🔗 Share this article

I rarely object to doing the same walk again and again,” commented our guide, crouching next to a patch of blossoms. “Every visit, you’ll find fresh discoveries – these weren’t here the day before.”

Standing on stems at least a couple of centimeters in height and adorning the soil with pale blossoms, the reality that these star of Bethlehem flowers emerged suddenly was a remarkable demonstration of how swiftly life can regenerate in this rolling, interior section of the Algarve, the public forest of Barão de São João.

It was also encouraging to learn that in an region affected by forest fires in September, varieties such as strawberry trees – which are less flammable due to their minimal resin – were commencing to recover, alongside highly flammable eucalyptus, which hinders other fire-resistant trees such as oak. Local helpers were being gathered to assist with rewilding.

Visitor Numbers and Upland Attraction

Travel figures to the Algarve are rising, with 2024 recording an increase of 2.6% on the last year – but the majority guests head straight for the seaside, despite there being far more to discover.

The beachfront is definitely untamed and dramatic, but the area is also keen to showcase the appeal of its upland zones. With the creation of throughout the year hiking and mountain biking trails, along with the launch of outdoor events, focus is being drawn to these equally engaging vistas, including peaks and thick wooded areas.

The Algarve Walking Season hosts a program of several guided walk programs with general topics such as “water” and “archaeology” between November and the end of winter. It’s expected they will motivate explorers year round, strengthening the area’s finances and contributing to slow the exodus of young people leaving in quest of opportunities.

Creativity and Wilderness Combine

The trip to the national forest fell during a weekend festival with the theme of “art”, centered on the traditional hamlet north-west of Barão de São João.

In addition to guided hikes, starting at the cultural centre, free events extended from mastering how to make organic pigments, to theatre workshops, meditative movement and artistic rendering. There were a couple of photography exhibitions on show plus a number of other family-oriented activities, such as botanical explorations and making wildlife feeders.

Prior to our informal daytime printmaking workshop at the community space, our walk into the woodland with Joana had the vibe of an art trail. Marked at the start by standing stones adorned with representations of rural workers, it was studded throughout the path with more modest, permanently placed stones illustrating examples of fauna, featuring spiny creatures and lynxes – the lynx’s population reviving, thanks to a rescue facility situated in the historic town of Silves.

Picturesque Routes and Outdoor Splendor

As the trail ascended to its highest point, the menhir (standing stone) on the Pedra do Galo walk, it became more thickly wooded with the piney aroma of pine. There was a richness to the air and hard, honey-toned bubbles swelled from bark. Chalky rock sparkled beneath our feet and minute frogs sat by pool margins, throats pulsing. In the background, energy generators spun against the sky.

Francisco Simões, the tour leader the following day, was again enthusiastic to point out that these inland areas can be explored throughout the year. Waymarked hikes, created in recent years, are extensions of the Via Algarviana, a path that extends from the Spanish boundary for a significant distance, the entire route to the coast, and several are now tied to an app that makes wayfinding more straightforward.

Ecotourism and Artistic Opportunities

Francisco set up nature tour operator Algarvian Roots in a few years ago and organizes experiences from avian observation to day-long led walks, all with the same aims as the AWS: to promote the region by way of immersion, education and local understanding.

The creative link is evident, as well – his family member, ceramicist Margarida Palma Gomes, had taught us to design azulejos, the distinctive cerulean and ivory ceramic tiles seen across the land, previously on a event class. Tours to her atelier, as well as to a local potter, can further be organized through Algarvian Roots.

Francisco encouraged us to play our part for the industry by consuming generous quantities of good wine sealed with cork

Following an delicious dining experience of meat dish and greens in A Charrette in Monchique, a quaint mountain town nestled between the Algarve’s tallest mountains, the 902-meter Fóia and 774-meter Picota, Francisco led us down sharply historic roads and into a side lane, where an senior duo basked outdoors at the doorstep of their house.

A steep track guided us into the woodland, the earth covered in oak nuts. Here, Francisco was eager to introduce us to oak trees, Portugal’s symbolic plant and conserved under regulation since the medieval period. Besides are they naturally flame-retardant, but their malleable bark is a origin of livelihood for inhabitants, who collect it to trade to other {industries|sectors