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What a day actually asks of you
We do not grade our weeks and we are not going to start. A number out of ten tells you nothing about whether you can do this, and it invites you to be embarrassed by the answer. What follows instead is a plain description of what the walking days ask, written by the leader who runs the week and reviewed at the end of every season.
The specific figures for the week you are reading are in the section above, because they come from the week itself and change when it changes. The ranges below cover all our weeks. If any single line here gives you pause, telephone the desk before you hold a place rather than after — we would far rather talk you into a different week than have you spend one worrying.
Nothing on any of our weeks is compulsory. Every walking day has a shorter version that begins and ends in the village, and choosing it is an ordinary thing that people do — usually about two travellers a week, usually on the longest day.
Distance and surface
Six to twelve kilometres on a typical day, one longer day of up to eighteen. Underfoot is old stone mule path, goat track, cliff-top sand or levada path depending on the week — uneven, occasionally loose, never technical and never requiring a rope, poles or a scramble.
The full pace tableShade, heat and water
Between a third and most of the walking day is unshaded. We are out early, we stop for two hours at midday and we carry water for the group. Even so, these are hot coasts in June and September — read the shoulder-season page before you assume the month is comfortable.
Temperatures month by monthA step-free option
Four of our five weeks have a shorter, step-free alternative on every single day, taken from the village on the flat. The Madeira week does not — levada paths have steps and unprotected drops, and we say so rather than let you find out on the second morning.
Which weeks, day by dayHow far help is
Every base is within 45 minutes of a hospital with an emergency department and 10 minutes of a pharmacy. Your leader carries a first aid kit and a charged phone, and the coast we walk has mobile coverage except for two short stretches, both named in your joining notes.
Ask about a specific week- Typical walking day, across all weeks
- 6–12 km
- Longest single walk offered
- 18 km, on the Alentejo week
- Most ascent on any day we run
- 610 m, on the Madeira week
- Weeks with a step-free option every day
- Four of five
- Furthest any base is from an emergency department
- 45 minutes by road
- Travellers on a week
- 10, plus your leader
Before you hold a place
The price on each date above is per person, land only, two sharing, and it is the price for that departure rather than a from-price. What it includes and what it does not are listed on the week itself, immediately above — those two lists are maintained with the week, which is why we point you at them instead of retyping them here where they would eventually stop being true.
A deposit holds your dated place and the balance falls due before departure. Both figures are on this page, immediately above the dates: the deposit itself, and how many days before departure the balance is payable. They are set per week rather than across the company, which is why they live with the week. Holding a place is free and nothing is charged until you choose to pay the deposit.
Travel insurance is a condition of joining any of our weeks. Your policy must cover emergency medical treatment and repatriation to at least €2 million, walking on unmade paths up to 1,000 metres, and cancellation to the full value of your booking. We ask for the insurer, the policy number and the 24-hour assistance number 45 days before departure.
Price basis
Per person, land only, two sharing. Single rooms are available on every week at the supplement shown on the week itself. Prices are held in euros and are not surcharged after the balance has been paid.
Full pricing termsDeposit and balance
Both are set per week and printed on this page above the dates. Holding costs nothing. The cancellation charge scale, by days before departure, is printed in full in the booking conditions.
Cancellation scalePassports, visas, health
Your responsibility. All five weeks run inside the EU or its outermost regions, so most European travellers need only a valid passport — but check your own government advisory before you book and again before you travel.
Ask the deskMinimum numbers
Every week runs on a stated minimum. If a date has not reached it we tell you at least 60 days before departure, and you choose a transfer at the same price, a 24-month credit or a full refund.
Minimum numbers clause- Contracting entity
- Long Meridian Viagens Lda, NIPC 515 402 118
- Travel registration
- RNAVT 8412 (Turismo de Portugal)
- Insolvency protection
- Fundo de Garantia de Viagens e Turismo
- Booking conditions in force
- Version 2.3, effective 1 March 2026
What is in the price on every week, and what never is
The definitive lists are the ones on the week above — they are kept with the week, so they cannot drift out of date the way a page like this one would. These six are true of all five weeks and are the ones people telephone about.
Your leader, for the whole week
One Long Meridian leader who lives on that coast or has spent at least three seasons on it, present from the arrival transfer to the departure one. Never a different guide each day, and never a local agent you meet for the first time at the airport.
The room, for every night
A room in one family-run hotel or one house we hold for the season, for the whole week. Breakfast every morning, dinner together on the first and last evenings, and the long lunch on every walking day.
Every transfer and boat we ask you to take
Airport transfers on the group arrival and departure days, the ferry or boat on the days the itinerary uses one, and any entry fee to a site the week walks into. No day is quietly an extra.
Flights
Not included and not marked up. Book them yourself once your place is confirmed — we will tell you which arrival window the group transfer meets, and we will tell you if the flight you are considering does not make it.
Travel insurance
Not included and required. Minimum €2 million medical and repatriation, cover for walking on unmade paths to 1,000 metres, and cancellation to the full booking value. Policy number wanted 45 days before you travel.
The single room, drinks and anything you buy
Single rooms exist on every week at the supplement shown on the week itself. Drinks at lunch and dinner, anything in the village and tips are yours — tips are discretionary and never solicited by a leader.
Other dates, in case this one does not suit
The same live board as the weeks page. If the date you wanted on this week is full, another week on the same coast often has one in the same fortnight.
Holding a place is free and charges nothing. You get one email with the reference and the moment the hold expires; if the deposit is not paid by then, the place goes back on sale for someone else.
The six the desk is asked every week
If yours is not here, telephone. We would rather spend ten minutes on the phone than have you spend nine nights on the wrong coast.
Still deciding between two weeks?
Ask for the leader who runs the one you are leaning towards. +351 21 099 4180, 09:00–18:00 WET Monday to Friday.
desk@longmeridian.exampleTwo travellers, on what the difference was
Nine nights and I moved my suitcase twice, both times at an airport. Everything else was on foot from the same blue door. I did not realise how much of a normal holiday is spent in transit until I had one that was not.
Frances Ibbotson
The Mani · May 2026 · Trustpilot verified
What sold me was the access page. It said how much of the day was unshaded, how far the hospital was and where the phone signal stops. Nobody else on my shortlist would put that in writing, and it turned out to be exactly right.
Guy Rasmussen
South-west Sicily · September 2026 · Trustpilot verified
Take the date off sale while you check flights
Hold a dated place and we take it off the board. You get one email with the reference and the time the hold runs out — nothing is charged unless you go on to pay the deposit, and nothing is owed if you let it lapse.
See open dates →Before you go further
Long Meridian Viagens Lda is the principal for every week sold on this site — we are not an agent for anyone else, and no other operator’s licence number applies to your booking. We are registered with Turismo de Portugal under RNAVT 8412 and your money is protected against our insolvency by the Fundo de Garantia de Viagens e Turismo. Every number above can be checked with the body that issued it.