As the summer heat starts to fade if you are like me it becomes more and more appealing to take some of the beautiful walks that are possible from Praia da Luz.
One of the loveliest is to walk from Luz over to Lagos via the clifftop path.
To start the walk it is best to head down from Apartamento Azul to the beach and then turn left along the back of the beach, through the parking area and then up the road that runs from here to the lower level of the 2 plateaux at the eastern end on Praia da Luz. This is a pretty cobbled street with lovely villas and apartments along its length. At the first plateau you will have a modern villa in front, largely hidden by trees and fencing. Up to your right you will see the 'monument' which is a landmark overlooking Praia da Luz. It is a trigonometry point for maps and is properly known as Vértice Geodésico da Atalaia (Atalaia being the area on top of the plateau)
The 'monument' is the next destination on your walk. From the lower plateau you will be able to see several routes to walk up to the monument. The most direct, which is pretty much straight up, is quite steep and is more of a clamber than a walk. There are several alternative more gentle paths if you head slightly inland from the monument and through the bushes although it is fair to say that all are relatively steep.
This is definitely the most testing part of the walk over to Lagos so don't be put off, from the monument onwards is much easier! At the top you will be delighted that you have made the effort to get there as the views are spectacular. Looking west you have great views of Praia da Luz itself, but also on a clear view you can see for miles along the coast. There are also great views down to the Rocha Negra.
From here onwards the walk definitely gets easier. There are some much more gentle ups and downs, but essentially there is approximately 2-3km of relatively flat walking before a much more gentle descent to the beach of Porto de Mos. All along this easy relaxing clifftop walk there are spectacular sea and cliff views. Please take care and stay back from the edges and keep young children's hands tightly held and dogs on a lead. Porto de Mos is the most westerly Lagos beach.
Porto de Mos is a long wide beach with a couple of excellent beach bars/restaurants; O Antonio at the end nearest Praia da Luz and Campimar further along-both recommended (by me!!!)
You can take your choice and have a great lunch here before walking back to Luz or continue walking further into Lagos.
More walk description continuing along the coast soon!