Walking and Hiking

For walking and hiking there are several possibilities:

1. Walking on your own device. We gladly give options and route descriptions for beautiful walks. You also find a wide range of hiking maps and books.

2. Various organized Guided Walks within the beautiful environment around or near our Casa. Annelies will explain you enthusiastically interesting things about Monchique, her surroundings and Portugal. Delightful Hiking Excursions in and around The Art of Joy and in the nearby area. We can also organize tailor-made walking tours for you.
Price € 15, - p.p. for a half day and € 25, - p.p. for a full day excursion in the area of Monchique excluding lunch. For excursions to the South or the West Coast, we charge  € 35, - for a whole day excursion EXCLUSIVE lunch. This for groups with a minimum of 4 persons.

Organized guided walking tours in our beautiful area: A huge variety of guided walks are organized throughout the year and will take place in the morning after breakfast. A half day tour will be approximately 2,5 hours hiking. Every day we will choose different landscapes. There is a wide variety of scenery in the immediate vicinity of Monchique. Such as: the various walks in the West, North or East side of the mountain Foia with green views across the Algarve towards the Atlantic. The hike to the summit Picota is very different and winds through original hamlets and comes along cork oak orchards. This walk is a bit exciting for people with vertigo; however the view is worth your while. Outside the summer months; the popular walk through the valley of Monchique to the sacred well Fonta Santa. You will cross many streams and walk along donkey trails through the Garden of Eden with orange, strawberry, plum and peach orchards. In September and October you can extend your breakfast on figs. There is also a varied walk which leads to the thermal baths of the picturesque village of Caldas de Monchique. Annelies is very fond of her surroundings and she knows to tell you many ins and outs of the population and interesting facts about the area. During the walks you can savour plums, figs, peaches and oranges which grow at the sides of the trails. The guided walk often finishes in a nice tearoom O Cha La, where you can taste fresh juices, bagels, scones, homemade New York cheesecake, carrot cake, herbal tea from the garden and good coffee. You can also choose to make a day excursion to walk along the rugged and pristine West Coast with a stopover in the original Portuguese beach village of Monte Clérigo and eat delicious fresh Portuguese pastries. Here you will find yourself back in the fifties. We recommend a walking tour to the South Coast with its beautiful golden rock formations. A trip to Silves takes you to orange groves to freely pick oranges and enjoy the Moorish town of Silves.

3. A Yoga-Hiking week from the 3rd until the 10th of May and from the 21st until the 28th of September 2013 and an all-inclusive Hiking Week from 20th until 27th of December 2013 through a big variety of landscapes. Ask us for details and our program!

4. Coaching while walking. Walking together with your coach Annelies in nature while you focus on your question about your private life or career. We will draw a solution based program with which you can start to make steps towards your goals.