Inland Algarve Blooms: Walking Festivals Revive Tourism

By Sarah Rodrigues /ANW, Monchique, Portugal – November 29, 2025 –

A series of walking festivals and cultural programmes aim to lure visitors to the Algarve’s woodland interiors and pretty villages to help boost tourism year round.

As forest fires scar the Algarve’s hillsides, a quiet revolution is underway in Portugal’s sun-soaked southern region.

Walking festivals and cultural events are drawing adventurers inland, away from the crowded beaches, to showcase resilient woodlands, ancient villages, and a burgeoning eco-tourism economy.

With visitor numbers up 2.6% in 2024, local leaders hope these initiatives will sustain year-round tourism and stem youth exodus from rural areas.

The Algarve, long synonymous with golden sands and high-rise resorts, is pivoting toward its rugged interior.

Stretching it out at Walk & Art Fest.

The Algarve Walking Season (AWS), a consortium of five themed festivals from November to April, is at the forefront.

Themes like “water,” “archaeology,” and “art” blend guided hikes with workshops, aiming to redistribute tourist dollars and highlight biodiversity hotspots.

“We’re not just selling walks; we’re selling stories of regeneration,” said Joana Almeida, a botanist and guide with AWS, during a recent “Walk & Art Fest” in Barão de São João.

The festival, held over a weekend in late November, drew over 200 participants to the national forest of Barão de São João, a 5,000-hectare expanse hit hard by September’s wildfires.

Hikers on the Via Algarviana.

Almeida led a group along the Pedra do Galo trail, pointing out star-of-Bethlehem flowers that had erupted overnight amid the ash.

“Nature rebounds fast here,” she noted, crouching beside the delicate white blooms.

Strawberry trees, with their fire-resistant bark, dotted the path, outpacing invasive eucalyptus that fueled the blazes.

Volunteers, coordinated by local NGOs, are now planting native oaks to bolster the ecosystem.

“It’s hands-on rewilding,” Almeida added, as participants sketched wildlife motifs on standing stones – a nod to the festival’s artistic bent.

At the tile painting workshop.

Fire recovery is a stark backdrop. Portugal’s 2025 wildfire season, exacerbated by drought and climate change, charred over 100,000 hectares nationwide, including swaths of the Algarve’s Monchique range.

Yet, amid the char, optimism flickers. The lynx population, once on the brink, is rebounding thanks to a rehabilitation center in nearby Silves.

Hedgehogs and frogs thrive in limestone ponds, their throats pulsing like tiny beacons.

In the distance, wind turbines spin lazily, symbolizing a green energy push that locals say could fund more conservation.

The AWS festivals are more than treks; they’re economic lifelines. Algarve’s tourism board reports beach-centric arrivals dominate, with 7.1 million visitors last year, but inland sites see just 20% of that traffic.

A pastel-pretty street in Monchique.

By linking hikes to apps like the Via Algarviana – a 300-kilometer trail from Spain’s border to the Atlantic – organizers make exploration accessible.

“We’ve waymarked 50 new offshoots in two years,” said Francisco Simões, founder of ecotourism firm Algarvian Roots.

His company, launched in 2020, offers birdwatching and full-day immersions, partnering with artisans like his mother, ceramicist Margarida Palma Gomes.

On a crisp November morning, Simões guided hikers through Monchique, the Algarve’s highest town at 500 meters, flanked by Fóia (902m) and Picota (774m) peaks.

The group descended cobbled lanes past pastel houses, into cork oak groves where bark harvest sustains families.

Portugal produces 50% of the world’s cork, a fire-retardant resource vital for wine seals and insulation.

Each tree bears etched numbers tracking its nine-year regrowth cycle, a tradition since the 13th century.

But threats loom: screw-cap wines erode demand, and younger locals shun the labor-intensive harvest.

“Drink cork-sealed wine – it’s our SOS,” Simões quipped, as the group toasted with local vintages.

The trail looped to a magusto festival, Monchique’s annual chestnut roast. Smoke curled from firepits as multi-generational crowds – wine cups in hand – scooped roasted nuts into paper bags.

Tinny folk tunes blared, children shrieked, and elders shared liqueur thimbles.

“This is Algarve soul,” said resident Ana Costa, 68, her face soot-streaked. The event, timed for November’s harvest, underscores cultural continuity amid change.

Azulejo tiles on nearby walls depicted such traditions, painted in workshops where visitors like the group learned blue-and-white glazing techniques.

Challenges persist. Rural depopulation is acute; one in five under-30s leaves for Lisbon jobs, per regional stats.

Tourism, employing 25% of Algarve’s workforce, must diversify. AWS events, free or low-cost, include tai chi, ink-making from botanicals, and child-friendly safaris.

A photography exhibit at Barão’s cultural center captured the forest’s duality: charred trunks versus verdant regrowth. “We’re luring families, not just retirees,” said AWS coordinator Rita Mendes. Early data shows a 15% uptick in off-season bookings.

Broader efforts amplify the push. Visit Algarve funds trail maintenance and apps integrating AR wildlife guides.

Partnerships with EU rewilding grants plant 10,000 trees annually. “Fires exposed vulnerabilities, but they also spotlight strengths,” Mendes said.

British tourists, the largest group post-Brexit, are responding: a 2025 survey by ABTA notes 30% seek “authentic” experiences over sunbathing.

As the sun dipped behind Fóia, the hikers paused at a viewpoint. Below, the Atlantic gleamed; above, pines whispered resinous secrets.

Almeida’s words echoed: each walk reveals anew. For the Algarve, that’s the real draw – a landscape, and economy, regenerating one step at a time.