Walking in Portugal, your self guided walking holiday made easy.Take a self guided country walking holiday in Portugal using the best 1/25000 walking maps and route guides for the Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede, Alentejo.
The Parque Natural da Serra de São Mamede on Portugal's border with Spain is one of Europe's most beautiful and unspoilt areas and is ideal for self guided walking holidays. It is a region of forest, wooded hills, rocky ridges, olive and chestnut groves and fertile valleys intermingled with a maze of medieval tracks, medieval and roman roads and the plain around the hilly park is replete with megalithic sites. Some of Portugal's prettiest villages and medieval fortress towns are located here including Marvão seen in the picture above perched on the rock to the right. Few tourists and walkers have discovered this secluded and beautiful part of Portugal yet it is a perfect place for a walking, hiking or rambling vacation. It is rare to meet many other people walking the countryside trails. There are waymarked walking routes within the park and nearly all of them are circular walks. Even though the trails are within a single natural park they are varied in terms of ambience and terrain and the grade is easy to moderate. Fine country walking. Maps for walking We provide you with 1/25000 scale route maps marked up with the walking route and points of interest accompanied by detailed walking notes. For points of interest and for navigation we are continually adding GPS way-points to the maps and notes.
The Wee Binnians Walkers, Northern Ireland & Eire.
Walking in all seasons. Portugal has a great climate for walking all year round. From late March through to early summer the countryside is carpeted with wild flowers displaying a gradually changing sequence of colours. You will see why they say the Alentejo is the Provence of Portugal. A self guided walking holiday is a joy in spring. Should if it get too warm for walking, take a day off to stroll around the interesting historic sites such as Marvão and Castelo de Vide in the Natural Park or dangle your feet in the Ribeira da Arronches at the Quinta. Although the winter months are cooler there are many days with clear blue skies and lots of sunshine. Rainy days tend to be occasional and most weeks will enjoy some sunny days. Some of the best walking is to be had in winter. Quinta Azenha do Ramalho provides quality self catering for your self guided walking holiday.
Diane Evans, Lisbon What the walkers think. In June 2007 eight Wee Binnian Walkers from Northern Ireland stayed at the Quinta and walked in the hills of São Mamede. Look for the Portugal Report on the Wee Binnians Newsletter page to see what they thought. Our pages for the Galegos and Reguengo walks give a good idea of the flavour of the region. The Walking routes
|
As a group we did
four of the recommended trails, which meandered through olive groves, vineyards, local farms and picturesque hill top towns. The evening
invariably found us sitting on the sun terrace sampling the regions wine and cooking the local produce. By weeks end we all agreed we
would thoroughly recommend this to anyone who is looking for a break away from the hassle of modern day life, to an area with an
authentic charm all of its own.
