You ride 4-6 hours per day at changing tempos, about 200 km (124 miles) in total.
Minimum number of riders are 4 and the maximum number is 6-8 riders.
Preliminary day-by-day program
Day 1 Arrival. Enjoy a welcome dinner in the evening.
Day 2: After being introduced to your mount for the week, you begin the trail riding north you can see traces of a Neolithic Necropolis before crossing the small fishing village of “Porto Côvo”, where the streets end at the sea. Following the cliff tops from where you can see the many small beautiful beaches that line the coast. Then the terrain flattens and softens for amazing long and enjoyable canters before entering the cork oak forest where you have a long lunch near the ”Morgavel” dam. And while the horses rest, you can have a refreshing swim. After lunch, the ride on the way back is a panorama of unspoiled and vast great plain filled many species of wild flowers. Arriving at the riding centre, the horses take a bath and go to their rest where you can watch them play, while enjoying a drink at the bar, then heading to a typical Alentejo dinner. During this day we created the first contact and knowledge with our friend and brave horse.
Day 3: You ride southwest you will see the delightful scenery of the “Ilha do Pessegueiro” and the impressive Pessegueiro Fort.With the salty Atlantic breeze for company, you reach to the beaches of “Aivados” and “Malhão”, with their impressive dunes and trails of compact sand, ideal for long gallops. You stop for a delicious picnic in a pine forest, surrounded by lavender and thyme. After the well-deserved rest, you'll be invaded by the vast plains, between small towns and sighting mountains, and arrive to the windmill where the cereals were milled in the village of “Cabeça da Cabra”, where the horses overnight. Back to the riding centre, you go to dinner at a time to be arranged.
Day 4: On this day you ride East, passing by centuries-old cork oaks and stone pines we reach the “Campilhas” dam, a freshwater lake where the silence is deep and where only birds are heard, you will enjoy a magnificent picnic by the water. After a nap, you follow the historic trail of the Rota Vicentina, along clay paths between eucalyptus trees and green valleys towards a farm in Serra do Cercal where the horses overnight. Back to the riding centre, you go to dinner at a time to be arranged.
Day 5: Starting from the farm in Cercal you ride through the “Sela Vermelha Valley” where you ride over the ridge of “Cercal”, which gives a spectacular view of the región in all directions,you pass close to the old iron extraction mines of Cercal. You rest for a picnic in the shade of huge centenary cork oaks. In the afternoon, you will do some gallops among the cork oak forests and eucalyptus trees and you will once again reach the goat's head mill where the horses will spend the night. Back to the riding centre, you go to dinner at a time to be arranged.
Day 6: Starting from the windmill you ride direction south and ride through Vale dos Godins, until you reach the sand dunes and the sea. Lunch is served near the town of “Milfontes”. After lunch you will start feeling the salty breeze from the Atlantic while you cross the remote “Malhão” beach with sand dunes from where you can see up to the coastal plain. On the way back you will be amazed at the sparkling clear bluish green waters of the Atlantic Ocean - you ride up the coast and then cross over the coastal plain to reach the farm, where you say goodbye and thank you to the horses and go to the restaurant for the farewell dinner.
Day 7: Breakfast and transfer to the airport.
(Subject to change due to local circumstances.)
(Riding on the beach is prohibited from 1 June until 15 September.)
