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I don’t object to repeating the same hike repeatedly,” commented the local guide, bending next to a cluster of blossoms. “Every visit, you can spot different details – these flowers hadn’t been here yesterday.”

Rising on stalks no less than 2cm tall and adorning the ground with white petals, the observation that these star of Bethlehem flowers sprung up in a single night was a striking demonstration of how quickly things can develop in this hilly, interior section of the Algarve, the protected woodland of Barão de São João.

It was also comforting to learn that in an zone ravaged by blazes in last fall, varieties such as fire-resistant trees – which are flame-retardant due to their minimal resin – were commencing to recover, alongside highly inflammable eucalyptus, which impedes other slow-burning trees such as oak. Community members were being enlisted to assist with rewilding.

Tourist Statistics and Interior Appeal

Travel figures to the Algarve are growing, with the current year recording an rise of 2.6% on the previous year – but the majority visitors go directly to the coast, although there being far more to experience.

The coastline is certainly rugged and dramatic, but the locale is also keen to highlight the attraction of its interior regions. With the creation of all-season trekking and biking trails, along with the introduction of nature festivals, interest is being directed to these equally compelling landscapes, featuring hills and thick woodlands.

The Algarve Walking Season organizes a program of five walking festivals with general topics such as “aquatic elements” and “archaeology” between late autumn and early spring. It’s anticipated they will motivate visitors in every season, boosting the local economy and contributing to reduce the outflow of the youth departing in search of work.

Creativity and The Outdoors Combine

The excursion to the protected parkland fell during a two-day event with the subject of “creativity”, focused on the white-washed community to the northwest of Barão de São João.

As well as organized treks, departing from the local hub, free events extended from learning how to make natural coloured inks, to drama classes, mindful exercise and artistic rendering. There were two image galleries on show as well as multiple other family-oriented activities, such as botanical explorations and making bird-feeders.

Even before our informal daytime art printing workshop at the community space, our hike into the forest with Joana had the feeling of an sculpture walk. Indicated at the beginning by standing stones adorned with images of local farmers, it was dotted throughout the path with smaller, permanently placed stones illustrating instances of wildlife, featuring small mammals and feline predators – the lynx’s numbers reviving, thanks to a rehabilitation centre based in the castle town of Silves.

Picturesque Trails and Wild Charm

As the path wound up to its summit, the menhir (monolith) on the Pedra do Galo trail, it became more thickly wooded with the resinous scent of conifer. There was a fullness to the air and hard, honey-toned droplets bulged from tree trunks. Calcareous stone glistened on the ground and minute toads sat by water’s edge, necks vibrating. In the far away, windmills spun against the horizon.

Francisco Simões, our guide the following day, was similarly eager to emphasize that these interior zones can be discovered year-round. Waymarked hikes, established in the past few years, are extensions of the Via Algarviana, a trail that stretches from the frontier for 186 miles, the entire route to the Atlantic, and several are now connected to an application that makes navigation simpler.

Ecotourism and Cultural Activities

Francisco set up nature tour operator Algarvian Roots in 2020 and organizes experiences from avian observation to all-day led walks, all with the same aims as the AWS: to promote the region by way of engagement, enlightenment and local understanding.

The artistic element is here, also – his parent, ceramicist Margarida Palma Gomes, had taught us to paint azulejos, the iconic traditional colored decorative panels seen all over the nation, a couple of days before on a festival workshop. Tours to her workshop, as well as to a local potter, can additionally be arranged through Algarvian Roots.

Francisco urged us to do our bit for the sector by drinking generous quantities of fine wine stoppered by cork

Subsequent to an delicious midday meal of meat dish and cabbage in A Charrette in Monchique, a pretty mountain town nestled between the Algarve’s two highest peaks, the tall Fóia and 774-meter Picota, Francisco guided us down precipitously cobbled streets and into a alleyway, where an older couple relaxed in the sun at the front of their house.

A inclined path led us into the woodland, the ground covered in oak nuts. Here, Francisco was eager to show us oak trees, Portugal’s national tree and legally protected since the medieval period. Not only are they inherently fire-resistant, but their flexible outer layer is a source of income for residents, who collect it to market to other {industries|sectors