Rota Vicentina | GET INFORMED
Are you inspired by the idea of spending almost 2 weeks walking along the coast of Portugal, admiring amazing views of the ocean with dramatic cliffs and sandy bays, while also enjoying delicious local food and discovering Portugal’s culture?
If your answer is a YES, the Rota Vicentina might be the adventure you are looking for. Pick up pen and paper and start realizing this dream of yours!
At first, it can be difficult to gather all the information to plan a long hike.
This post will guide you through the most common questions that usually fill up my brain when I start dreaming about hiking a new trail.
What is the Rota Vicentina?
The Rota Vicentina, in Portugal, is known as one of the trails with the most scenic and breathtaking landscapes in Europe. It comprises two long-distance routes: the Historical Way (Caminho Histórico) and the Fishermen’s Trail (Trilho dos Pescadores).
The Historical Way runs more inland, across rural areas, from Santiago do Cacém to Cabo de São Vicente, for a total of 11 stages. The Fishermen’s Trail mostly stays along the coast and sticks to breathtaking views on cliffs. When we hiked the Rota Vicentina in 2019, The Fishermen’s Trail was much shorter and only ran from Porto Covo to Odeceixe, comprising a total of 4 stages. As of today, this trail has been further developed and now comprises 13 stages, from S. Torpes to Lagos.
In this blog, we provide information about our “personalized” Rota Vicentina adventure that we hiked in 2019, which is basically the best combination of both, Historical Way and Fishermen’s Trail. Our route is 225 km long, spanning between Santiago do Cacém and Cabo de São Vicente, for a total of 12 stages.
The trail crosses several villages which offer a good selection of accommodations, food and public transports.
What kind of experience does it offer?
The Rota Vicentina leads hikers across the beautiful regions of Alentejo and Algarve, through breathtaking landscapes ranging from rural hills and farmlands, to impressive cliffs and sandy bays along the ocean. This trail provides the great opportunity to visit small less known villages and experience Portugal’s culture and delicious food.
The trail is becoming increasingly popular over the years, allowing hikers to bond and form special friendships along the way, by sharing this adventure and all the good moments and the struggles that come with it.
I hiked this trail in 2019 with my mom Gio’. It was our very first long distance hike together, a special mother-daughter experience that allowed us to share our passion for hiking while visiting a new country and having fun.
That being said, it is important to note that a thru hike will always provide a different and unique experience to every hiker. In short, Hike Your Own Hike!
Where can I find useful information?
From my personal experience, I know that the planning phase of a long-distance hike can easily become tricky and overwhealming, especially if you don’t know which information source you should trust more. Here you can find the pages that we used to organize our trip on the Rota Vicentina.
The website: this website helped us figuring out the stages of the Rota Vicentina and helped us cutomizing our route, combining the Historical Way and the Fishermen’s Trail. It also gives an overview of the accommodation options along the way and the possibility for direct online booking!
The book: this book is helpful for the planning of the stages, but we have to admit that we did not read it before hitting the trail, as we were still quite inexperienced in planning a trekking from A to Z.
The facebook group: this facebook group is a great place to ask questions and find useful insights, directly from people who already hiked the trail or that are in the same planning phase as you.
The Trail Chat: feel free to ask me anything about the trail, I am always happy to help and support you during the planning phase of your thru hike!
Which difficulties will I face?
The trail itself is quite easy and does not present any huge ascents/descents, nor technically difficult sections. It mostly follows clearly waymarked paths, lanes and dirt roads. Moreover, every stage ends at a village with plenty of accommodation options, bars, restaurants and shops. Thanks to local public transports connecting the villages, it is easy to customize this trekking experience according to personal preferences.
I would therefore think that anyone with some hiking experience and a moderate fitness level will be able to thru hike the Rota Vicentina, and I would even recommend it for first-time thruhikers!
The most important points to consider for hiking the Rota Vicentina are elencated here below:
HEAVY BACKPACK
Your backpack could become quite heavy if you don’t plan your equipment list well, and a lighter backpack is the key for you to enjoy a long distance hike! You can find a list of everything we brought with us in the post EQUIPMENT. However, if you struggle carrying heavy loads and would rather prefer walking with a day-pack only, luggage transfer services are also present along the way.
SUN & WIND
Heat-strokes caused by sun exposure are an issue that you must not underestimate on the Rota Vicentina, as very little shade is present along the way. Make sure to pack sun screen and a hat! In summer, from late June to August, the heat becomes indeed unbearable for walking on the Rota Vicentina. If you are planning to hike within this period, you should consider getting up very early in the morning and hike as much as possible while the temperatures are still mild.
Strong winds are also not completely uncommon along the Atlantic coast. Just be aware that it might happen that you’ll need to embrace the suck and battle against wind for the whole stage, and this can be very tiring.
