Fishermen’s Trail Difficulty: How Hard Is It Really? (Honest Assessment)

Planning the Fishermen’s Trail and wondering if you’re fit enough? Here’s my honest take — as someone who had never done a multi-day hike before. 

I’m 45. Before the Fishermen’s Trail, my longest hike was a single day in the Alps — maybe 1,200 metres of elevation gain, back home for dinner. No multi-day experience, no long-distance trail under my belt. I had no idea what I was getting into.

Here’s what I found out.

The Short Answer

If you regularly hike full days in the mountains, you can do the Fishermen’s Trail. The elevation is not the challenge here — it’s everything else. The sand, the weight on your back, the heat, and the cumulative effect of doing it day after day. None of it is insurmountable, but all of it will surprise you if you’re not prepared.

What’s Actually Difficult — And What Isn’t

The elevation is fine. Unlike Alpine hikes, the Fishermen’s Trail has no serious climbs. The coast is mostly flat to gently rolling — some short steep sections on the cliffs, but nothing that will stop you in your tracks. If you can handle a day in the Alps, your legs are strong enough.

The sand is the real challenge. Nobody tells you this before you go, but hiking on soft coastal sand is genuinely hard work. It slows you down, drains your energy, and gets into your shoes constantly. A kilometre on sand feels nothing like a kilometre on a mountain path. Don’t judge stages by distance alone — factor in how much beach and dune terrain is involved.

The weight on your back matters more than you think. I underestimated this. I was used to day hiking with a light pack. A multi-day pack with clothing, food, and water is a completely different experience — especially on day one before your body adapts. The single most important thing I learned: get the hip belt properly adjusted so the weight sits on your hips, not your shoulders. A good rucksack fitted correctly makes an enormous difference. Don’t skimp on this.

The cumulative fatigue is real. Individually, most stages are manageable. But after five or six consecutive days, your body is tired in a way that’s different from a single hard day out. One or two stages were tougher than expected — not because they were technically difficult, but because my legs were already carrying several days of effort. Build in a rest day if you have the flexibility.

The Sand and Your Feet: A Practical Warning

Sand and feet are not friends over 12 days. Blisters are almost inevitable — sand works its way into your shoes no matter what you do, and the constant friction adds up. My advice: don’t wait until you have a blister to deal with it.

Standard blister plasters help but have limits — they shift, they come unstuck, and they don’t always hold on moving skin. My best tip, learned the hard way: climbing tape. You can wrap it around problem areas before blisters form, and it stays put far better than any plaster. If something feels sore at the end of the day, tape it before the next morning. Don’t wait.

Good, broken-in hiking shoes are non-negotiable. Not new. Not trail runners you’ve worn twice. Shoes that know your feet.

The Sun Will Catch You Out

The Atlantic coast of Portugal looks deceptively mild. Even on days when the sun isn’t blazing and the wind is coming off the ocean, you are exposed for hours at a time with almost no shade. I got caught out more than once.

A hat is not optional. Not a nice-to-have — a genuine necessity. The Atlantc wind masks how much sun you’re actually getting, and by the time you feel it, the damage is done. Pack a cap or a wide-brim hat and wear it every day regardless of how the morning looks.

Sunscreen, water, food. Bring more of each than you think you need. Resupply options between stages are limited — don’t rely on finding a café or shop at the right moment.

Who Can Do This Trail?

Honestly: most reasonably fit people who hike regularly. You don’t need to be an athlete. You don’t need previous long-distance experience — I had none. What you do need is:

– A decent base fitness from regular hiking or walking

– The right gear, properly fitted

– Realistic expectations about daily effort

– Good foot care from day one

What will make it harder than it needs to be: a bad rucksack, new shoes, ignoring small problems on your feet, and underestimating the sand.

My Honest Rating: Moderate — With Caveats

For an experienced hiker: moderate. Long days, sometimes demanding terrain, but nothing technically challenging.

For a first-time long-distance hiker: moderate to challenging — not because of the trail itself, but because of the learning curve around gear, pacing, and daily recovery. That learning curve is real, but it’s also part of what makes finishing so satisfying.

I had never done anything like this before. I finished it. It was hard in the right ways.

Ready to Plan Your Hike?

My complete 12-day Fishermen’s Trail guide covers every stage in detail — distances, elevation, surface conditions, accommodation picks and logistics from Porto Covo to Lagos. Everything I wish I’d had before I started.

Have you hiked the Fishermen’s Trail — or are you planning to? Drop a question in the comments. I’m happy to share more from my own experience.