Alvor Boardwalks

The Ria de Alvor is a small estuary and saltmarsh system behind the dunes west of Portimão, protected as a Natura 2000 site, and a boardwalk of around a kilometre and a half runs from the village across the marsh and dunes to the beach, with interpretive panels and viewing points. It is flat, accessible and takes an hour, and it puts you over habitat that is otherwise impossible to walk on: samphire flats, tidal channels, salt pans and dune. Birds are the point - flamingos, spoonbills, avocets, black-winged stilts, waders in numbers on passage and through the winter, kingfishers in the channels, and the little terns that breed on the dunes. Alvor itself is a fishing village turned holiday town with a quay, restaurants and boats. Winter and the migration periods are far better than summer, when the birds are fewer and the boardwalk busier.

What you actually see

• The boardwalk - about a kilometre and a half of flat walkway over marsh and dune.
• The waders - flamingos, spoonbills, avocets and stilts on the flats.
• The habitat - samphire, tidal channels and salt pans otherwise unwalkable.
• The village - Alvor's working quay and boats at the start of the route.

When to go

September to April for birds, with passage periods best; summer has far fewer. One to two hours. Rising tide pushes birds closer to the boardwalk.

Honest expectations

No shade at all on the boardwalk. Summer brings crowds and few birds. Binoculars are essential - the flats are wide. Sections have been closed for repair after storm damage.

Nearby

Praia de Alvor is at the far end; Portimão and Praia da Rocha are east.