Algarve Walking Tour Ria Formosa

ALGARVE WALKING TOUR. The Algarve walking tour is a guided walk in the wonderful Ria Formosa Natural park. What better way to truly feel the area than on foot. An expert walking guide is there to make sure you don´t get lost! Sometimes simple is best!

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Walking Tour in the Ria Formosa

The Ria Formosa Guided Walk

Lets discover some of the most interesting woodlands, salt marshes and saltpans of the Ria Formosa Natural Park!

  • LED BY A NATURE TOUR GUIDE
  • USE OF BINOCULARS INCLUDED
  • LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY EASY
  • DURATION 3 HOURS
  • AFTERNOON DEPARTURE
  • FAMILY FRIENDLY
  • STARTING POINT QUINTS DO LAGO
  • TRANSPORTATION AVAILABLE ON REQUEST, SEND ENQUIRY FOR QUOTATION
  • SENSIBLE SHOES REQUIRED

Don't forget the sun block and some drinking water!

 

GROUPS   €120   (1 - 4 PEOPLE)
SUPPLEMENTAL CHARGE €25/PERSON FOR  5 - 6 PEOPLE

 

Our walk starts in Quinta do Lago area with an excellent view over the lagoon, the marshes and the well preserved dunes of the Ria Formosa, one of the most important wetlands in Europe.

During the low tide one can observe the typical vegetation of the marshlands and the wealth of the fauna. Animals like the Fiddler crab are common such as numerous waterfowl that are looking for small organisms on the tidal flats.

The trail continues through areas of pine woodlands where you may encounter many passerines as well as several aromatic plants. With luck we may even find the chameleon - a reptile that only exists in the south of Portugal.

We arrive at the fresh water pond and make a stop at the bird hide. This is an excellent spot to look for the Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) aprotected species that was elected the symbol of this Natural Park. After our stop at this excellent site for birding we continue our trail towards a complex of salt pans where you can learn more about the tradition of salt extraction.

The saltpans in the Algarve are famous due to the quality of its salt and also for the Flor de Sal. While you learn that this area is responsible for an important share of salt production in Portugal, our guide will try to find the colourful flamingos as well as the Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus), Avocet (Recurvirostra avosetta) and the Kentish Plover (Charadrius alexandrinus).

After this last stop, we begin our journey back observing passing the local people working in the clam and oyster farms by the wonderful Ria Formosa scenery.