Walk Eighty Four. Vila do Bispo - Praia da Barriga Circular.  13k. Ascent: 350m

GPS: 37/8  05.00.12   54.49.82

 The small town of Vila do Bispo is one of the most westerly in the Algarve, siutated just off the modern N125 road, on the way from Lagos to Sagres. The origins of the name are  a little obscure, but there are references to it, and its ecclesiastical connections, going back to the 14th century. Today it is a quiet little place, but is nevertheless the headquarters of the Camara of the same name. It provides a jumping off spot for a number of the most spectacular beaches along the south-west coast, including the ones covered in this walk. It has a number of places of refreshment, as do the beaches visited, although the only one operating in the winter is at Praia de Castelejo. There are two extensions/alternatives to the main walk, see these after the main walk description.

Important Note: You will need to take careful note of the tide times for this walk, to avoid being cut off. Leaving Vila do Bispo around an hour after high tide is probably ideal, but you can stretch it a bit. 

Getting to Vila do Bispo.

One of the easier start-points to access. Use the A22 motorway as far as the Lagos/Vila do Bispo exit, and drive towards Lagos. At the roundabout at the end of the motorway access road, turn right along the N125, and drive around 20k to Vila do Bispo. Turn off here and at the end of the slip road, turn left. Go through the next junction, and at the roundabout turn right. Follow this road to a T junction and turn left. Park at or near the cafe on the right where the road divides. This is the start-point of the walk.

The Walk.

There is quite a lot of (quiet) tarmac on this walk,. but the beach walk makes up for it. With your back to the cafe, (1) turn right and walk up and along the road for 500m, turning left at the junction. (2). Continue for a further 1k. See a concrete electricity pylon on the right with a red and white Via Algarviana waymark. (3) Turn right off the road here, following a dirt track in a right-hand curve, to join a wider dirt toad after a short distance. Turn right, and after a few metres turn very sharp left to walk round a wide right-hand curve, with farm buildings over to the right. Turn northwards with the track, descending gently,walk past one cross-tracks and at a fork after just over 900m, take the right hand, then stay straight on at a junction after a few metres.(4)

Now climb gently over the next 850m to reach a tarmac road. Turn left and after a few metres veer left at a fork (5) to walk for something over 1k downhill to Praia de Castelejo. Refresh yourself at the cafe if you will, then descend to the beach and turn right. Now walk for just over 2.5k along the beach. Walking close to the sea is exhilarating, but keeping close to the cliffs enables you to see in detail the fantastic contortions in the shale caused by millennia of earth movements. Halfway along the beach walk there is a short cut (or an escape route if the tide threatens) at Praia de Cordoama, where you can find a road to take you back up the cliff.

At the end of the beach, turn right at Praia da Barriga, and curve round to the right. At a fork, (6) take the right hand, and follow the surfaced road uphill and then on level ground for a little under 3k. Arrive at a main road and turn right along it. (7). Walk for just under 600m, and come to a prominent track on the left, at an acute angle to the road. (8) Turn off here, but head south-easterly into a shallow valley. After a few metres, find a track running through the valley and follow it as it curves left away from the road and towards a small copse of trees. Head towards the right-hand corner of the copse, and here pick up a path running south-east along the edge of a field. (9). Follow this to the field corner and turn right as it heads along the bottom edge. At the field corner follow an indistinct path in the same direction for a few metres to meet a far more obvious dirt track running south-west.

After 120m, come to a cross-tracks with a farm over to the left, and go straight across. The track winds around, getting quite close to the main road at one point, for 600m, to come to a tarmac road at a junction, with houses on the right. (10). Turn right here and walk for just under 500m, crossing the main road and coming to the Vila do Bispo town football ground. Turn left at the end of this, then right at the roundabout, to walk back up to the cafe where you started out.

Extension via Torre da Aspa.

This extension adds 6k to the walk making it a full day out. It takes in Torre da Aspa itself, a huge obelisk, part of the Portuguese triangulation system, and the old Coastguard House at the edge of the cliff overlooking Praia de Castelejo. There is not much extra height gain or loss involved- (Incidentally, on my (old) version of Google Earth, Torre da Aspa is marked where the Coastguard House actually stands!). 

From Point 3 on the main walk, go straight on. Pass a cross-tracks with a farm over to the left, and after 930m stay left at a fork.(1a). Continue for a further 870m to a cross-tracks (2a). Turn right and walk for 650m to a junction with a clear track on the left and a less distinct one on the right (3a), and continue forward for another 100m to a cross-tracks. Go straight ahead for another 700m to reach the old Coastguard House on the edge of the cliff, and admire the views for a while. (4a). From here, you can either return to Point 3a the way you came, or take a track a little to the left of the one you came on, and walk parallel to this. At the first junction turn right and shortly left to get back to 3a.

At 3a, turn right, and at the next junction turn left to reach Torre da Aspa, standing a little way from the track on the right.(5a)  After visiting the obelisk, return to the track and turn right. Walk to the next junction and turn left, to cover the short distance back to Point 2a. From here there are alternatives. You can walk all the way back to Point 3 on the main route and turn left to continue (6a). Alternatively, walk 850m back to Point 1a and turn left. (1b) Follow this track steadily downhill for just over 800m to a junction. (2b) Turn sharp right here, and after a short distance turn left. Descend steadily over 250m to reach a T junction. This is Point 4 on the main route, so turn left to follow from here.

Alternative descent to Castelejo.

There is another way down to Praia de Castelejo from the Coastguard House, but the last part of the descent is very steep, so please only attempt this if you are well-shod and experienced. Walk back from the Coastguard house on the alternative path (to the left of the one you came on). At the junction after 700m, turn left (1c). Follow this track, on level ground at first and then increasingly steeply as it drops towards the shore. At the bottom (2c) turn right and walk along the rocky shoreline to the Cafe and from there along the beach as per the main route. 

GPS Points (37/8)