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First thing’s first, my group followed Alltrails’ route GR11 Caminho do Atlântio: Azóia – Carvalhal but it’s important to note that Alltrails route does not fully follow the GR11 route. So while you could stick more exactly to GR11, this summary is about the hike that I did which, again, is the Alltrails mapped hike.
Table of Contents
GR 11 Azoia to Alvarinhos Overview
Map of the hike:
Distance: Alltrails says a total of 28.6 km. My fitness tracker says a total of 33.7 km.
Overnight at: Residencial Real Guest House in Colares
Difficulty level: Moderate to hard
Day one: Azoia to Colares
Approximately 11 km.
How to get to the trail head
As this is a point to point hike, it is best to take public transportation (it’s also just always better to take public transportation) so you don’t have to go back to retrieve a car. First, you’ll need to get to Sintra. Once you’re there, go out in the front of the Sintra train station where there is a bus stop. Grab the local bus number 1253 which will get you closest to the trail head. Get off the bus at Estr do Cabo da Roca (X) Azóia. I used the marker of “Charm Nature” in Azóia to get directions. Where the bus lets you off is pretty near by, and then you can use your GPS on Alltrails to get to the exact trail head.
The hike
From the trail head you’ll walk along a fairly busy road for a stretch. Stick close to the side and stay single file, it is quite winding and Portuguese drivers will be driving far too fast for the conditions.
Soon you’ll hit a veer off to the right on a sort of secondary road. As you close in on the coastline, you’ll find trail markers for GR11. This will lead you down the cliffs towards the sea. There is not actual rock climbing here, but there are fairly steep trails that go up and down the side of the cliffs. I am not afraid of heights but I am sensible and I never felt uncomfortable here. My friend, however, is afraid of heights, and she was not happy on this entire trip. If you are afraid of heights, this is absolutely not the hike for you.
As soon as you go over that first cliff edge to start the trails, the views just don’t stop. I don’t think I’ve ever been so in love with the landscape of Portugal as I was on this entire hike. The waves are big and crash into jagged cliffsides which open up into long stretches of empty golden beaches. So much of the time you will be on your own out here, maybe a little speck of another human off in the distance. It is peaceful, it is beautiful, it is calm and wildly unsettling. I recommend going slow through this stretch, take your time as it is steep, and can be exhausting, it can also be a little bit dangerous to go too fast, but it’s also worth just stopping, breathing, enjoying, taking it all in.
There is one fairly big up and down right off the bat, and then you’ll walk along the top of the cliffs where it is fairly flat for some time.
The trail is pretty much always well marked, but sometimes several trails converge. I recommend always watching your GPS, and keep an eye out for trail markers. There were points at which markers were lacking, but generally the GR11 markers were pretty consistent and easy to follow.
We took our first longer break at Praia da Adraga, a huge stretch of sand with stunning cliff sides. There is a parking lot here so people can easily access it and it’s definitely not deserted, but it is big enough for a walk in the sand without bumping into someone else.
From there you’ll head up again through some more wooded paths and you’ll continue along at a higher elevation.
Eventually, you’ll reach a large staircase at the southern end of Praia Grande. We stopped at the top of this staircase to have the majority of our lunches. You need to head down this staircase (don’t worry, you won’t have to come back up). As you go down, look up to your left, along the cliff wall are dinosaur footprints.
At the far end of the beach are a few bars and restaurants. You have little more to hike at this point before the day is done so I highly recommend a cold beverage to reward your hard work.
The first restaurant we stopped in looked at us sideways in our hiking gear, so I recommend not going there and instead grabbing a table with a view at Casa da Galé. There is also food here if you’re hungry, but you definitely will have wanted to have snacks by now so I recommend having those packed from the get go.
From there it’s less than two kilometers to Colares where I recommend spending the night. A final word of wisdom for this day is for when you come down from the path and are just about to hit the beach at Praia das Maçãs — there is a decent sized stream that runs along the south side of the beach and therefore is pretty unavoidable. I managed to jump across rocks and stay dry but that was a bit precarious and the final leap I had people helping me from the beach side by gathering and lying logs down so I had something to walk along. Your other option is to take off (or keep on) your shoes and wade through. While there is a road you can get onto to make your way into town, it is quite a bit farther inland to reach it and going that way would add a significant amount of time just as you’re about to finish the day.
Out total day one time with stops: 5.5 hours
Where to have dinner in Colares
I highly, highly recommend having dinner at Sal&Xixa SteakHouse. If you are a meat eater, this is the perfect way to recoup your lost calories from a day on the trail. There is one menu option and it is a cook your own steak at the table. The meal comes with french fries, beans, coleslaw, and rice and all of it is all you can eat.
Now, what I do not recommend is drinking a sample of every single bottle of liquor the owner brings to the table as you’re about ready to pay the bill. They are very much on the house, but remember, you’ve got a big day ahead of you tomorrow.
narrator: they did not in fact remember that they had a big day in front of them tomorrow
Where to stay in Colares
We stayed at the very simple, basic, and easy Residencial Real Guest House. I chose this spot because we were a group but we all wanted our own beds. They have private rooms with bunk beds and a private bathroom.
