The Fishermen’s Trail, Southwest Portugal - Day 2 - Vila Nova de Milfontes to Almograve

The Fishermen’s Trail, Southwest Portugal - Day 2 - Vila Nova de Milfontes to Almograve

To leave Vila Nova de Milfontes, there is a choice of routes. Firstly, to catch the boat, the service starting at 9am over the river to Furnas at €5.00 each and saves 75 minutes on the alternative option, or to walk through the town and go over the road bridge. We decided to take the bridge option as reading about it online, we would have views over the river for longer and as it is a relatively short day of 10 miles, we would have time. Also, our hotel was on street Rua Custodio Bras Pacheco that leads to the bridge built in 1974 over the Rio Mira. We packed and stopped for breakfast at Café Companhia,-which is a lovely bakery and restaurant,-and not too expensive. We left at 8.25am, 10 minutes later we turned right at a roundabout, before going over the bridge at 8.45am. The views up and down the river were tremendous, and we could watch the shoals of fish in the water. Following the road uphill for 200m, there is a sign on a lamppost on the right-hand side of the road-FO 430 in very faint green and blue lines. Don't go up the path to the right here, but follow the path at the side of the road for another 200m. We then turned right by the arrow, passing through a gate with a sign saying-mind the cattle. (9.05am). We walked through empty fields, passing a disused building with an amazing mural. Turning left down a lane at 9.30am, in time to see the boat arrive. We were very pleased that we had chosen our route, with amazing views over the river estuary and the town of Vila Nova. We had planned coffee in either of the 2 cafes found here, but they were both closed-maybe we were too early. (3 miles covered).

We turned left up the lane, then right at fields following the signs, arriving at the cliff top at 10.15am (3.7 miles done). There are signs saying “walk only along the marked trails-unstable cliffs danger of falling!!!”. The walk continues along the back of the cliffs through tunnels of vegetation, with a couple of footbridges before emerging onto the coast once more. (6 miles done). At 11.25am we passed a sign 3.5km to Almograve.

There follows the most spectacular part of the day, we went down newish steps onto a fabulous beach of Brejo Largo. We took our time here, removing our boots for a paddle, the water feeling a bit too chilly for a swim. Funny it did seem harder work walking along the beach without boots on, than with them. We sat and ate our tuna sandwiches in the shade. There is a very steep path down the cliffs with a rope to aid passage and a bit later on another path which we took back up. A rope has been secured where a stream goes down the cliff, the gradient is not too steep just slippery underfoot, before we emerged onto the cliff top once more(12.45pm). It suddenly felt very hot, after being on the beach with a lovely breeze. The track is well signed posted, but with more tough walking through soft sand. The town of Almograve comes into view on top of the cliffs, and at another large beach we turned left. The track becomes a stony road, we stopped to empty a lot of sand from our boots. We turned right at a sign saying 500m to town, arriving at 1.20pm.

This was a comparatively short day. It was nice to arrive though and have a drink out of the sunshine. Alternatively, we could have stayed longer on the beach and even gone for a swim. We stayed in the youth hostel. Check-in was meant to be from 6pm, but we left the bags at 2pm and picked up the room key at 3pm. We managed to arrange breakfast at 7.30am instead of 8.30am as advertised. We ate dinner at Mar Azul restaurant, with Nepali/Indian food, it was very popular with other walkers too. Almograve is a small village with 2 small shops, with not much to buy and a couple of restaurants. Distance 10.2 Miles (16km)

Duration of Walk 5.45 Hours

Average Pace 33 Min/Mile

Steps 32592

Elevation Gained 684 feet (208m)

Websites used

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g11779831-d2332148-Reviews-Pousada_de_Juventude_de_Almograve-Almograve_Beja_District_Alentejo.html

https://www.facebook.com/marazulalmograve restaurant