Seven Hanging Valleys Trail

About This Route

The Algarve's most famous coastal walk: 5.7 km one way along the Lagoa clifftop between Praia da Marinha and Vale Centeanes, past the Benagil algar, sea arches and seven dry hanging valleys. Officially graded Medium.

Seven Hanging Valleys Trail (PR1 LGA)

The Percurso dos Sete Vales Suspensos is the most walked trail in the Algarve, and with good reason. It runs for 5.7 km one way along the Lagoa clifftop between Praia da Marinha and Praia de Vale Centeanes, crossing seven hanging valleys — dry river mouths left stranded above the sea as the limestone cliffs eroded back beneath them.

It is a linear route, not a loop, marked in both directions to Federação de Campismo e Montanhismo de Portugal standards with yellow-and-red flashes. Almost everyone walks it out and back, which makes the real day 11.4 km.

Verified trail data

Trailhead coordinates: Praia da Marinha 37°05'24.59"N 8°24'46.74"W · Vale Centeanes 37°05'29.31"N 8°27'14.33"W

Note that the widely-quoted "200 m of elevation gain" figure is wrong. The official municipal figure is 360 m D+ one way, and the real out-and-back total is roughly double that.

Waypoints, west to east

Which direction, and how to get back

Both trailheads have car parking, so you can walk it one way and taxi back — roughly a fifteen-minute drive via Carvoeiro. Starting at Praia da Marinha and walking west puts the sun behind you in the morning and finishes closer to Carvoeiro.

If you only have time for part of it, the section between Benagil and Praia da Marinha holds most of the arches, the algares and the best of the cliff scenery. The stretch beyond Alfanzina towards Vale Centeanes is quieter but less spectacular.

The Benagil sinkhole — read this

The algar above Benagil Cave is an open hole in the clifftop with an unprotected drop into the cave chamber below. People have died here. It is fenced, the fence is there for a reason, and no photograph is worth it. The cave itself is only accessible from the water, by boat, kayak or SUP from Benagil beach.

Sea, cliff and heat

The cliffs are unfenced for almost the entire route and the limestone is undercut in places — the ground you are standing on may have nothing beneath it. Stay well back from the edge, particularly at the hanging valleys where the erosion is most active.

There is effectively no shade apart from the pine grove at Alfanzina. In July and August, walk at first light or after five, and carry more water than you think you need. There is no drinking water on the route.

Geology and wildlife

The valleys are old river mouths, cut off as the sea eroded the cliff line back past them — hence "hanging". The algares are sinkholes, where cave roofs have collapsed to open a shaft to the surface.

The Aleppo pine stand near Alfanzina Lighthouse works as an ecological island, holding tits, blue rock thrushes and little owls. Rabbit, Egyptian mongoose and fox are all present in the scrub. Offshore, look for gannets in winter and shearwaters in autumn.

Getting there

Praia da Marinha is signposted from the M1273 off the N125 near Lagoa; the car park is large but fills by 10am from June to September. Vale Centeanes is signposted from Carvoeiro and has a smaller car park.

Route data verified against the official PR1 LGA leaflet (Câmara Municipal de Lagoa / FCMP) and the Algarve Tourism Bureau trail record, August 2026.