Hello all! My boyfriend and I are traveling to Spain and Portugal this coming January. We have heard great things about the Rota Vicentina ( a trail along the southwest coast of Portugal) and would love to do some hiking there! We are interested in the Fisherman's Trail and would like to spend roughly three days on the trail. I want to find the most scenic parts of the trail to maximize our time (judging from blogs, etc Almograve- Zambujeira do Mar- Odeceixe seem like the most recommended portions of the trail).
We would also like to explore Lisbon for about a day (and possibly Lagos, however Im not sure we will have time for that) We will be traveling to Portugal from Rota, Spain (where our friend who we are visiting lives), and we will have about 5 days total for the Portugal portion of our adventure (including Lisbon and Rota Vicentina- I know this is a short amount of time, but I am trying to make the most out of it!) I have looked at several blogs about the trail as well as the official website and it looks as though it has a traveler friendly set up (with stops strategically placed in little towns with hotels, etc).
One question I have is whether anyone has traveled in this area in the winter. It sounds like the weather will be possibly rainy but not too terribly cold. Im not sure whether less will be open at that time of year though.
I also wanted to know if anyone has any input regarding transportation to and from the small towns along the trail- we will be coming from Rota and probably ending in Lisbon, then flying over to Barcelona from there. How would you suggest traveling between these places?
Also, any input regarding how to maximize our short amount of time between doing some of the Rota Vicentina trail and spending about a day to explore Lisbon would be greatly appreciated!