Alentejo

You must stop in Évora, the city of many stories, with so much to see.  Taste the fabulous wines in Redondo and then go on to  to Granja/Amareleja, Moura, Reguengos de Monsaraz, Vidigueira, municipalities  that are also on  the Wine Routes.

Follow the Fresco Routes throughout Viana do Alentejo, Alvito, and Cuba. Take a  journey from the 15th  to the 19th century, with  murals painted in chapels, small chapels and churches. Make a detour to Beja and meet the "Queen of the Plain” and its surprising heritage. On this route,discover  typical choirs, singing modas of melancholy, loneliness, love and  rural work.

A few kilometres away, and closer to the sea, between the Atlantic Ocean and the Sado Estuary, an 18-hole golf course is waiting for you at the Tróia Resort.

If you prefer a more relaxing time , enjoy the Galeão do Sal, a traditional vessel of the river Sado that will take you on an amazing  trip  through the Natural Reserve of the Sado Estuary to  the beautiful antique wooden  pier of Carrasqueira, during which you can watch  dolphins and  see the heritage of the area, as you pass  by  Roman and Phoenician remains.

A refuge for two goes with Alentejo

Wake up in an Alentejo monte (traditional farm) , at a hotel or a Pousada. Surrounded by rural landscape, you are guaranteed not to miss a thing.

Here, the natural heritage has long been combined with design and modernity, with  a wide range of activities on offer , to enjoy quietly  one minute at a time. Since there is no rush, you can go for a horse ride, or a charrete (carriage) ride  in the morning or late in the afternoon.

If you feel like breathing the healthy mountain air, go to Marvão. Known as Ninho das Águias (Eagles’ Nest), this small, walled, fortress  town dates from the 9th century and rises up 862 metres,  in the middle of the Natural Park of Serra de São Mamede, where you can  enjoy nature in all its splendour, among the  pine and olive trees.

And, because the Alentejo is more than just breathtaking landscapes, the Adega Mayor (winery), near Campo Maior, designed by the famous architect Siza Vieira (awarded with the Pritzker Prize in 1992), is a must-see. Here you can  visit the facilities and taste the best wines in the region.

Another cultural suggestion not to be  missed is the Museum of Contemporary Art in Elvas. A journey through contemporary Portuguese art, from the 80s until today, showing painting, photography and sculpture and installations which never fail to surprise.

Not far from the museum, it is worth taking a boat trip on the Alqueva . But if you prefer to take your date closer to the sky, choose a balloon ride  over the immense landscape of Alentejo, and enjoy the intense silence.

Come back to  earth and stop off at  Serpa to see the unusual architectural setting  created by the castle, defensive walls, and aqueduct, which has been declared a National Monument.

Then head for Mértola, enjoy the river beach and visit the impressive S. Domingos Mines. Now  as you pass  on towards more salty waters, take the opportunity  to enjoy the view and fragrance  of the rockroses of Pico do Mú, in the Mountain range of Caldeirão, near Almodôvar.

Dine near the ocean, and enjoy  fresh fish with  white wine, or taste the fusion of traditional flavours and the increasingly  sophisticated cuisine d’auteur.

Adventure goes with the Alentejo

In these plains, crossed  by beautiful creeks,  sea and fields that fill our soul with journeys and experiences, camping or staying in one of the whitewashed montes, near the plain, in the mountain ranges or near the ocean, are all good ways to enjoy the real Alentejo.

Here, you can discover  lilac fields, watch  unique birds and find  landscapes that you will never forget, whether in the heart of  the plains, on top of a cliff, in the cork oak woodland or near the ocean.

Between the mountain ranges and  the sea, among  reservoirs, rivers and seemingly endless fields, grab your binoculars in the morning and see  another Alentejo – a great  area for birdwatching all year round, in the valleys and river estuaries.

Castro Verde, Mértola, Barrancos, Mourão, and the Lagoons of Sto. André and Sancha, or Caia are important  for birdwatching.

