From the Algarve

to — Andorra


February 1st, 2023

Farol do Cabo de São Vicente, near the small town of Sagres in Portugal: the southernmost tip of mainland Europe. From here, the coast goes north. Towards Spain, France, Belgium, the Netherlands and finally towards Norway. On the other side, it goes east. Also towards Spain and France, but then to Italy, Greece and finally Turkey.

We chose to go the latter direction and follow the Algarve and than, at the southernmost point of Europe, turn north. From there, we cross the Iberian Peninsula from south to north, mostly via old pilgrimage routes, heading for the Pyrenees, France and Andorra.

After having hiked over 2000 kilometers last year from the Netherlands through the Ardennes, northern France and across the Vosges, the Jura and the Alps, mostly following the GR5, we have not set a fixed route for this trip, only a rough direction. We will see which path we choose from day to day. However, the final goal is clear to us….

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoIFpX6tC_V/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Again, we are going to document this trip. In the beginning this will be a bit less extensive than at the end of our last trip, but we will try to take beautiful photos along the way and share the stories here. We will also keep data via the app Wikiloc, such as the length of the stages, the altitude profile and downloadable GPX files that can be used in navigation systems or apps to follow the route yourselves. We will desperately need the time to hike and zero-days to get as far as possible toward our ultimate goal: tying this new route to the previous one we ended in Nice. We are not going to accomplish this in one hiking season. Not before the hiking season in the Pyrenees ends and the hunting season in the French mountains starts again. We will get as far as Andorra and leave the last stretch from the Pyrenees to the Alps for another trek. This year's trip has a lot more kilometers, but less altimeters. The many kilometers over the beach, the dry, vast inland areas and the Pyrenees will again provide new challenges. The bar is high, but it will be another beautiful trek, with all roads open to us.

So … put on hiking boots and let's hit the road together!!!