Portugal could soon boast the longest circular hiking route in the world if plans to create a 3,000-km loop go ahead. The man behind the idea, walking enthusiast and communication design consultant Ricardo Bernardes, wants to develop the Palmilhar Portugal (Walking Portugal) trail, a so-called “360-degree route” that would cross up to 100 coastal, southern, northern and frontier districts around the country.
First section to open in July
Local councils will partner for the project, with the first, the town of Alenquer north of Lisbon, set to inaugurate the first section in July 2024. Alentejo in the centre of the country will come on board next, followed by the northern region of Trás-os-Montes, but Bernardes needs a third of the country’s districts to take part and costs could reach €3.5 million.
The idea came to me when I was walking along a trail and wondered, what if this trail went round the whole country and returned to the same point without interruption?
Ricardo Bernardes
As well as the health and well-being benefits the trail could bring, according to Bernardes, it would play an important role in boosting sustainable tourism, drawing tourists away from over-exploited or crowded locations, and promoting awareness of other parts of Portugal’s offer. It would encourage “domestic and foreign tourists to discover the best that the country has to offer in terms of heritage, landscape, fauna, flora, customs and traditions,” he said, adding that “Above all, it will redistribute tourism to parts of Portugal that are currently little known, thus creating a much more geographically heterogeneous tourist interaction.”
Cultural and sporting potential
The trail has the potential to join forces with hospitality businesses, hotels and vineyards, as well as national and international events such as hiking and cycling competitions or art and music festivals. Bernardes also notes that it could “play an active role in territorial cohesion and in mitigating tourist seasonality in various regions”, adding that he hoped to involve “cultural and sporting organisations as well as hotels and restaurants”.
While the trail would be the world’s longest loop, it would roughly match the length of Europe’s Via Francigena, the historic pilgrimage route to Rome, and would be dwarfed by the world’s longest hiking trail: Canada’s 14,912-mile (24,000-km) “Great Trail”, opened in 2017 and traversing the country from coast to coast as well as takingin the Rocky Mountains and Mackenzie River.
