Sep 19
We woke up in our hostel, packed up and were en route just after 8am. We backtracked slightly into Vale de Talhe to “The Bakery” for breakfast, where Axel carefully ate all the blueberries and spooned the mascarpone off waffles but didn’t actually eat any waffles – he found a communal toy bin and was busy playing with a giant model horse and bulldozer. We stopped in at a minimercado but it really was mini so we got a plum and a red pepper and moved onwards.
It was about 10km to our first of 3 beaches, and then after today we move off the coast away from. These beaches were gems. We were hoping to hike our bikes across the beach to avoid a 10km detour around an estuary (clearly not doable for a car but we though we might cross it on bikes) but when we got there we realized it was a decent cliff drop off down to the river crossing. So, we enjoyed the view of the other side (~1km) and biked around through the town of Aljezur. We stopped in Aljezur for a grocery bump (and a charging cable we forgot) and headed back to the beach. The way back was actually relatively flat (Woo) along the river valley floor. We stopped for a swim (Ryley and I – “Mama jump over the waves!” says Axel), sand session (Axel) and lunch (cheese and jam sandwiches with a glass-sized carton of wine). These beaches all have big surf schools and lessons happening – the waves look more fun for learning than Tofino. A family from Porto with a toddler came over to chat, saw our wine carton and made some wine recommendations for us – cheap but good, they said!
After lunch and beaching we climbed out of Praia da Amoreira and biked through a town called Rogil – just a water fill up – then we stayed high and relatively flat biking along a single track section next to an irrigation canal. The trail was narrow with these cement bumps and very spiky bushes on the sides so even though it was a very interesting route away from roads and through more farmland, we spent quite a bit of focus looking where we were going and not so much around.
Our last beach of the day was Praia de Odeceixe and when we descended (very) steeply down to the water we saw it was going to be a hit with Axel – a big inlet came in around the beach with its own sandy beach that had no waves. Axel started off playing in the sand but finally found his water bravery and once he was in had a great time playing in the water and sand.
We packed up before sunset to find dinner in Odeceixe – like many of these little towns, restaurants are in a town centre “square”. Simple but great meal of veggie pizza and caprese salad and a little bottle of the rosé our lunchtime friends had recommended.
We stopped about 3km outside of town, just before dark and set up our tent next to our route but just inside a cow “fence” – hoping no one brings in their animals for the night! Axel only had a 1/2h nap today so he was out pretty quickly!
I’m sad to be heading inland, these beaches along the coast have been beautiful, great swim breaks for us and beach breaks for Axel. But, I’m interested to see what a change in the trail brings as we head East!
https://strava.app.link/FLqNJVcp3Mb
that is a small box of wine! I like food pictures-keep them coming. Glad btw that you tried the egg custard pastries-so good right out of the oven. I look forward to the next leg although the beaches are so lovely it seems hard to beat.
I’ve been wondering what kind of snacks you are feeding Axel. All your food pics look so good!