This route travels mainly through the Alentejo region and then into the Algarve. The Alentejo is a region in southern Portugal that covers a huge area of around a third of the country, stretching south from the Rio Tejo to the northern mountain ranges of the Algarve. The name, Alentejo, derives from the words além do Tejo, beyond the Tejo River. This is Portugal’s garden, the bulk of the region given over to huge cork plantations, wheat fields, and vineyards – and though much of it is flat, this route finds the hills and twisty roads that are close to the Spanish border. It also offers unexpected surprises, from ancient standing stones and Roman ruins to superbly sited hilltop castles and more recent wonders of modern technology.
For most visitors, the region’s major draws are its towns, and this route starts from the spectacular fortified town of Evora, whose Roman temple, medieval walls and cathedral have put it firmly on the tourist circuit. Elsewhere in Alto Alentejo (Upper Alentejo), you’ll find the dazzling hilltop villages of Monsaraz and Mourão nestling alongside the Alqueva Reservoir, one of the largest artificial lakes in Europe, built on the River Guadiana. It has a reservoir of 250km2 and covers five Alentejo municipalities. The pleasantly provincial town of Moura, 50 km south of Monsaraz, is a surprisingly opulent place full of grand mansions, pretty squares and pedestrianized shopping streets and an ideal place for a quick coffee stop before heading to Serpa, another hilltop town that offers the classic Alentejan attractions – a walled centre, a castle, and narrow, whitewashed streets of handsome bougainvillea-clad houses and lush gardens. You will pass the 11th century aqueduct that is incorporated into the city walls to the south of the main entrance and you can also see the 17th century pump house for the huge wheel pump that was used for pumping water to the Palacio dos Condes de Fichalo. The town has at various times been occupied by Celts, Romans and Moors, and its highest point is capped by the remnants of its Castelo. The delight of Serpa is in wandering its quiet, little-visited streets that spread just a few hundred metres within the encircling walls. Centre of the settlement is the Praça da República, with its appealing cafés, while arched gates provide access to the more modern town beyond.
As the route progresses further south, the next town is Mértola, as beautifully sited as any town in the south, set high on a spur above the confluence of the Guadiana and Oeiras rivers, guarded by the ruins of a Moorish frontier castle. It makes a fine place to stop for lunch with a good selection of cafes and restaurants. Mértola’s history goes back as far as Phoenician times, when it was an important river port, and it was later fortified and expanded by both Romans (as Myrtilis) and Moors (Martulah), before being taken by Dom Sancho II in 1238 as part of the Christian Reconquest. With the walled town occupying such a small area, successive conquerors and settlers simply built on what they found, which provides Mértola with its current fascination – the evidence of thousands of years of habitation visible in almost every building and street.
While travelling through the southern Alentejo, you’ll pass mile upon mile of cork oak groves – so it may come as no surprise to learn that the district provides around fifty percent of the world’s entire supply of cork. It has been an important Portuguese export since the late nineteenth century and a major crop for over seven hundred years.
The roads and landscapes that this route uses could not have been designed better for touring through, offering the user many twists and turns and spectacular scenery along it's entirety.
Leaving Alentejo and entering the Algarve at RP 29, the landscape becomes even more hilly and the roads more twisty, ideal for those travelling on two wheels. This route just gets better and better as it travels south to Faro.