Letting on nothing about the difficulty of the route, the first section remains stable as far as Silves, a city adorned by its castle, one of the best examples in the region of forts with Moorish military architecture. From here onwards there are plenty of long and demanding climbs, first along the Sapeira road, which you turn off towards Alferce, with the Odelouca Reservoir on the horizon. The Monchique forest cools you down after all the effort, during the 15 km descent from Fóia that gives you a boost for the demanding yet spectacular ascent to Marmelete. From Casais can clearly be seen the final part of the route, including the Picota and Pomba climbs.