Portugal – Day 8 – Coastal Hiking
The Hike of the Seven Hanging Valleys – One of the most beautiful trails in Europe
Day 8 Itinerary
From Pine Cliffs Resort
Lauri was sure to remind me: Today is the one year anniversary of her appendix removal (appendectomy).
Left the Pine Cliffs Resort after breakfast and drove to the starting point of the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail at Marinha Beach
Brief Description of the Hike
The Seven Hanging Valleys is one of the most popular hiking trails in the Algarve. It starts in Praia da Marinha and ends in Praia do Vale de Centeanes. The Seven Hanging Valleys hike is famous for its stunning coastal scenery. Trail is 6 KM long and about a 2 hour hike. Trail follows the shoreline between Vale Centianes Beach and Marinha Beach. We started hiking the Seven Hanging Valleys from Praia da Marinha. Along the way is a nice restaurant called O Stop at Praia do Vale de Centeanes. It is 8 miles round trip. The coastline of hidden cove beaches is formed of massive limestone cliffs, and cliff-tops lined with Juniper thickets and Aleppo pine forest.
The above picture is at the O restaurant which was our turn around point. Notice the seaweed splashed up on the screen behind us from the waves crashing on the restaurant. Lauri says the strawberry and triple chocolate gelato was some of the best she has ever had – better than Italy! The four mile hike to get to the ice cream may have something to do with that opinion. We wanted it on a cone but all of the cones were soggy from the sea spray.
Final Thoughts for Our Eighth Day and Visit to The Seven Hanging Valleys
Lauri: Funny thing about hikes, Mark always has to promise me a restaurant along the way. Well, this one did not disappoint. We hiked 4 miles on rocky unstable ground up and down up and down, witnessing the most beautiful views ever ever ever! After 4 miles we got to a café called O restaurant. The waves were literally coming up and smacking the windows as we ate. It was brutal water and breathtaking views. Probably the best cheeseburger and gelato I ever ate. Hiking back the other 4 miles was tough because of fatigue and sore feet, but again, worth the beautiful views. Can’t believe we did it!
Mark: I practically built the vacation around this day of hiking. Sometimes I build too high a high level of expectation for an event, and it ends up in a letdown. However, this hike was even more awesome than I planned for. The view off the cliffs was as spectacular as any picture I have seen and as scary.
Signage Along the Trail: The trail is so popular that it could use a little better signage on the trail direction especially when one passes through the small villages along the way.
Dumb people: Unbelievable how careless some people can be. We consistently saw people crawl over signs that said “DO NOT ENTER” so they could take a picture near the edge of hundred foot cliffs. One time we stared in disbelief as an adult father stood at the edge of a cliff and hoisted his four year old son on his shoulders and both of them put their hands up in the air for a photo. Neither the father nor the son were holding on to anything!
I’m shocked how much those cliffs look like Dewey . Lol. Absolutely stunning!!!