Alentejo Tours and Trips

This was a wonderful late April holiday in Portugal, my first with Exodus. The itinerary and accommodation were first class. Everything was so well organised and very diverse, the walking covering beautiful countryside and woodland as well as stunning coastal paths. As it was Springtime everything seemed to be in full bloom which was an added delight. As a group of eight coming together for the first time we gelled well together and enjoyed some wonderful walks, meals and activities together. The friendly, gracious and careful way in which our group leader Inês managed the tour was admirable. The additional activities and learning about flora, fauna, and Portuguese customs were perfect additions to the holiday. The bread baking, olives, ceramics, wine and an artisan olive oil producer provided a holistic and rounded experience of the Algarve for us all.

Discovering the Algarve in Portugal was fantastic. Experiencing its beauty by exploring scenic hiking trails was the right way to go. Meeting charming local business owners and talented artisans along the way enhanced the trip. Hearing the story behind a family-run olive oil press or discovering how locally grown berries are transformed into liquors gave us insight into the passion people feel for their land and how they live on it. Sampling the local wines and savoring delicious meals at cozy restaurants was a bonus.

We were a group of nine mostly strangers to each other who bonded during this wonderful adventure. Francisco and Raphael could not have been better trip leaders. They were very gracious, helpful. knowledgeable and fun to be with. We did not just hike but about new Flora, Fauna, and Portuguese customs, including food, cork , olives, ceramics, wine and medrano distillation.

The wild Algarve and its people are wonderful! The hikes along the high cliffs were truly gorgeous and inspiring. We love learning about the places we travel in, which is why we keep returning to Exodus for tours. The leaders made frequent stops along our walks to explain about geology, history and even the arts of the area, including why the music genre of Fado was so important during the rule of Portugal's dictator (when we were looking at a town's murals of a singer).

This was a wonderful trip which exceeded my expectations in many ways: the diversity of landscapes, the variety of walks (cliffs, headlands, dunes, rocky paths) and the knowledge and care of our local guides.

This was our sixth Exodus trip (and overall one of the best). The walks were interesting with spectacular scenery and varied wildlife (both flora and fauna), and we learnt a new definition of the term 'more or less flat'. The hotels were all good, the first two full of character and the final one in a great location with magnificent views over Sagres harbour and with extraordinarily helpful staff. The hotel breakfasts offered great variety and were excellent fuel for the mornings’ walking. The non-walking activities were well-chosen and interesting. There were visits to a ceramics workshop and an artisan olive oil presser which were fascinating and the tasting at the high tech Vicentino winery very near the Alentejo coast offered a different dimension. The wines were very good, with a noticeable salty tang. The walks were on paths that were generally good or very good, other than about 1km on day 6 which is over broken rock, but trail shoes or boots should have good treads as some short sections were quite loose and eroded (and could have been slippery if the ground had been wet). We were a little late for the best of the wild flowers on the dunes but they were still very varied and attractive. We saw storks nesting on rock pinnacles just offshore (apparently the only place in the world where they nest on sea stacks) and were lucky enough to see three peregrine falcons on one of the coastal walks. Overall, this was a great week with friendly and amusing companions from Canada, Scotland and England and superlative guides. If we did it again, we would probably go in the late Spring rather than the early Summer, both to have slightly more varied wild flowers and (perhaps!) to avoid walking in 34 degrees in the hills, but we would thoroughly recommend the trip.