The guest house is a big old mansion and it has stunning views across the beach and out to the ocean. There is a big common space and a fridge which you are free to use. This is quite handy if you want to bring two days worth of snacks and lunches with you — you can easily keep them fresh.
Day two: Colares to Carvalhal
Approximately 19.8 km.
You might have noticed that these days are not divided equally in terms of length. That is really to do with accommodation options. I wanted to sleep inside and not camp, but farther up the trail the options became a lot more expensive. If you do want to split the trail more evenly and are willing to splurge, I’d recommend finishing day one closer to the Fontanelas area and staying somewhere like the bungalows at Azen Cool House. This would put you closer to the halfway point at the end of day one.
Where to have breakfast in Colares
Ok but that’s not what we did, so back to Colares. We were up early, and since we did this hike on the weekend it was a Sunday morning. A Sunday morning in a sleepy seaside village doesn’t provide a lot of breakfast options, but we popped over to O moinho da Praia Café which opens at 7:30 am every day. There you can get pastries, toasties, and hot and cold drinks.
The hike
Setting off from Colares you’ll spend quite a bit of the morning right along the edge of the cliffs. This is another stunning stretch. When we did the hike in early December, the morning provided a perfect layer of fog which created an ethereally calm setting. Out by the edges of the cliffs are groups of fishermen who I feel confident guessing go out each and every Sunday morning to see what they can catch. But I do question, with the waves as big as they are, and the cliffs as high as they are, what can they catch? Anyways — whatever they’re bringing home for dinner the ole boys in the distance complete the misty morning picture perfectly.
The first stretch of the day is quite flat but it is, again, close to the cliffside, so not ideal if you have a fear of heights (again, none of this hike is). You’ll pass by several beaches, but the trail is quite a ways up from sea level, so while I am sure there are paths that would get you down and back up again, that is not elevation we wanted to add on to our already long day of hiking, so we settled for the bird’s eye views.
Note that around Praia da Aguda you will be walking on paths shared with dirt bikers. There are some narrow blind spots, so be sure to keep to the side here and consider yelling out ahead to let people coming the other way know that you are there.
After setting off from Colares around 9:30 AM we hit Praia do Magoito about two hours later around 11:30 AM. This beach you will need to head down to in order to stay on the trail. But you’ll also want to head down here — it’s another beautiful spot along this epic coastline. If you look south from the north end of the beach you can see the cliffs lined up, one after another, jutting out into the sea and creating an amazing ripple down the coast and away into the distance. And that the exact view we had for lunch.
Lunch at Praia do Magoito
We packed lunch for day one but planned to eat on the road for day two. We weren’t quite sure where that would mean, but when we found Esplanada Duna Mar we knew we’d found the one.
This is far from roughing it — the view is 10/10 — absolutely killer. You’ll sit high up on a balcony above the north end of the beach with the coastline, the beach, and the sea all stretching out below you.
This restaurant is cited as one of the spots with the best views in Portugal. And we just happened to stumble upon it — so you’re very welcome for the recommendation!
Note that they don’t start serving lunch until noon. The menu is very fish heavy (as expected) but there are also other basic options like a burger or a salad.
Continuing the hike
Praia do Magoito is the last beautiful spot for some time. Pretty immediately there is a good long stretch of road walking. If you want to cut the hike short, you could finish at lunch and head back from there. That was not an option for me as I’d already committed to the whole thing so I was determined to see it through.
After about seven or so kilometers on the road you’ll get back on to quiet, picturesque country lanes. There is some really nice calm scenery here. You’ll make your way through small villages and across fields.
Do be on the lookout for loose dogs out here, sometimes they are street dogs or have just been let out of the house, but if they run up to you, stand your guard, don’t run — there is a very real potential they could bite you if you do.
These final kilometers through the green countryside were perfect for me. While the scenery was not as epic as the cliffs, it was quiet and calm. By the time we hit the green hills outside of Almorquim it was about 4:00 PM and the sunlight was cutting perfectly across the sky. Golden hour was setting in and the whole world was glowing and silent. It was peaceful and I was so happy I hadn’t bailed on this final stretch.
The trail finished up in Carvhal and it was basically impossible to make it into town without sinking into ankle deep mud in the last kilometer of the trail. But we made it. Muddy, happy, exhausted, content, filthy, and so ready for a shower and a bed.
Getting back from the trail finish
We were racing against the clock the last few kilometers to meet a bus that never came. Country bus schedules are notoriously inaccurate so we made sure to be at the bus stop a good ten minutes before the scheduled arrival time. The bus never came. We waited and waited, probably around 30 minutes past the scheduled arrival time, before finally ordering an Uber. Thank god one was available out there. So we ubered to Sintra. That was around a 20 minute ride. And then from there you can get to wherever you need to be.
Out total day two time with stops: 7 hours
Honestly, I loved this hike. It was super exhausting and I had to eat extra for the days following to make up for all the lost calories, but it only made me want to do more. The scenery was stunning, the trail was diverse landscape-wise and challenging enough to be fun without being scary or too overwhelming. We were never too far from civilization, but especially doing this in the winter when the beaches are quiet, it felt like we were so far from the chaos of normal life. 10/10 recommend, would do again any time.
