Country:
City:
Starting point: Largo da Liberdade.
Blue and green + red and yellow markings
(S) Facing the sea, turn left and take Rua dos Pescadores (ignore the crosses; the markings rejoin the road very quickly). Climb steadily and leave the town.
(1) Just before a Stop sign, leave the tarmac and turn right onto an ascending path. At a three-way junction, turn right. Stay on level ground, ignoring a turn-off to the left, then one to the right.
(2) At a crossroads (cairn), turn left and head gently downhill. Follow the edge of the cliff (ignore a shortcut on the left). Continue along a compacted track. As you come out of a left-hand bend, take a sandy path on the right. This will take you to the car park of a small beach.
(3) Carry straight on, passing a small ruined house on your right. Cross a small coastal stream: follow it briefly upstream until you find a path made of pebbles. On the other side, turn right. Shortly afterwards, turn left, passing a ruin on your right.
Blue and green markings
(4) Immediately afterwards, climb a rocky path to the right. Continue along the cliff edge (watch out for the sheer drop). You’ll reach the ruins of an old military fort.
Blue and Green + Red and Yellow markings
(5) Pass a small car park on the left and continue eastwards along the path.
Blue and green markings
(6) At a fork in the road near a large, isolated house on the right-hand side, turn right and head downhill. Shortly afterwards, turn right again and descend more steeply. Climb back up a few concrete steps to reach the gate of the large house. Cross the drive, climb a few wooden steps and continue along a path. Return to the cliff edge and head down through the shade. You’ll come out onto a beach.
(7) Climb back up the other side along a path close to the cliff edge. Continue on level ground.
Blue and Green + Red and Yellow markings
(8) Turn left and follow a path carved into the rock. Climb gently, then descend in the same way. Continue on a fairly level, well-maintained path. At a Fork in the road, turn right, go downhill, then uphill again. Continue on level ground along the cliff edge, then go downhill.
Blue and Green markings
(9) At a junction, keep to the right and head uphill. Then head downhill towards a residential complex with private swimming pools. At the bottom, turn right and follow a fence on your left. At the corner of the fence, veer to the right.
(10) Walk alongside another fence on your left. Continue down a narrow lane. Turn right immediately (there are ceramic wall decorations). Follow a lane on the left, lined with small houses. At a fork in the road, veer right and go down a flight of steps. Turn right again and go down some steps. Immediately, at the corner of No. 2, turn left and go down a flight of steps between two walls. At the bottom, turn right, then left. Then turn right and you’ll arrive at Largo Poço.
(11) Turn right and walk down to the beach.
Blue and Green + Red and Yellow markings
(12) Follow the jetty to the left. Then head up a cobbled street on the left. Pass between some public toilets and a car park. At the T-junction, take the road on the right and walk steadily uphill. At the top, turn left onto a track.
Blue and green markings
(13) Immediately afterwards, turn right onto a path towards Luz. Follow a well-maintained cliff-top path. Walk alongside a fence on your left and take care of the sheer drop on your right.
(14) At a fork in the road, keep to the right and head downhill. Walk alongside a fence on your left and, at a bend, continue straight on uphill. You’ll come to another fence on your left; continue straight on. Leave the fence, veer to the right and head downhill. Then head back uphill and walk alongside a fence on your left once more.
(15) At a fork in the road, there are two options:
- Turn right onto the signposted path.
- As shown on the map, leave the signposted route for a short while and continue straight on along a good gravel path lined with small stones.
(16) At the end, rejoin the signposted path on the right and follow it as it continues (eastwards). At a junction, go straight on. After a signpost, keep to the left. At another signpost, turn left. At a Fork in the road (with a palm tree opposite), take the left-hand path. Continue along the coast.
(17) Pass a small building on your right and continue along a track. The track gives way to a street lined with beautiful houses (Rua de Calheta, signposted further on).
(18) At the corner by a chemist’s, turn right onto Avenida dos Pescatores and walk past a church. Walk down to a promenade overlooking the sea. Then turn left, take a cobbled path and walk along the beach. Keep going straight ahead.
(19) Opposite a ‘no entry’ sign, turn right onto Rua Jose Manuel Rodrigues Viegas (incorrectly named on OSM). Follow this road uphill.
(20) At the end, take a track on the right and, at the Fork in the road that appears immediately, veer left towards a landmark situated at the top of a cliff. Then turn left and climb up a series of hairpin bends (ignore the very steep shortcuts). Climb up the cliff in this way and arrive at the foot of the landmark (stunning panoramic view).
(21) Continue straight on (south) along the cliff edge, keeping a plantation of young pine trees on your left. Then head east-southeast. Stay on the correct cliff-edge path for a long while; it is flat at first, then descends gently. Further on, leave some houses on your left and descend more steeply to a beach.
(22) Cross a stream via a footbridge, then head up an avenue.
(23) At the Stop sign, turn right into a cobbled alleyway. You’ll soon reach the tarmac again; turn left onto Rua dos Urzes. Ignore the first street on the right and head uphill. Take the next right onto Traversa do Canavial. At the Stop sign, turn right. Ignore a street on the left and, at the T-junction that appears immediately, turn left.
(24) Cross a small car park and, at the far end, follow a wooden walkway. At the end, turn right onto a concrete path. Stay on this path, following the signposts, and ignore any side paths.
(25) At a fork in the road, go right, following the sign for “Farol” (lighthouse). At another fork in the road, turn right again. At the next junction, ignore a boardwalk on the right and take the one directly ahead. Continue along a concrete path and ignore a boardwalk on the right.
(26) At the next junction, turn right onto a boardwalk. Just before a sort of kiosk, turn left. Stay on the boardwalk towards the lighthouse and ignore the paths branching off to the sides. Finally, go round the lighthouse on the right and arrive at a crossroads at its base.
(27) To the right, a boardwalk quickly leads to a superb viewpoint over the coves and ochre-coloured cliffs. Retrace your steps back to the lighthouse.
(27) Leave the lighthouse on your left and take another boardwalk. Continue along a sandy path, passing public toilets on your left. Climb a flight of steps and carry on along a boardwalk. At the T-junction, turn right.
(28) At a crossroads, take the second right onto a slightly downhill concrete path. At a junction, continue straight ahead along a boardwalk. At a three-way junction, turn right.
(29) At a T-junction, turn right again, still on the boardwalk. When you reach a ‘kiosk’, turn left. Go down several flights of steps and you’ll come to a street (with a large derelict building opposite).
(30) Follow the street to the right and downhill. At the bottom, turn left and head back uphill. Climb a flight of steps on the right. You will then pass below a residential block with a swimming pool. On a level stretch, turn right and go down a few steps. Then take a wooden walkway on the right.
(31) You’ll come out onto a narrow lane; follow it to the left, going slightly uphill.
(32) At the end, take a sharp right-hand bend and head downhill along an avenue (Avenida dos Descobrimentos, Avenue of the Discoverers). Pass a car park, then a statue of São Gonçalo. You’ll come to an old fort.
(33) Continue along the avenue, skirting the harbour channel. As you approach a footbridge over the channel, turn left to cross the avenue at a set of traffic lights. Then first turn right then left to quickly reach the Mercado do Levante and the Lagos coach station (E).
Visorando Member
Easy 
Moderate 
