Rota Vicentina walking holiday in Portugal

Planet

This holiday takes place away from the most popular – and thus harmful to wildlife - tourist paths of the Rota Vicentina Coast.

To minimize environmental footprint and negative impact on wildlife, we limit the size of our parties to maximum 6 people for this holiday.

On this itinerary, we have arranged all walks to be hotel to hotel, so that environmental impact related to car transfers is minimized. Private airport transfers are not encouraged, so that clients must arrive and depart form the area using public transport, mostly trains.

Our local team actively participates in the planning of new footpaths & trails, and the regular cleaning and way marking of many of these – in collaboration with the local authorities and local population, to ensure there is no risk of harming local wildlife. Through our local office in Alentejo we are supporting the maintenance of the hiking trails in the area where this walking holiday takes place. We encourage the guides and hotel owners in the area to participate in trail maintenance, as volunteers. If there are rubbish-strewn sections, we go out and clean them.

People

On this walking holiday our aim is to discover for you those places where you can feel and taste the ‘real spirit’ of coastal Portugal. Off the beaten track, although close to known tourist areas, we find those authentic places most tourists don’t get to.

This tour not only delivers authentic local experiences to our clients, but we also take active steps to care for the destination they travel to. We intend not only to save natural areas from more destructive forms of exploitation, but also where possible to improve the economic and social conditions of the local communities, safeguarding the local traditions and culture.

This tour is for real walkers, who are looking to experience the real local culture – in ways that benefit local communities. During the tour we pass through many coastal villages where we can stop for some lunch or a snack. We also encourage our guests to visit local gardens, museums and attractions to help support the maintenance of these.

We are proud of our selection of accommodations on this tour. We try to avoid chain and big name hotels and prefer not the obvious places, but small, well-situated, often family-run places, with a personal welcome. Many are in historical buildings, agrirursmi (farm stays), or placed in exceptional spots, blended into the surrounding landscape. Many of our accommodation owners are walkers themselves and take an active and helpful interest in our clients’ progress, and take part in environmental initiatives in their area.