The Municipality of Albufeira has a new pedestrian route and challenges residents and tourists to discover the Old Town of the city. It is an urban circuit, with a main route and three complementary routes, which allows those who like to walk to discover the history, heritage and main points of interest in the area.
The Old Centre Route starts and ends at the Albufeira Municipal Tourism Office, where hikers will find a totem with all the explanation of the route, distance, altitude, heritage to visit and floor plates to follow, the which are fixed to the floor. It is a circular route, with 7.1 km, level II (Easy), with 3 options for those who do not want to cover the entirety.
From the Municipal Tourism Office, located next to the main entrance to the city, take a detour towards the Chapel of Nossa Senhora da Orada, patron saint of fishermen, and the Marina area, before departing to discover the statue of the Blessed Vicente and the churches of Sant'Ana, São Sebastião (Museum of Sacred Art) and Igreja Matriz. In the former Praça de Armas, now Praça da República, observe the magnificent Clock Tower, ex-Libris of Albufeira, take a break and get ready to visit the Municipal Archeology Museum. After the visit, you can choose to take a short path along Rua da Battery until you find the route next to Porta de Sant'Ana, or follow the main route, which passes through the Chapel of Misericórdia and the old Albergaria building, before reaching the remains of the old Castle Wall. Walk down Rua João de Deus to downtown, then head towards Largo Engº Duarte Pacheco and visit the Pintor Samora Barros Art Gallery. We are almost at the end, now go to Cais Herculano, discover the place of the old Praça do Peixe, right on the sand of Praça dos Pescadores and, before returning to the starting point, visit the monument to the Fisherman, a tribute to the Municipality to the people of Albufeira and fishing traditions.
The route is already available at the Albufeira Pedestrian Routes APP and brochures can be requested at all tourist offices in the county. Soon, explanatory panels will also be installed with detailed information in Portuguese, English and Braille on the main monuments and equipment along the route.
This and all other walking routes in the county have been integrated into a mobile App called 'Percursos Pedestres de Albufeira', available for IOS and Android devices. To access, simply "download" the application from your App store.
