Hello Friends,
In October 2025, right before I moved to Cambodia, my sister Brenna and I walked Portugal’s Fisherman’s Trail — nine days end to end, about 75 kilometres of clifftop sand track down the wild Alentejo coast. It was harder than the elevation profile suggests, because most of it is soft sand and there is no shade. It was also one of the best things I have ever done. This is the index to the whole trip, plus the wider Portugal planning I have put together since.
The Fisherman’s Trail, Day by Day
The Rota Vicentina’s Fisherman’s Trail runs along the cliffs of southwest Portugal, and the only real way to tell it is one hard, beautiful walking day at a time. Start with the complete guide for the overview, then follow the days. The official Rota Vicentina site has the full route maps if you want to plan your own walk.
- The Complete Fisherman’s Trail Guide — the whole Rota Vicentina route, planned out
- Day 1: From Connecticut Chaos to the Portuguese Coast
- Day 2: Porto Covo to Vila Nova de Milfontes — 20km of fossil cliffs
- Almograve to Zambujeira do Mar — 22km, the longest day, and the sandwich that changed everything
- Zambujeira to Odeceixe — 18km through cork oak to the trail’s end at the river mouth
The Algarve, After the Trail
When the walking was done, we came off the coast and into the Algarve proper — vineyards inland, a last day by the sea in Lagos, and the long train back up to Lisbon before my flight out to Cambodia.
- A Wine Tour: Silves, Monchique & the Algarve Vineyards
- Lagos: A Last Day on the Portuguese Coast
- Lagos to Lisbon by Train — the last day in Portugal before Cambodia
Planning the Rest of Portugal
Our trip was the trail and the Algarve — I did not get proper time in Lisbon, Porto, or the interior. So the guides below are research rather than lived experience, put together for a return trip and written to actually be useful. When I get back to walk the rest of it, they will turn into first-hand write-ups like the days above.
- The Complete Portugal Travel Guide
- A Lisbon Travel Guide
- The Best Cities to Visit in Portugal
- Hiking in Portugal — beyond the Fisherman’s Trail
- The Portugal Digital Nomad Guide
- Getting Around Portugal
Obrigado
The Fisherman’s Trail is the kind of trip that stays in your legs for a week and in your head for years. If you are thinking of walking it, do — and if you have questions about the route, the logistics, or which day nearly broke me, reach out. Cheers.
And that is the whole walk, coast to coast — nine days, seventy-five kilometres, one very sunburned pair of siblings, and a stretch of Portugal I will be thinking about for a long time.
