About Queda do Vigario
Queda do Vigario is a waterfall that we encountered just a modestly short detour off the A2, which is the main motorway connecting Lisbon to the Algarve in the far south of Portugal.
This waterfall is located near the rural town of Alte so it’s sometimes referred to as the Alte Waterfall or the Cascata de Alte.
That said, this waterfall’s name Queda do Vigario is translated to mean the “fall of the vicar”, which hinted at the waterfall’s man-made origins.
A vicar is a low-ranking clergyman from the Latin word vicarius meaning “substitute” or “deputy” so perhaps there was some religious significance to this place.
In the 18th century, a person named D. Duarte de Melo, who was the Lord of Morgado d’Alte, carried out hydraulic works to irrigate his wheat and barley flour mills, which resulted in the Alte Stream’s course being altered.
Thus, it’s said that the creek’s origins are at the small (Fonte Pequena) and large fountains (Fonte Grande) in the village of Alte.
Nevertheless, it’s clear that this waterfall has gained notoriety in recent years as a freshwater swimming hole in the popular Algarve Region (a part of the country that has no shortage of beaches and sunshine).
The waterfall is said to have a height of 24m, and it falls in a satisfying plunge fringed by reddish cliffs as well as moss dropping into a colorful plunge pool tinged with greenish and turquoise colors.
Seasonality of Queda do Vigario
Like other waterfalls in the Algarve Region, the Queda do Vigario does not have year-round flow.
As a result, there are mixed reviews in the literature primarily revolving around how well this place has been flowing during one’s visit.
And in true social media form, you tend to see a lot more complaints than you do people who bother to review such places when they’ve had good experiences (i.e. no news is generally good news).
In our case, we visited in early June 2024, where the waterfall did have a pretty satisfactory flow (as you can see in the photos on this page).
However, I then saw a TripAdvisor review complaining that the waterfall dried up by the end of July that year, which gives you an idea of how many weeks this place can go without significant rain before it’s gone for the season.
Since we are dealing with a Mediterranean environment (similar to what we experience in Southern California), it’s worth noting that we can get wet and dry years, which can have a significant impact on the timing of the waterfall’s flow.
For example, I saw reviews in years past where the Queda do Vigario was not flowing as early as June or even in May!
It all depends on how much precipitation has fallen in the Winter and Spring months before this area doesn’t see any more significant rainfall for several months until the next Winter season.
Trail Description of Queda do Vigario
From the car park by the Alte village cemetery (see directions below), there were two different paths that we could take to get to the base of the Queda do Vigario.
The first way follows a gently descending path away from the direction of the waterfall before curling around and paralleling the Ribeira de Alte Creek.
At the end of the rather benign road-turned-footpath, there were picnic tables at the end of the pavement fringing a wide grassy area where we saw numerous people sunbathing.
This grassy area slso had a curiously abandoned building full of graffiti and broken glass that I thought at first was a restroom but could very well be a snack or souvenir shop that closed down.
I suspect it might have succumbed to the economic hardships brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020-2021.
At the end of the far side of the grassy area, there were steps leading down to the plunge pool fed by the Queda do Vigario Waterfall.
The water was still somewhat cold during our visit in early June 2024, but I suspect this changes as the Summer progresses with the combination of lack of rain and higher temperatures could make the pool more comfortable for a swim.
Speaking of the plunge pool, I also noticed some frog sounds around the water though I didn’t see any of them (as they tend to jump into the water and hide when they sense anything or anyone approaching them).
The distance of this walk would be roughly 500m in each direction (or 1km round-trip).
Alternatively, there was a more direct path going down a series of wooden steps descending directly from the far end of the car park right down to the abandoned building below.
This was the more scenic of the approaches because throughout the descent, I was able to look across the valley as well as directly down below at the grassy area and Ribeira de Alte Creek (though the Queda do Vigario remained hidden).
Once at the bottom of the steps, I then went across the grassy area to the steps leading down to the plunge pool area, where I could finally get in front of the Queda do Vigario Waterfall to see it properly.
During our visit in early June 2024, we did the direct wooden path, which probably shaved off nearly half the distance, but I could see that this trail could be prone to fires as well as weathering.
Therefore, if this path falls into a state of disrepair or is in need of maintenance, then the longer ramp path would have to be the way to go.
Overall, we spent about an hour away from the car though most of that time was spent taking pictures and not so much hiking.
Authorities
Queda do Vigario is by the village of Alte in the Faro District of the Algarve Region of Portugal. It appears that the waterfall is administered by the authorities of the Alte Village and Civil Parish. For information or inquiries about the area as well as current conditions, you can try visiting the Algarve Tourism website.
The Queda do Vigario Waterfall resides just to the western outskirts of the rural village of Alte.
We accessed the Queda do Vigario by heading south on the A2 from Lisbon for a few hours before reaching the Silves/Messines exit 14 near São Bartolomeu de Messines.
This exit was roughly over 2 hours drive south of Lisbon and a little over a half-hour’s drive north of Portimão.
We then followed the N124 Road heading southeast for a little over 8km towards the town of Alte.
However, before reaching the town, there was a roundabout where the first exit headed south towards the well-signed Queda do Vigario.
The road curved to the left to a car park area skirting around the fencing of the Municipal Cemetery of Alte.
For context, São Bartolomeu de Messines is about 35km (over 30 minutes drive) northeast of Portimão, about 54km (under an hour drive) northeast of Lagos, 49km (over 30 minutes drive) northwest of Faro, 180km (over 2 hours drive) south of Évora, and 235km (about 2.5 hours drive south of Lisbon.
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Downstream to upstream sweep from the front side of the stream before panning over to the steps and lawn area and then panning back to the falls while some kind of frog sounds were being made in the background
Left to right sweep from the far right side of the plunge pool showing the steps going down as well as a greater focus on the inviting plunge pool before doing the top down zoomed in sweep of the falls itself
Top down sweep starting from the steps leading down to the lawn area before panning along the stream towards the falls for a final top down sweep along the watercourse
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