at the Memmo Baleeira Resort in the small town of Sagres. It was, after all, Sean’s birthday, and nothing says birthday like breakfast cake and champagne! And we still had a stay with our new friends in Lisbon to look forward to!