Piquihino da Urze to Faja do Cubres

This fine and very varied walk from the high ridge to the sea explores a remote valley, coast and seashore and a traditional fishing village.

Starting from the road at the eastern end of the high ridge at Piquihino da Urze, you enjoy some huge views before dropping into the lovely forested valley which descends towards the Faja da Caldeira de Cima, from which you head west along the coast to soon reach the Faja da Caldeira do Santo Cristo and a very remote traditional village on a wide faja (coastal flat) with a saltwater lagoon.

After a lunch on local clams, head westward on a good track the along the north coast to the roadhead at Faja do Cubres.

Walkopedia friend Jessica Speare-Cole (thanks, Jessica!) says:

We began our trek with a short uphill, then turned down into a gorge, a very slippery, muddy descent towards the sea. We walked beside a stream, through a tunnel of laurel, eventually arriving at a viewpoint over the Caldeiro de Cima. We descended onto the Faja de Santo Cristo, classified as a protected landscape, where we found a bar selling clams from the nearby lagoon, an oasis of calm separated from the crashing Atlantic waves, by a strip of shingle...a surfers’ paradise.  We continued passing two villages abandoned after the 1980 earthquake.  Then began our ascent up a dirt track, harvesting grapes along the way, ending our walk beside a church, Nasa Senhora de Lourdes, at Faja dos Cubres.

This is quite a strenuous walk, with its long descent to the sea.

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For more information and photos, including detailed practical information and some warnings, see our Sao Jorge and Azores walk page.