In October, not very far away in Marvão, not to be missed  is the Al Mossassa Festival, which celebrates the  foundation of the town by recreating an Arab market, Arab handicrafts , gastronomy, music and theatre. If you want  to enjoy nature, adventure  along pedestrian and mountain bike paths , over hills, valleys and creeks.

The Park of S. Mamede is the highest location in the Alentejo, with an altitude of 1,025 meters. Go through its 56,000 hectares by following the five routes indicated  on the terrain.

The surrounding reservoirs, Caia, Montargil, Maranhão, Divor, are other great ways of exploring nature and practising sports like water skiing, rowing, sailing, canoeing or simply swimming.

In Cabeço de Vide, swop  water for air and fly on a balloon to Évora. If you are still not satisfied, at  the Évora  aerodrome  you can  try a parachute jump from 3,000 feet  over the city. If you don’t like flying,  pass by Elvas  and enjoy a pleasant cultural moment in the Museum of Contemporary Art, where part of the António Cachola collection is exhibited, with over three hundred Portuguese contemporary works of art.

Following the line of the Alqueva, you  arrive in Barrancos where you should visit the Noudar Nature Park. At  the end of the afternoon, when warm colours paint the skies, watch the sunset or try paragliding or hang gliding, taking off from the top of the coastline cliffs or inland mountains.

For those who love to spend the early evening by the sea, there are plenty of  beaches to discover from Zambujeira do Mar to Tróia. In early August, the Festival do Sudoeste  in Zambujeira do Mar, and  at the end of July, the Músicas do Mundo Festival (World Music) in Sines will delight music lovers who cannot bear a  summer away without  the sea. For surf lovers, the São Torpes beach is a great spot for surfing.

The Alentejan Coast

Discovering this part of the Alentejo, open to the sea, is always fascinating. From the marshes bordering the Sado estuary, there stretches an immense coastline which, from the Point of Troia to the cape of Sines, takes the form of uninterrupted beach. In the interior, where the exuberant greenery of the hills of Serra de Grândola stands out, the cork-oak montado (woodland and pasture) lives alongside blankets of pinewoods, the rivers are retained as beautiful reservoirs and the abundance of water provides for extensive rice fields. Suddenly, the landscape changes.

To the south of Sines, the most capricious fantasies of geological time have made the sea and the wind their gouges and chisels, carving out cliffs, contorting blocks of schist, creating cordons of dunes bordering the beaches, making and unmaking the beaches in small and secret coves, defining new contours for the vegetation, tempering the coastal plane, providing food for the algae, fish, reptiles, birds and rare mammals to live on …

It is a museum throbbing with history and with natural life and merits the classification of three Protected Areas: the Nature Reserve of the Sado Estuary, the Nature Reserve of the Lakes of Santo André and Sancha and the Natural Park of Southwest Alentejo and the Vicentina Coast.

Organised Excursions

The excursions organised by local enterprises include on-shore programmes that are similar to those found throughout the Alentejo – on foot, by mountain bike, by 4x4 and on horseback – as well as a number of activities on rivers and on the sea, as you would expect from a coastal area: trips on the Galeões do Sal ("salt galleons”) on the River Sado, observing dolphins and flamingos, boat and canoe trips on the River Mira, sea-fishing trips by boat, maritime cruises, diving (courses, "baptisms”, open water, underwater hunting), surfing, windsurfing, kitesurfing and bodyboarding. Some of these enterprises rent out mountain bikes, motorboats, canoes and kayaks.

Travelling Independently

We offer here some suggestions organised into two geographical areas.

Depending whether you are travelling by car, by bicycle or on foot, the trips we propose should be made in well-defined stages in relation to the support that exists.

If you are travelling by bicycle, take into account that, on the coastal cliffs, the tracks are very sandy: opt for secondary roads or for well-compacted dirt roads.

