Hidden Gems

Alte is a village in the interior of Loulé that many rank among the prettiest and most traditional in Portugal. What defines it is its stream, which runs through the village from Fonte Grande down to Queda do Vigário, where the water drops 24 metres. Along the banks are vegetable plots, irrigation channels, weirs and old watermills, reminders of the days when wheat was ground here and esparto grass left to soak. The springs were also where the village washerwomen met. In the village itself, look for the chimneys, the flowers, the engravings on the walls and the cobbled streets. The parish church and the Pólo Museológico Cândido Guerreiro e Condes de Alte are worth a visit. Cândido Guerreiro, a poet born in Alte, is commemorated at Fonte Pequena. At Fonte Grande there is a natural swimming pool, picnic space and an open-air amphitheatre used for shows.

Ameixial is the northernmost village in Loulé municipality, up in the Serra do Caldeirão, with the EN2 road running through it. It is the seat of its parish and has the basics: a parish office, a cash machine, grocery shops and the church of Santo António. There is ancient heritage all around. The Pedra do Alagar dolmen is close to the village, and further on, by the Pé do Corso spring, stands the Beringel dolmen. The hamlet of Corte do Ouro still has round houses, and ruined windmills dot the hilltops. Walkers have three options. The PR1 is a very easy 4.6 km loop from the leisure park at the village entrance, dropping into the Vascãozinho valley and passing the motorhome park set up in a former cork factory. The PR2 heads for Corte de Ouro. And Link 6 of the Via Algarviana runs 21.9 km to near Barranco do Velho, through cork oak woods, rockrose scrub and strawberry trees. The village hosts the Walking Festival Ameixial.

Barranco do Velho is a village in the Serra do Caldeirão, in the parish of Salir, where the EN2 road crosses the Via Algarviana. This is cork oak country: cork still carries great weight in the local economy, and the Serra do Caldeirão forest producers' association has its headquarters here. The church dates from 1944. The village also has the Casa dos Cantoneiros (the old roadmenders' house), the Fonte Férrea spring and several drinking fountains and old irrigation tanks. At the fountains people still use 'cocharros', cups made of cork. For walkers it is an unavoidable stop. Sector 5 of the Via Algarviana ends here (29.5 km from Cachopo, graded very hard) and Sector 6 begins, running 14 km to Salir and passing early on the Faranhão windmill, with views from the hills to the coast. Link 6, coming from Ameixial, joins the route about 2 km away. For a short outing, the PR17 circles the village in 5.5 km, almost always in the shade of cork oaks. The village has a restaurant, a craft shop and a medronho brandy distillery.

Cortelha is a village in the Serra do Caldeirão, in the parish of Salir, Loulé. It sits on the EN2 road a few kilometres north of Barranco do Velho. Cork is the main source of income for the people who live here and the emblem of these hills. Cork is also what makes the village known at Christmas. At Christmas the residents build a nativity scene of about 70 square metres in the Largo da Associação, using what the hills provide: cork, cane, moss, river stones, rockrose, lavender, strawberry tree and rye straw. It has a windmill and a watermill, and the offerings are local: honey, medronho brandy, almonds and carob. The tradition goes back to 2004, the year Cortelha won the competition for nativity scenes in Algarve villages. The nativity stays up until 6 January, and on the night of 24 December the village lights its Christmas bonfire, the Madeiro.

Fonte Benémola is a 390-hectare protected landscape between Querença and Tôr, in the limestone hills of Loulé. Its great asset is water: the Menalva stream, which further down becomes the Algibre, is fed by springs that keep it flowing along about 60% of its course even in summer. The main ones are 'O Olho' and Fonte Benémola itself. The stream is lined by a dense gallery of willow, ash, poplar and oleander, unusual for the Algarve. Old weirs have been rebuilt and hold back still pools, and you can still see irrigation channels, water wheels with their buckets, a watermill and ruined lime kilns. It is a good place for birds: grey heron, kingfisher, bee-eater, hoopoe and golden oriole among others. Terrapins live in the stretches that hold water all year, and signs of otter turn up from time to time, though the animal itself is rarely seen. The PR16 trail loops round the valley in 4.2 km and passes the spring, where there is a picnic area.

