Monchique is a sleepy little town, nestled in the Serra de Monchique (mountain range) overlooking the western Algarve, north of Silves. We have driven there a couple of times, both during the off-season, so we avoided the tourist crowds.
There were blooms everywhere and the views from the approximately 1,300' elevation were outstanding. After our first visit in 2019, a lot of the surrounding mountainscape was burned by wildfires caused by draught and high winds. While evidence of the fires was still visible when we returned in 2024, it was good to see that much of the vegetation had returned. In fact the slopes were covered in wildflowers.
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In our March of 2024 visit, we stopped briefly to walk around Monchique but our primary destination was the nearby village (aldeia) of Alferce. Using European development funds, a new boardwalk had been built there and inaugurated just a few months earlier. It was a beautiful, clear day and the temperature was about 22°C (72°F), perfect for an easy hike. We arrived at the trail head, had a picnic lunch, and then embarked on the hike down the trail to the start of the boardwalk. Its wooden steps skirted one side of the Barranca do Demo and led to a pedestrian rope bridge over a lovely mountain stream. (Only five people are allowed on the bridge at a time, and apparently, you must not cross on your head.) The steps continued up the other side to a lookout -- a total of 563 steps, one way. Besides the dramatic mountain vistas there was nothing else to see; the boardwalk itself was the destination.
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