From the Sado Estuary to the Cape of Sines

We begin at Alcácer do Sal, the Salatia of the Romans which, for those arriving from Lisbon by the A2, is a beautiful portal through which to enter the Alentejan coastal area.

It welcomes us right here on the edge of the Sado, with seafood and candied pine-nut kernels and a Historical Centre that winds up between the river and the castle.

After gazing at the panoramic views over the river, take a trip on a Galeão do Sal, a traditional sailing boat, in search of dolphins and flamingos.

Before heading off for the coast, those interested in traditional rural architecture would get pleasure from visiting Santa Susana, a village with typically Alentejan rows of low, whitewashed houses.

Bordering the river, towards the mouth, it is important to visit the Porto Palafítico (palaphytic – elevated on stilts) da Carrasqueira, a curious fishing port with a labyrinthine system of piers constructed on props sunk into the mud. Good views over the marshes.

Heading off to Comporta, land of rice fields, you should make a detour to the Tróia Peninsula, a zone of major tourism complexes, and contemplate the panoramic view over the Serra da Arrábida. The beaches are much sought after by windsurfers.

It is on this peninsula that the extensive beach, called the Costa da Galé, begins and continues unbroken to the Cape of Sines. It is an area with excellent conditions for windsurfing and body-boarding, as the adept practitioners always to be found on the beaches of Comporta and Carvalhal bear witness.

Nor should you miss the welcoming and protected beaches of Pinheirinho, Galé and Aberta Nova, enclosed by beautiful cliffs

If you feel the call of the interior and are a lover of long walks, you have many possibilities between Grândola, Santiago do Cacém and Lagoa de Santo André. Obtain information from the respective Tourist Offices about the PR (walking routes) and GR (accommodation guides) of this area and at least do PR1, "Rota da Serra” (17 kms, starting and finishing in Grândola).

From Lagoa de Santo André, where you will find good tourist accommodation and many natural beauties to explore, don’t miss taking a look at the fantastic dunes of Praia do Monte Velho.

There is an excursion of great environmental interest starting from this beach: "Poços da Barbaroxa” (4kms, low level of difficulty). It is advisable to be accompanied by a guide.

Booking can be done through the Centro de Interpretação do Monte do Paio, a space providing reception for and information about the Natural Park, with a permanent exhibition about the natural heritage of this Protected Area.  

From this centre there is the signposted "Percurso da Casa do Peixe” (4kms, low level of difficulty), which can be done without a guide. Don’t do the walk between December and April as stretches of the lake can spread.

As far as Lagoa da Sancha is concerned, it is practically a secret place. Discover it!

Before the Cape of Sines, if you like contemplating rough sea, you should make a detour to Praia do Norte.

The agitation of the water and the dangerous depths advise against bathing, but there are rich shoals of fish in the submarine caves, which attract divers and hunters.

To do the beach again, it is necessary to go round the Cape.

From Cabo de Sines to Porto de Azenha do Mar

Sines, land of Vasco da Gama. Without rush, go into this ancient fishing port, travel through the mediaeval streets of its Historical Centre and visit the heart of its heritage.

And, of course, enjoy being next to the sea in a land of fishermen and call to mind the taste of fresh fish that has just been caught. Here and in all places on the Alentejan coast is where you will find tascas (small taverns) and small restaurants, close to the beaches and fishing ports.

It is to the south of Sines that we find the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina, with its small beaches surrounded by schist escarpments.

The signposted access normally indicates beaches with some kind of support: parking, lifeguards, bars and restaurants.

Followers of Nature Tourism who wish to extend their exploration will not feel cheated: almost all of the cliffs can be traversed on foot along the fishermen’s tracks.

Among the beaches for families, we would advise, in the Sines area, Morgavel, Vale de Figueiros (Figueirinha), the Praia Grande de Porto Covo and that of the Ilha do Pessegueiro, close to the fort. S. Torpes is the preferred beach for windsurfers and kitesurfers.

