Walking the Algarve Wild West, Portugal

Planet and people

Accommodation & meals: We spend the six nights on this walking holiday in three very different hotel sin Sagres, Vila do Bispo and Pedralva, including a modern “designer” hotel with wonderful sea views and a 24-room property that was once a deserted village made up of 24 houses. It has since been converted to retain its character, using traditional building materials and restored furniture. The hotels employ at least 75% of the staff from local residents. Our customers provide income to an area that does already benefit from tourism, however the areas we travel through and some of the hotels we use are relatively small and untouched by mainstream tourism. Evening meals are included for three out of the six nights and on the other nights guests are encouraged to eat out in local restaurants. The food at the Pedralva property is generally homemade and uses ingredients grown in the property’s kitchen garden, where possible. The hotel chefs focus on using locally-sourced seasonal produce where possible, some of which is actually grown at the property itself so has zero food miles! Most of our hoteliers have also demonstrated commitment to sustainable practices in the following areas: waste management, saving water and saving energy- this includes Solar panels, automatic lights, recycling of waste, the option of not washing customer towels every day and a garden for produce. Tap water is also drinkable in Portugal, so plastic mineral water bottles don’t necessarily need to be used (recycled).

Community: We encourage our customers to chat with the friendly local people, visit local attractions such as the lighthouse at Cabo Sao Vicente and the Fort at Sagres, dine in cafes and bars, purchase local specialities such as sardine pate, olive oils, gifts and crafts (cork products are popular in this area as well) and discover what life is really like in the Algarve.

Activity: Few holidays have as little detrimental impact on the environment and local residents as a walking trip. It is a quiet, low impact activity requiring comparatively little resources to support (there’s only one 30-minute walking transfer included - other than that walks can be done from the overnight properties). We do believe in leaving more than just footprints and encourage our customers to calculate their own carbon footprint for their holiday and make a donation to offset their effects to the World Land Trust.

UK office: In addition to the careful planning that goes into each and every one of our tours, we also have a policy of operating our office in a responsible manner - to reduce the impact on our local environment. We turn off all lights, printers, photocopiers and PCs at the end of each day: a PC monitor switched off overnight saves enough energy to microwave six meals; leaving a computer on 24/7 costs four times more than if you switch it off; a photocopier left on overnight uses enough energy to produce over 1,500 copies. We use energy-efficient light bulbs and make sure they're regularly cleaned - dirty bulbs can reduce the amount of effective light by over 25%. We've turned down every radiator by one degree in a bid to reduce energy consumption by as much as 10%. All our brochures are printed on paper from sustainable sources and sent in bio-degradable packaging. We strive to reduce paper consumption and, what we do use, we recycle. We recycle all our used laser printer and inkjet cartridges.