After walking in the hills of the Algarve for some 16 years, I judged that the time was right for me to try to set some of my routes down for others (hopefully) to follow and enjoy. I have spent much of my walking time in the company of friends in the group known as the Algarve Wednesday Walkers, founded by Maurice Clyde in 1996. I wish to pay tribute to him and to the other long-time members of the group for opening my eyes to the splendid walking opportunities afforded by this beautiful and still undervalued region of Portugal, where golf and beaches are often seen as the only attractions.

The majority of the walks are routes that I have planned and walked myself, and I have led the AWW group over nearly all of them at different times. The majority are concentrated in the east-central part of the region, this being the area with which I am most familiar, close to where I live. They mostly fall into the category of 'moderately difficult', with distances between 13 and 24 kilometres and including at times some fairly demanding ascents. (The definitions of difficulty amongst walkers vary widely, of course, and my 'difficult' will be impossible for some and a cake-walk for others, so you need to look at the detail.)

Disclaimer.

 While I have made every effort to ensure that the details in this website are as accurate as possible, I cannot take any responsibility for accident or injury sustained while using the data. Nor can I be held responsible for changes in the landscape resulting from man-made or natural occurrences. If you require up to date information before setting out, please contact me, though I cannot guarantee to give an instant, totally accurate opinion on the state of any given route.

Each walk is described in detail, with every change of direction noted. Total distances and GPS coordinates have been calculated by measurement on Google Earth. In addition, I have created a set of GPS points for each walk. These are listed at the end of the walk description, and corresponding numbers are inserted in the text. Distances between the GPS points are recorded alongside the coordinates. 

I have also included distances along the way at frequent intervals, to assist confidence and route-finding. It is also possible, of course, to estimate distance by reference to the Google photo.

Directions are indicated where appropriate by compass sectors, though not to a fine degree. Each walk description includes a Google Earth image showing the route, with GPS points marked on it. 

Note: I) have discovered to my disappointment that the more recent versions of Google Earth no longer allow the user to draw lines on the images to describe routes. You can still identify points, but when joined up, these do not adhere to the roads or tracks between them. I still have my old version, which continues to work (May 2020).