t Scaling the narrow track to Pico’s summit
For such a small country, mainland Portugal has a surprising variety of dramatic scenery. Head out to its islands, far out in the Atlantic, and you’ll find even more stunning examples of why Portugal is a land of natural wonders.
t Scaling the narrow track to Pico’s summit
Portugal’s highest mountain, Pico, is the summit of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The top of a vast underwater volcano, Pico dominates the island in the Azores to which it lends its name. The strenuous 9-hour climb to the summit is only for the energetic.
Covering some 56 km (35 miles) of coastline, the Algarve’s Parque Natural da Ria Formosa is an important wetland area of marshes, saltpans and islets. The park is protected from the sea by a series of sandbars lined with long sandy beaches, making it the ideal spot for sunbathing, swimming, walking and bird-watching.
Portugal’s only national park, the Parque Nacional da Peneda-Gerês covers some 700 sq km (270 sq miles) of wild mountainous and wooded scenery. Remote villages and deep reservoirs are the only reminders of life here. Take a walk through the park to reach the Arado Falls, a series of dramatic waterfalls gushing from the mountainside – the pools are a perfect place to bathe on a hot day.
Journey deep underground into the cavernous Grutas de Mira de Aire, near Porto do Mós. Only 600 m (656 yards) of the whopping 11-km- (7-mile-) long network of caves can be visited, but on your tour you will traverse a series of tunnels and walkways, where you can see stalactites, stalagmites and weird rock formations. The visit culminates at a lake filled with man-made fountains.
Swathes of Madeira are covered in laurel forests so ancient that they are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. To explore them, walk along the levadas from Ribeiro Frio to Portela or take the shorter walk to Balcões, which overlooks the wooded valleys.