SAND
There are a few stages along the trail that include sandy sections. You will discover that walking on sand is quite tiring, both physically and mentally… I don’t know how to properly explain it, but I always felt like getting one step further but half a step backwards, if you know what I mean?! Moreover, if you are wearing low-ankle trailrunners, be prepared to often stop for emptying your shoes from sand.
When is the best time to hike it?
The Rota Vicentina can generally be hiked all year round. However, there are some pros and cons that you must consider for choosing when you’ll set foot on trail.
Gio’ and I hiked the Rota Vicentina beginning of February and we were lucky with the weather, which was sunny and mild every day, but quite chilly in the morning and evening.
SEPTEMBER - JUNE
This is a feasible time for walking the Rota Vicentina. The autumn months from September to November, and the spring months from March to early June usually represent the best time for hitting the trail. In winter, from November to February, weather could vary from being great and mild to windy, rainy and chilly, although temperatures shouldn’t drop below 10 °C at night.
JUNE - AUGUST
In summer, from late June to August, the heat becomes unbearable for walking on the Rota Vicentina. As the trail provides very little shade, it is usually not recommended to hike within this period. However, if you are planning to hike anyway in Summer, you could (and should) consider getting up very early in the morning and hike as much as possible while the temperatures are still mild.
How do I reach the trail?
If you have read the above information about the Rota Vicentina and decided that you want to embark on this special adventure, it is time to start thinking about how to actually reach the trail.
The international airport of Lisbon, Portugal’s capital, is the most practical to reach the start of the trail, and is served by many European and transcontinental airlines.
From Lisbon’s airport, the first option, although expensive, would be to take a taxi to Santiago do Cacém. Another option would be to first catch a bus or metro until the bus station of Lisboa Sete Rios, where you can then catch a Rede Expressos bus to Santiago do Cacém (2 hours trip).
At the end of the Rota Vicentina, the airport of Faro is then the most practical for flying back home, and can be reached by taxi, by bus from Sagres, and even by train from Lagos.
In the post OUR TRIP you can find our travel schedule, which might give you some inspiration.
What should I pack?
For hiking the Rota Vicentina, as for any other long distance hike, we advise to minimize your pack weight as much as possible. You will find a detailed list of the equipment we took along with us in the post EQUIPMENT.
Here I will just try to answer the most frequently asked questions during the planning phase of this thru hike.
What about wildcamping and camping gear?
Wildcamping is not allowed in Portugal, nor along the Rota Vicentina. For this reason, this trail might not be the most suitable for hikers that only want to sleep in their tents to get closest to nature… However, there are some official camping grounds along the way, listed on this website.
If needed, I would advise to purchase camping gear in Lisbon, and resupply for trekking food in any of the villages along the trail. Since we decided to enjoy the luxus of restaurants and accommodations on the Rota Vicentina, we did not pack any camping gear, therefore reducing the weight of our packs drastically.
How much food should I carry?
It is possible to resupply in all the villages along the Rota Vicentina, except at Vale Seco (end of stage no. 1). Moreover, local food served at restaurants is just amazing!
We therefore recommend to carry a picknick or snacks for the stage only, in order to minimize your pack’s weight. If you are curious about our food strategy on the Rota Vicentina, head to our FOOD post.
How much water should I carry?
Every evening we filled our bottles with tap water, and I personally carried 1.5L with me every day, since we hiked this trail in February and the temperatures were not extremely high. Additionally, bottled water can be purchased at every village, in shops or bars, so I wouldn’t worry too much about running out of water. However, if you are planning to hike the Rota Vicentina in warmer months, make sure to pack enough water for each stage!
Where can I leave my normal clothes?
You will definitely not need fancy clothes for this adventure. Therefore, make sure to only pack clothes that you REALLY need during the hike. The full list of the clothes I packed can be found in the post EQUIPMENT.
How much money will I spend?
For the entire trip we both spent 1’000 CHF each, including flights.
We decided to treat ourselves well, by sleeping in private rooms at hostels and hotels along the way, although the prices were acceptable due to the low season. We also enjoyed good dinners at restaurants every evening. Moreover, we also catched two expensive taxi rides for getting to and out of the trail.
Therefore, the budget for this trip could strongly vary depending on the period you decide to travel to Portugal, on your accommodation and restaurants choice, wheter you choose to bring your own tent, sleep in cheaper hostels along the way, and use public transports instead of taxi rides.
I am sure that, with good planning and without additional touristic expenses, the budget for this trip could be reduced to 700 CHF, while still enjoying the luxus of sleeping in hostels and eating warm meals at restaurants.
Long story short, don’t get discouraged and plan your own adventure!
CASH OR CARD?
We mostly payed by credit card all the accommodations and meals on the Rota Vicentina. However, it is always useful to bring some cash (EUR) along, since some accommodation providers only deal in cash. ATMs are present in the villages at the end of each stage, except at Vale Seco (end of stage no. 1).