Fonte Grande is the spring where the Alte stream begins its run through the village. The water comes from underground: it belongs to the Querença-Silves aquifer, the largest freshwater reservoir beneath the Algarve, and surfaces here before flowing down to the Queda do Vigário waterfall. It is the busiest spot in Alte in summer. There is a natural swimming pool, space for barbecues and picnics, and an open-air amphitheatre used for shows. For centuries this spring and Fonte Pequena were the meeting place of the village women, who came here to wash clothes and fetch water. Fonte Pequena is about 300 metres away, towards the centre of the village.

Fonte Pequena is one of Alte's two historic springs, on the bank of the stream between Fonte Grande and the village centre. This is where the village honours its poet, Cândido Guerreiro, with a set of tile panels showing his portrait and some of his poems. There is a small leisure area by the water. Like Fonte Grande, it was for centuries a meeting place for the village women, who washed clothes and fetched water here. The water comes from the springs of the Querença-Silves aquifer and runs on down the stream, past vegetable plots, irrigation channels and old mills, to the Queda do Vigário.

Queda do Vigário, also called the Alte waterfall, is a 24-metre drop on the Alte stream, at the opposite end of the village from the springs. The water does not come from recent rain but from underground: it rises at the Alte springs upstream, part of the Querença-Silves aquifer, the largest freshwater reservoir beneath the Algarve. It travels through fractures and cavities in Lower Jurassic limestone and comes to the surface where it meets less permeable rock. Because it carries so much dissolved carbonate, it deposits calcite on the banks and bed of the stream as it meets the air. That is how the tufa the waterfall runs over was formed, and it preserves plant remains: grasses, moss, and olive and oak leaves.

Querença is a small village in the limestone hills of Loulé, with the church of Nossa Senhora da Assunção on its main square. It now belongs to the joint parish of Querença, Tôr e Benafim. The village houses the Pólo Museológico da Água, a branch of the municipal museum dedicated to water. That fits a landscape shaped by streams and springs: the Fonte Benémola protected area lies between Querença and Tôr. The big event of the year is the Festa das Chouriças in January, held in honour of São Luís, protector of animals. There is a mass and a procession with the saint's image, grilled chouriço in the church square and the traditional sausage auction. Two waymarked walks start near Querença: the PR16 Fonte Benémola (4.2 km) and the PR12 7 Fontes (9 km).

Rocha da Pena is a limestone plateau about 2 km long, 7 km from Salir, topping out at close to 480 metres. It sits where the hills meet the Barrocal and is a protected landscape managed by Loulé council. From the top the view takes in the full circle. More than 500 plant species have been recorded here, some of them endemic, medicinal or aromatic, and about 122 bird species have been seen, most of them resident. The stone ramparts on the plateau may date back to the Iron Age. It matters for the geology of the Algarve too: fossils of Metoposaurus algarvensis, a prehistoric amphibian, were found in this area and underpin the Algarvensis Geopark's bid for UNESCO status. The PR18 trail climbs to the plateau and circles it in 6.7 km.

Salir is the main village of the largest parish in Loulé, farming and forestry country where the Barrocal meets the hills. On top of a 256-metre limestone hill are the remains of its castle, a rural fort in the Almohad tradition from the 12th and 13th centuries. The square towers and the walls were built of rammed earth on limestone footings, and the irregular enclosure covered about 4,200 square metres. It served for both defence and housing. Today it contains the Pólo Museológico de Salir. The parish church dates from the 16th century. Salir is the end of Sector 6 of the Via Algarviana, which arrives from Barranco do Velho after 14 km, and it is 7 km from Rocha da Pena. That makes it a good base for walkers: there is a cash machine, a tourist office with a craft shop, and grocery shops.

Tôr is a village in the limestone hills of Loulé, beside the Algibre stream, now part of the joint parish of Querença, Tôr e Benafim. What sets it apart is its bridge. The Ponte Medieval da Tôr has a humpbacked deck carried on five arches; the keystones of the northern arch bear two shields with the Portuguese royal arms, and medieval mason's marks can be seen at the foot of the piers. It was long thought to be Roman, but recent studies point to the late Middle Ages. The earliest reference is a note added to the minutes of the Loulé council meeting of 25 April 1408. It has been a listed municipal monument since 2019. The PR14 walk starts by the church, crosses the bridge and loops round the village in 5.3 km, passing old water wheels and the vineyards of Quinta da Tôr.