Odeceixe – Aljezur – Arrifana
May 14, 2026
After four full days walking along the coast, today the Fisherman’s Trail would lead us inland towards the mountains. As beautiful as the coastline is, I was looking forward to a change in scenery. I ate a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, then set off from Odeceixe following a road back to the coast.
Walking along gravel roads past farms with fields of crops and bright yellow flowers, it reminded me of walking the Camino in Spain. I stopped for a break at a cafe where several other hikers were gathered. The German man was there along with a younger German woman, and we had a great time talking about the various trails we had walked.
I walked the remainder of the day with the German man. We were both pretty tired by the time we could see Aljezur in the distance. We would have to descend a long hill before we arrived in town. Aljezur is a beautiful mountain town overlooked by the ruins of a castle. A river divides the town into two sections that were formed on either side of a fault line. I followed the narrow, steep streets until I found the bridge to cross over the river to the other side of the town to my accommodation.
Where I stayed:
In Aljezur, I had booked a private room at Casa Rocha Relax. This was my first experience staying in a shared apartment. The first challenge was finding the place. Google Maps had taken me up a residential street and had me standing in front of a row of houses, but there were no signs to indicate which door was the right one. Eventually, a woman came out of a business across the street and pointed me through a gate and up a flight of stairs, where a gentleman greeted me.
The apartment was nice and my room was right next to a bathroom. There was also a washing machine so I could do laundry. Once I had showered and hung my clothes out to dry, I walked a few blocks to a supermarket where I bought food to prepare for dinner that night and breakfast and lunch the next day. I booked the room on Booking.com and paid $64.
Day 6: To Arrifana
May 15, 2026
The streets were quiet as I started the steep climb out of Aljezur. I contemplated taking the path up to the castle on my way out of town, but decided to keep going. I later learned that all that remained of the ruins was the wall that had surrounded the castle on top of the hill (left). The Fisherman’s Trail follows the Historical route in this section away from the coastline. I really enjoyed the mountains and trees during this stretch.
A long, steep ascent of an adjacent mountain gave fantastic views back towards the castle with Aljezur now out of sight. After a long road walk and a walk through what I assumed was a village of vacation condos, we were back on the coast! We were finally off the road and back on the sandy trails along the cliffs.
Eventually, I could see the seaside town of Arrifana in the distance. It will be no surprise that getting there involved a long downhill followed by a steep climb into town. This was the busiest town I’d been in up to this point. I made my way to the public beach that was crowded with surfers and beach-goers. I saw Debbie, and we decided to have lunch at a nearby cafe. My hostel was a short distance from there, so after lunch I headed over to check in.
Where I stayed:
I stayed at the Hi Arrifana Destination Hostel. This was, by far, the largest hostel I stayed at the entire hike. I believe it’s part of a chain of hostels with a larger staff, a pool, a lounge area, and a bar. They have a strict check-in time, so several of us were waiting an hour or so before we could get to our rooms. Each room has two bunk beds and requires a code to enter. After showering, I decided to get dinner at the bar and went to bed early. The location is perfect as it’s right on the Fisherman’s Trail on the main coastal road. I booked my reservation on Booking.com and paid $36 for my bunk.