Eco Walks

Nature and Adventure

Hiking signifies a return to our roots, to an original form of life and to our innate speed. Hiking keeps you fit. On a visit to Monchique, you should combine a hike with a traditional lunch.

There are several footpaths leading up to the 776-metre-high Picota, the second highest peak in the Algarve uplands. Some of them are waymarked and most climb slowly up the south side to the top along small, narrow, usually surfaced tracks from Caldas de Monchique via Quinta das Hortênsias and Esgravatadouro. On Wednesday mornings, ECO123 will show you the nicest, but unsurfaced path, the old farm and mule track. Depending on how fit you are, the hike takes between two and three hours.

The meeting point is at the Hotel Central in Caldas at 9.00. At the Fonte de Amores spring, we fill up our water bottles. Then we start climbing up through the wood comprising stone pines, eucalyptus and cork oaks. You will see varied vegetation that can be best appreciated with all the senses outside the hot summer period. In the autumn, you can witness the olive and medronho harvest, and in the spring nature blossoms in Monchique with the scents of rosemary, lavender and cistus.

You climb up to Picota for about seven kilometres along mountain streams, and gaining 512 metres in height. From the top when the weather is fine, there is an all-round panorama over the Atlantic to the south, to the southwest cape, to Faro in the east and into the Monchique hills to the north and the west. You can see the white village below, and that is your goal: Monchique.

The descent takes about an hour. In the spring, you walk past centuries-old cork oaks where camellias are in bloom. Here and there, springs rise from the hilly land. Once in Monchique, you can visit local craftspeople and the medronho brandy and honey shops of the local farmers. Traditional dishes are on offer at the various good local restaurants.

With the local Frota Azul bus, the group later makes their way back to Caldas de Monchique, where the hike began.

See here the map of Monchique

Next Via Algarviana

April 2016. More information: www.via-algarviana.com

Alcoutim » Balurcos de Baixo » Furnazinhas » Vaqueiros/Ferrarias » Cachopo/Feiteira » Cortelha/Salir » Alte » Silves » Caldas de Monchique » Picota/Marmelete » Barão São João » Vila do Bispo » Cabo São Vicente

On Thursday, 20 November, at 10am: Reforestation in Cachopo