Caminho do Xisto de Fajão

Yesterday we visited a tiny village in the mountain range, Serra do Açor, called Fajao. There is a 4km walk from the village that we found details from at the Aldeias do Xisto website.



On the drive up into the mountains the views were, as usual, fabulous. We were above the cloud in the valleys below.

The walk on the website is described as facil (easy) but compared to the Benfeita walk that we did (that was medio - dificil) the Fajao walk was more strenuous. So, in our opinion, this should be at least medium to difficult as well.

The length of the walk is only 4km but the terrain is quite challenging in some parts, and taking it at a leisurely pace with time for picture taking and a butty stop, allow yourself 3 hours.

The weather was overcast but dry, and there was barely any wind, though as the afternoon wore on we could see the clouds beginning to brush the tops of the mountains near by. The walk would not have been as enjoyable in the mist, but the trail was fairly well waymarked so there was not much danger of getting lost. There is also a path that splits the 4km walk into two to allow a faster descent if required. The whole time we were on the mountain walk we never saw anyone else.

We recommend doing the whole 4km walk. The views are fantastic and the rock formations awesome. Jon felt that the rock was a bit too loose to do any actual rock climbing or scrambling (that we might have considered doing on another day, with all the proper equipment).