Praia Grande discovery trail in the Algarve

To find the car park, take the N125 to Pera. Then follow the signs for Praia Grande de Pêra. The last kilometre is a dirt track. There is an information board about the walk with a map of the entire route.

(S/E) Head east on the clearly visible wooden footbridge. This passes along the marsh and the lagoon (Lagoa dos Salgados). There are many birds. After about 500 m, there is an observatory on the left.

(1) From the observatory, take the footbridge and continue to a bridge over the water. You can walk back and forth on the bridge for a good view of the lagoon, but do not cross it. Head towards the beach and turn right.

(2) Walk along the beach on the sand. After 700 m, leave the beach and turn right at a wooden hut onto a wooden footbridge that will take you back to the car park where you started.

(S/E) Once at the car park, head west on a slightly sandy path that runs roughly parallel to the sea. Continue straight ahead until you come to a wooden footbridge on your left.

(3) Take the footbridge to cross the dune towards the beach. Pass a bar and you will come to the beach, which you follow to the right. After 500 m, turn right, do not cross the "Ribeira de Alcantarilha". At this somewhat strange spot, you will see a wide channel that changes with the tides, through which the river flows. When we passed, the channel was dry.

(4) So, do not cross this type of estuary and head into the marsh along the river on a path that is not very obvious at first until you see a long stone wall.

(5) Follow the low wall and continue along the obvious path. Cross a small bridge and immediately after, take a wide path on the left.

(6) You will soon see the ruins of mills. Pass in front of the first mill. The path curves to the right and leads to the road you arrived on by car.

(7) Follow the road that passes near the mills we saw earlier, pass a beautiful villa hotel and continue to the car park via a wide dirt track (S/E).

To find the car park, take the N125 to Pera and then follow the signs for Praia Grande de Pêra. There is an information board about the walk. There is a very large, fairly stable car park.

If possible, bring a pair of binoculars and a camera.

At the start of the hike, you take a very long wooden footbridge through the marsh, which is very pleasant.
The observatory in the marsh was in very poor condition when we visited in February 2020.

There are restaurants and bars on the beach halfway along the route.

Part of the route is on the beach and therefore in sand, which can make walking difficult.
Do not cross the Alcantarilha River, which flows into the sea intermittently depending on the tides. See the photo taken at this location.

The yellow and red markings are sporadic, to say the least!

There are many birds in the marshes at the start of the walk.
Ruins of mills.
Magnificent beach.
Further information can be found at this link.