Time to move from sea to land. It was noon, the sun was out, there was a cool breeze and I was all fuelled up…so why not go for a hike! I made it to the trail and what a beautiful sight...I know I said this a lot on this journey.
It’s such a nice opportunity to be able to have different perspectives of the same thing and this is exactly what happened today. From the ocean you felt so tiny looking up at these massive cliffs and from the top, they took on a different type of majestic feel...not because of their height so much, but because of their expansiveness and real beauty.
The trail to Marinha Beach is part of the Seven Hanging Valleys trail and as I mentioned before, about a 2 km walk from Benagil Cave. The trail itself is marked, with some railings along the way, some rough terrain and lots of twists and turns. All over you saw signs warning about the cliff’s edge and how erosion has made them unstable.
The trail was full of people walking in both directions, but it never felt too crowded. Everyone was taking in the beautiful views with a new beach or cliff to take a photo of from different angles. Lots of selfies were being taken by everyone.
From the top, you could see all the tour boats, kayakers, SUPs and beach goers. The views of Benagil Cave from the top was nothing as spectacular from inside. In fact, if you stayed behind the barrier you can barely see anything through to opening...but there were lots of people standing close to the edge trying to get a better look.
It was pretty hot by the time I arrived at Marinha Beach 45 minutes later, so I bought an ice cream and decided to head down to the beach to check out what all the fuss was about this place. The beach itself was not huge, but a good size and the sand was more of a yellow colour, but not overly soft to walk on.
Like most things here, the walk down was pretty far and of course you always have to climb back up. I was planning to stay for a while to rest and then do the entire 6 km trail that starts from here, but I was still tired from kayaking and the sun was zapping me of my energy. So I found a sheltered section inside a cave and took a quick breather before heading back up.
New plan was to walk back to Benagil to my car and then head to the Old Town of Lagos to look around and have dinner. The nice thing about doing a trail in both directions are the views...they really can be so different depending on the time of day and angle you are at.
I made it back to my car and was back on the road by 3pm. In Lagos I found free parking behind the marina...always important...and headed off to check out a bit of Lagos and Old Town that was partially walled.There is a large marina in the heart of Lagos and like most marinas in tourist towns, there were lots of tours, restaurants and shops all along the boardwalk.
I slowly found my way to Old Town and strolled through many of the tiny side streets taking in the sights.
I did a bit of shopping, listened to some great buskers music, found some street art and just simple, beautiful things.
At one point I was pretty tired, so I took a break at this cute little restaurant that made the most delicious fresh and healthy smoothies. I love finding places like this and just sitting and taking in the environment.
After strolling around for a bit more I finally found a restaurant for dinner....enjoyed another Aperol Spritz, which I figured out was made with Prosecco, aperol, soda and orange. I think this is officially my new favourite drink.
After finishing dinner, I headed back to may car and found my way back to Luz to relax for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow I am dropping off my car and leaving the Algarve, but not before exploring a bit of the west coast.
Until then...share in the experience.
Lisa
