This route starts by the docks at Alcoutim, crosses the town and heads north. Initially running alongside the Guadiana River, sticking to the main road, the route continues to Balurcos on rural paths in a region that is initially quite flat, but quickly starts to reveal the typical skylines of the Algarve mountains, with ravines and water channels.

After passing Furnazinhas, the route takes you through a rugged landscape with clearings, meadows, large cistus patches and occasionally small orchards still used by the locals.

The terrain is rugged and cut through by several small water channels as far as Vaqueiros, the parish capital.