The Fishermen’s Trail, Southwest Portugal - Day 5 - Odeceixe to Aljezur

The Fishermen’s Trail, Southwest Portugal - Day 5 - Odeceixe to Aljezur

This was to be a very exciting day. For the remaining 5 days of our walk to Cabo Sao Vicente, we were being joined by 9 friends from England-known as the Friday walking club. We were concerned as we had had such a fabulous walk so far, that they might be disappointed with their walk. Only time would tell. We were also concerned as the walk in our book went inland from this point onwards. Fortunately, they had a different book and map-that they had previously bought in Portugal. We had arranged to meet them at 9.15am by the ocean at Odeceixe beach. They had flown in to Faro airport, stayed the night in Lagos, before catching a minibus taxi to Odeceixe. There are many signs all round the village of Odeceixe either for the coastal walk, or inland following the waterways to Rogil. After a fabulous buffet breakfast, we left at 8.15am having seen at least 15 walkers leaving at 7.30am. We opted for the coastal route following the road out of the village, we passed some lovely sculptures, before turning right at an obvious sign, across the fields on the flood plain. The path then returns to the quiet road (8.25am), we arrived at the meeting place by the beach at 8.45am. All the cafes were shut, but there are free public toilets by the beach. In hindsight we would have stayed at Odeceixe beach the previous night, arriving there either by wading across the river, or by following the road we took to Odeceixe and then walking along the road back to the ocean. This would have made this days’ walk of 13.5 miles, 1.5 miles shorter. Our friends arrived on time, it is always very exciting about meeting up with friends abroad. Our group of 11 left fairly promptly following the coastal path, after an hour (10.15am) we turned left inland by a camper van car park, went down a road, then taking a track to the right, before returning to a cliff path once more. (4 miles). We followed the sandy path passing Praia da Quebrada, before heading inland, then finally down a road to Rogil (12.15am). The first cafe was closed, but we were allowed to eat our sandwiches in their beautiful shady garden. The town of Rogil is spread out along a main road, with a Spar shop, various cafes and an ATM machine. After stopping for coffee, we realised we had missed the sign to the right, so back tracked to take the route towards the sea out of town. We followed various tracks, then passed a camping ground at 2.45pm, before a steep ravine. We arrived in the pretty little town of Aljezur at 3.30pm. As we crossed the bridge, we saw turtles and fish trying to survive in the dried up river below-so sad. Centuries ago, the river used to be navigable to this point from the sea. The walk information boards are by the bridge. We stayed at Vicentina Hotel, and enjoyed a few hours relaxing in the hotel pool. We ate a delicious dinner at the nearby Pont a Pe restaurant, with lovely food and great service, having booked it in advance.

The views during the first half of the day were superb and did not disappoint our friends. It is a lovely to have so many like-minded friends, who follow their dreams.

Distance 15 Miles (24km)

Duration of Walk 7.3 Hours

Average Pace 30 Min/Mile

Steps 44396

Elevation Gained 841 feet (256m)

Websites used

bookings.com Vicentina Hotel https://www.pontape.pt/en/home/ Restaurant booked in advance