05/07/18 – 06/07/18 Aljezur, Alentejo
Aljezur is one of those places that can be easily overlooked when planning an itinerary……read most published travel write-ups and they tend to cover the place in a couple of paragraphs.
Like many places along Portugal’s West Coast in the Alentejo region, Aljezur has so far escaped the onset of big tourism and remains a place frequented by surfers and those wanting to get off the tourist trail of the Algarve less than an hours drive to the South.
Our stay here was only brief but none-the-less memorable for it. Upon arrival we made a bee-line for Praia da Amoreira, approximately 7 kilometers from the town (the last 5 km along a Moho-shaking dirt track enough to give us both a headache by the time we arrived.) That said, being greeted by a wide stretch of sand with only a single restaurant and a lifeguard/surf shack on the beach the headaches soon shifted as we took it in turns to sunbathe whilst the other stayed with Marley in the Moho.
There was no overnight parking at the beach, so after a couple of hours of topping up our tans, we braved the journey back into the town.
For some reason, on the journey back the sat nav took us a different way back. Something about the route didnt quite feel right again…..what was it I said about trusting my gut over….some half mile down an old cobbled road it became far too tight and one local coming in the opposite direction started waving ‘too wide, too wide!’ So another half mile of reversing and we were back on track, and heading for the town.
We got parked up after asking the local GNR (Portuguese Police) about where we could stay – ‘at back’ he said pointing towards the towns market building, it was a slightly dodgy looking run down, smelly carpark but we were keen to go explore the town so decided to chance it anyway.
The castle on top of the hill dates back to the Moors in the 10th Century and is little more than a ruin today, but the walk up though the old town with its steep winding roads and staircases cutting between the tiny houses was well worth the trip itself. Not to mention the panoramic views over the surrounding valleys once you finally reach the summit.
The only negative thing we experienced was the abundance of cats – we have nothing against cats but they turn Marley into this possessed demon-dog ready to hunt them down (Or at least get very agitated and bark at them until his throat cant take it anymore.)
Working our way back down and through the town, there are a number of restaurants and a very relaxed vibe – you could easily spend a few days here just going to the beach and trying the local establishments – there was even a vegetarian restaurant, although we had already eaten before we spotted it. D’oh
