Individual

Discover the country side of the Algarve where time has stood still.

You like walking along the coast or do you prefer a more challenging route in the green mountains?

Choose for a full week or our short cycle break.

A 2 day walking break for 4 walkers, starts at € 119 per person, with accommodation, breakfast, walking routes and return transfers included!

You´re only worry is which route you walk that day.

Rural Guesthouse

You will stay in a 400 year old manor house in a double room with your private bathroom. This well maintained guesthouse, is officially classified as “Rural Guesthouse” in Portugal.

The 5 spacious rooms have wooden floors and original tiles in the bathroom with shower/bath and toilet.

It has a shared living room and dining room, both with fireplaces, where you can easily meet other guests. The common kitchen is fully equipped with microwave, water kettle and coffee machine. The guesthouse has a 8 x 4 meter sized swimming pool in a cosy patio garden where it is great to relax after a day walking.

Here you can “come home” after a short tour or intensive walking day. Relax in the common room with a nice glass of wine, next to the fireplace. The sub-tropical garden has some cosy corners where you can relax, read a book or use the free swimming pool. You can also decide to make a stroll through the village, and have a drink in one of the small Portuguese bars where all the locals gather after their working day.

Authentic Portuguese village

Mexilhoeira Grande (see map) is a small and authentic Portuguese village, at a distance of 1.5 km of the coast.

The village has 3 good, but small restaurants with tasty local food.

Fresh fish, shellfish from the Ria de Alvor, cataplanas and local meat dishes are served every day of the week. 1 km outside of the village you can also find a good pizzeria.

Besides 3 small supermarkets for your daily groceries there is also a bank, a post office & bakery located in the village.

The guesthouse is situated on the main square in the centre, opposite to the church. 1000 meter south from the village you will find the nature conservation area Ria de Alvor, protected by “Nature 2000″. Flamingos, storks and rare bird species stay here in wintertime.

Walk around this lagoon, visit salt pans and sand banks where local fishers find their shellfish, or just have a swim.

In this area, the voluntary nature conservation centre, A Rocha, opens its doors every Thursday morning to inform you about the importance of the Ria de Alvor. There is no entrance fee, but we recommend a small donation for their good work.

The walking routes

From this guesthouse five well worked out walking routes are available. You can choose between walking to cities like Portimão and Lagos, to go to the mountains or the west coast nature park. A cultural walk in and around Silves is a must do.

These routes are able to do for people who have some walking experience. All routes are also defined by difficulty grade and vary in distance between 15 – 19 kilometers.

In general we see most of our guests walking 2 hours in the morning, and 2 hours in the afternoon, depending on temperature, level of fitness and speed.

Fitness level required nº 2, difficulty A for the coastal & city routes.

Fitness level required nº 2, difficulty C for the mountain route.

Fitness level required nº 2, difficulty B for the west coast route.

Prices and what is included

In this cycling week you can combine some great walking tours, with exploring the Portuguese culture and nature. Prices for minimum 2 people start at € 419 p.p. This includes:

– 7 nights in a double or twin room with bathroom in Rural Guesthouse in Mexilhoeira Grande

– 7 x breakfast

– Private return airport transfers, Faro – Mexilhoeira Grande v.v.

– 7 days assistance on what-to-do in the Algarve

– 6 road books with descriptions of different routes, all starting from your guest house

– return transfers from the end of your walk, back to the guest house

The price mentioned above is based on sharing a double room and is valid when your stay is before 1st March 2012 – please contact us for a single room or sharing with 3 people in the month you wish.

Weekends and short breaks are now available! A 2 day walking break starts at € 119 per person, with accommodation, breakfast, walking routes and walking transfers included!