The first signpost for the Rota Vicentina in the Algarve will be installed on Monday, 3 September, in Odeceixe.
Once the layout has been implemented in the Alentejo region, it is time to start work in the Algarve. Since the 9th of August, the Via Algarviana management team has been painting the route's signage on natural supports, with the posts now missing.
This large pedestrian route (GR11) with about 340 kilometers from Santiago do Cacém to Cabo de São Vicente is expected to be fully signposted by the end of September. As such, from October it will be a reality, and anyone can walk through it in its entirety.
To mark the moment, the Municipal Councils of Aljezur and Vila do Bispo, the two Algarve municipalities that this route crosses, will join forces and place the first pole in Odeceixe, at 10:00 am on Monday. This is followed by a very short presentation walk, to the Moinho de Odeceixe.
«This solemn moment will serve to mark not only the beginning of the works, but the beginning of the excellent product of Nature Tourism in Costa Vicentina and Southwest Alentejo», emphasize the promoters.
A Rota Vicentina, divided into two routes – the Historical Way, inland, with 241 kilometers and thirteen stages, and the Fishermen's Trail, along the coast, with 115 kilometers -, intends, as Marta Cabral, from Associação Casas Brancas pointed out, «to affirm the region as an international nature tourism destination”.
The result of an application for community funds, which brings together Associação Casas Brancas, as promoter, Associação Almargem (co-promoter), municipalities, the Institute for Nature Conservation and Biodiversity and the Regional Tourism Authority of Alentejo, Rota Vicentina represents an investment of 540 thousand euros.
The process of homologation, by the Federation of Camping and Mountaineering of Portugal, of the Historical Way is in progress, so that it can be integrated in the GR11, a great route of walking routes that connects Sagres to Saint Petersburg, in Russia.
Rota Vicentina is preparing a Field Guide, which will contain all the useful information about the routes.
More advanced is the 1:50.000 scale map, which is being prepared by the Geographical Institute of the Army, and which will contain, for the first time, the two tracks and other support points (accommodation, restoration).
While none of this is ready, those interested in discovering these trails will be able to download them on the website of the Rota Vicentina the map of all stages and GPS coordinates, as well as all other details. But it is possible to go hiking without using this technology, as the route is well marked and very intuitive.
Starting in October, it will be possible to connect Santiago do Cacém to Cabo de São Vicente on foot, along the paths of the Rota Vicentina.
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