If you seek the intimacy of small beaches, you have various options among the so-called "Prainhas” ("little beaches”) of Porto Covo such as Vieirinha, Oliveirinha or Samouqueira.

Not all have lifeguards and sometimes access is complicated. What is guaranteed is beauty, quiet and privacy. Among them, Praia do Salto has been, since 2002, part of the restricted group of naturist beaches officially recognised in Portugal.

In Porto Covo, you must visit its small square, the Largo Marquês de Pombal, considered one of the jewels of popular Portuguese architecture.

Inspired by the Pombal model in Lisbon, it is an enchanting "waiting room”, where you can sit on the terraces and pick at a petisco (snack) and enjoy a refreshing drink in the company of these beautiful rows of houses, 18th century in their outline.

Continuing south, we reach the zone of Vila Nova de Milfontes, first with the beach of Malhão and then with the Portinho do Canal.

In the town, it is enough just to follow the movement to find the beaches of Franquia, Farol and Furnas. In this area, the conditions for sports fishing and for diving are good.

The River Mira, which here discharges its waters into a lovely estuary, can be navigated by canoe or motorboat as far as Odemira. It is a trip that is well worth making.

Some kilometres further on you will find the Praia do Almograve, considered one of the most beautiful in the south west of the Alentejo. It has excellent support facilities and good conditions for surfing and bodyboarding. In the town, a walking excursion is signposted: PR1, "Lapa de Pombas” (8.9kms, low level of difficulty, duration approximately 3½ hours).

Setting out from the centre of Almograve, it proposes a walk to Porto da Lapa de Pombas and back, passing by the beautiful cliffs of the beaches of Almograve and Brejo Largoa and returning to the town through the cultivated fields of the interior.

The theme could not be more appropriate: the formations of dunes and rocks, which speak to us of a history of more than 300 million years.

The beauty of this coast deserves time for contemplation and we are close to one of the most fantastic viewing points: Cabo Sardão.

For birdwatchers it also has another objective: this is the only place in the world where the White Stork nests on sea cliffs.

Go and visit it now and, from there, even if you are not adept at long walks, stroll a little along the cliff top. It is a dazzling experience and, if you wish, you can go from here on foot or by mountain bike to Zambujeira do Mar.

If you would like to take a rest from beaches and breathe the air of the countryside and of the hills, you are in an excellent place from which to make a detour to Odemira, a white town which hangs in a cascade over the River Mira.

From Odemira or Vila Nova de Milfontes there are two more walking excursions you can do: PR2, "S. Domingos” (starting in the village of S. Luís, 8.1 kms, medium difficulty), which pursues the themes of traditional architecture and the flora and fauna of the Serra; and PR3, "Troviscais” (starts in the village of Troviscais, 13.5 kms, medium difficulty), which leads us to the discovery of the River Mira and the montado (oak woodland and pasture) of the region.

Returning again to the coast, the next destination is Zambujeira do Mar. As well as the beach next to the town, with good facilities and good surfing and bodyboarding, there are others to discover, to the north and to the south.

To the north, make sure you take a look at Praia de Nossa Senhora. In the area of the fishing port of Entrada da Barca, next to Touril, where you can eat good fresh fish, you will find well-trodden paths over the cliff which reveal, a long way below, small hidden beaches. If you are not an adventurous type, it is advisable to be content with simply taking a look at them.

To the south, it is scarcely 500 metres to Praia dos Alteirinhos, classified in 2008 as a naturist beach. It is large, beautiful, rich in fish and access requires some effort: the descent and the ascent together make up 300 steps!

If you are travelling with a family and want to make use of a beach, there are good sands at Praia do Carvalhal, with easy access from Brejão. From this village leads the road to the fishing port of Azenha do Mar, in the extreme south west of the Alentejo.

For more informarion: http://www.visitalentejo.pt/en/alentejo/see/