Walking in Portugal: Sample Walk

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Walking in Portugal contains detailed descriptions of 33 walks, all illustrated by full colour maps.

The walk below passes through some of the loveliest scenery in the Serra de São Mamede in southern Portugal. It's at its finest in spring or autumn, when temperatures are pleasantly warm, villages are less crowded than in peak season, and migrating birds pass through the region.

Castelo de Vide to Marvão

Castelo de Vide, with Marvão in the distance

fast facts

distance 11km
rating moderate
time 4 hours
maps 335, 336 (1:25,000)

This walk snakes along the wooded flank of Urra, a small hill that separates the fortified spa town of Castelo de Vide from the castle of Marvão, perched on a rocky crag above the Rio Sever.

On the way, pass through farmland screened by mature oak woods that ring with the sound of bird song. There are a few places to stay in Marvão (p 147), but if you want to catch the daily midday bus back to Castelo de Vide, get an early start to allow enough time to look around Marvão.

Take the Rua de Santa Amaro from the main square in Castelo de Vide and leave the town by the Porta de Santa Catarina gate. Once past the gate follow the tarmac road, passing olive groves and a large wall on the right-hand side, and walking beneath the imposing battlements of the Forte São Roque. Ignore the first left-hand turning and look out for views of Marvão ahead.

At the second turning resist the temptation to turn left even though a signpost tries to lure you towards an ancient stone menhir a few kilometres north. Continue past an abandoned quinta on the left and keep straight ahead at the third left, then 150m later on at the fourth left turn down a small lane, passing the Casa de Vinha in 100m.

Continue past the casa as the lane becomes a dirt track, heading through olive groves and past farmland. You'll soon see an abandoned stone windmill on the left, marked on the maps as Moinho de Vento.

This windmill once ground the grains from the local smallholdings, and although the mill is no longer in use many of the old farming techniques remain, as small-scale farms still dominate this part of the Alentejo. The rich landowners that farm the rest of the province have dismissed these pockets of land as unproductive; the result is low impact farming unchanged for decades.

The dirt track rises a little to a junction; turn right here, walking under the cork oak and chestnut trees that shade the trail as it returns to the main tarmac road. Turn left at the road and follow it for 700m until the road turns sharp left; once at the bend take the lane off to the right. Ignore the left-hand turning soon after joining the lane, and continue instead into a shallow valley dotted with more farms. Notice the medieval sarcophagus in one of the fields on the left.

Pass a fountain on your left, then take the right-hand fork on to a dirt track that slowly narrows as you enter an oak forest. Tucked away and forgotten, this wood has escaped the onslaught of both the axe and the encroaching pine that has been steadily planted since the turn of the century. The trail shows signs of its ancient origins as you walk over stone slabs up to a small ridge.

the vivid ochre border around this window in Marvão is typical of the Alentejo region's rural architecture

When the forest clears at Picoto, Marvão is visible up ahead, and behind you is your last view of Castelo de Vide. The trail is a bit overgrown here and some detective work is required. As you approach a large gap in the stone wall, cross through and keep the wall on your right for 150m, then jump back to the other side of the wall; this avoids fighting through thorn bushes that are successfully attempting to reclaim a section of the path.

Back on the trail, the track is lined by two stone walls, and although still slightly overgrown the route's origin as a wide cart lane is obvious. Follow this path until you arrive at a well-used farm track. Turn left downhill where in 100m you pass farm buildings on the left with the usual collection of barking dogs and idle donkeys. Olive groves once more line the route as you stick to the main track.

Keep a look out for a large white farmhouse on the left, and 100m after this at a junction turn right uphill, where the track becomes paved once more. Turn right when the track joins a larger road, heading uphill. At the top of the rise turn left, then in 200m turn left once more at a junction.

You're now on the modern road to Marvão; walk up this road for a little over a kilometre, ignoring the left-hand turning to Santo António das Areias. About 200m after the Santo António junction, look out for a couple of houses on the left-hand side, and take the cobbled lane that goes uphill on the opposite side of the road.

In 700m you'll reach a stone cross, where a power pylon marks the end of the cobbled track. Look out for a narrow path that zigzags off to the right up to the corner of the main road above. Once on the road turn right to walk through the formidable fortified gates into Marvão.