In the Hills of Caldeirão

In this full-day hiking tour, you explore the trails and villages of inland Algarve. A transfer brings you to Benafim, where Joana meets you with a coffee at the village snack bar. From there, you walk a 6-km trail to Alte, past orchards, dry stone walls, scrub and grazing paths. This is the meeting point of lowland and mountain — the Barrocal giving way to the Serra do Caldeirão. From the highest point, sweeping views open toward the Atlantic, offering a contrasting perspective between the countryside and the coast. The trail ends at the springs of Alte, where the river forms a natural pool. After exploring the village and a secret waterfall, you’ll continue towards Sarnadas for lunch in a small restaurant, with seasonal dishes, local produce, and tables close together. Then spend the afternoon at a small workshop where esparto grass is prepared and woven by hand, an ancestral craft rooted in the region’s farming past.

Most visitors stay near the Algarve’s beaches. This day moves inland, into Serra do Caldeirão, where small villages and agricultural rhythms continue outside the main tourist circuit, on terrain defined by soil and slopes. The hills — you soon realize — are not scenery but livelihood. The slopes you walk provided resilient esparto grass — a plant suited to hot, rocky ground for rope, baskets, tools, and everyday objects used in local households over generations. Today, only a handful of artisans continue the work of making. In the workshop, you see the fiber prepared and braided by hand, and you make a small piece yourself. Joana can adjust the trail to your level. She was raised here in a family of biologists, so she understands the geology, flora and fauna — and she knows the people and their stories. She explains how land, labor, culture and craft remain connected. Lunch in the village is part of the same system. Landscape, food and making are held together by the community.

Joana Almeida, your guide, is a native of Loulé whose deep connection to nature was shaped by her upbringing in a family of biologists. With years of field experience and a strong commitment to conservation, she leads you through the landscapes of the Algarve with informed insight into its flora, fauna, and geology. Beyond the natural setting, Joana also brings attention to the human dimension of the region — its rural traditions and craftsmanship — helping you understand how nature and culture intertwine, particularly through practices such as esparto weaving that remain part of the Algarve’s living heritage.

Comfortable walking shoes, sun protection (hat, sunscreen), water bottle, camera, and a light backpack. Let Joana know your walking level when you book, and she’ll plan the route around it.