Walking vacations in Portugal

Portugal walking vacations are a mix of small group tours, where you’ll be walking with up to 16 or so others, and tailor made trips that will have a basic structure but give you plenty of flexibility over your dates, the types of accommodation used, and routes. Some trips are accompanied by guides, others are not but might as well be, given the level of support you receive from maps to comprehensive route notes and daily transfers to trailheads.

You’ll typically be based in one place, making day treks instead of walking point-to-point, but in some regions, certainly Madeira and the Azores, you will change locations every couple of nights allowing for diverse scenery. Accommodation tends to be rural hotels and guesthouses, and if you are moving around then there will be the option to have your luggage transferred between them.

Most of these walking vacations run all year round, especially those in northern Portugal and Sintra, which are usually several degrees cooler than Lisbon and the south. But in the Algarve and neighbouring Alentejo you’ll probably want to avoid July and August, which can be swelteringly hot and full of tourists. Spring and autumn are far more satisfying seasons for walking. The Azores and Madeira of course are a totally different story, with generally mild climates but unpredictable weather.