Algarve travel guide
For much of the world, Algarve is synonymous with Portugal, yet the Portuguese will tell you the exact opposite: the region has little in common with the rest of the country. The southern stretch of coast is more reminiscent of a North African landscape than a European one. Its towns are small and mostly dedicated to holidaying and fishing; it has no cosmopolitan cities to rival Lisbon and Porto, further north. Most of Portugal is known for quaint towns, medieval castles and grand palaces. Much of, but not all of, Algarve has been colonised by tourist apartments, hotels and golf courses.
The reason for this profusion is the region's coast and climate. Think Algarve and the mind pictures long, glorious stretches of golden sands, secluded coves framed by odd ochre-coloured rock formations, and deep green waters. With about 160km (100 miles) of coastline, Portugal’s southern province is one of Europe’s premier beach destinations. The occasionally chilly ocean is the Atlantic, but the Algarve has a sultry Mediterranean feel.
Sun, Sand and Sports
The Algarve’s temperate weather is the best in Portugal, and one of the kindest in the world: more than 250 days of sunshine a year – more than almost any other international resort area. Magnificent year-round weather has made the Algarve a huge destination for sporting holidays. Superb golf facilities abound – several with tees dramatically clinging to cliffs and fairways just skirting the edge of the ocean – and horse riding, tennis, big-game fishing, sailing and windsurfing are immensely popular.
But it’s not just international tourists that descend on the Algarve: many Portuguese from Lisbon and elsewhere in the north have holiday homes and spend their summer holidays here.
For centuries, almond, fig, olive and carob trees have represented a major part of Algarve’s agriculture, as they are suited to dry inland areas. Thanks to the gentle climate, Algarve also produces pears, apples, quinces, loquats, damask plums, pomegranates, tomatoes, melons, strawberries, avocados and grapes.
A Coastal Province
The coast is neatly divided into the rugged Barlavento to the west and the flat beauty of Sotavento to the east. West is where you’ll find the famous orange cliffs and surreal eroded rock stacks. Near Cabo de São Vicente and Sagres, the extreme western point, the terrain is surprisingly barren and the facilities decidedly low-key. The ocean can also be forbiddingly cold.
Tourist resorts cluster along the centre of the coast, from Lagos to Faro, with a spectrum of homes away from home – from monster high-rises to spacious, single-storey villas – spilling across the rolling hills and lining the beaches. Resorts such as Portimão, Albufeira and Vilamoura would appear to have little room left to grow, yet tourist facilities seem to mate with each other and reproduce overnight. Only recently has environmental and aesthetic consciousness at least mandated that newer developments are limited in height.
The eastern third of the Algarve is a more serene marriage of coast and ocean, with warm waters and hot sands stretching past the wetlands of Ria Formosa to the Spanish border. The Algarve’s most picturesque town, Tavira, is along this section of the coast.
Away from the coast, the terrain slopes through pines, mimosa, eucalyptus and heather to an altitude of nearly 915m (3,000ft). Holidaymakers wishing to escape the beach crowds can run for the hills, especially the tantalising Serra de Monchique.
Places to visit in the Algarve
Faro
Faro, the provincial capital of the Algarve, is bypassed by many tourists, though the town has a greater wealth of cultural and historic monuments than any other Algarve town, as well as a picturesque old quarter.
At the main entrance to the circular Vila-Adentro (historic centre), near the harbour, stands the 19th-century Arco da Vila, a lovely arch and bell tower on which storks tend to nest. Beyond the arch, a cobbled street, polished by centuries of tramping feet, leads up to the splendid expanse of the Largo da Sé (Cathedral Square) – best seen by evening floodlight. The Sé’s unusual tower, main portico and two interior chapels are all that remain of the original 13th-century Gothic cathedral. Inside is one of the Algarve’s most important collections of 17th- and 18th-century sacred art. Climb the tower for fine views over the whole of Faro.
Faro’s finest church is Igreja do Carmo (Carmelite Church). The promise of its twin bell towers and stately façade is matched by a beautiful gilded interior, but more interesting is the macabre Capela dos Ossos (Chapel of Bones). This 19th-century curiosity is constructed of the skulls and bones of monks, unearthed from the friars’ cemetery. Depending on your tolerance for such things, you’ll find it either fascinating or horrible.
Tavira
With its Moorish, Reconquista and Renaissance roots clearly visible, Tavira is one of the Algarve’s most historically rich cities. In the 1500s, Tavira had the largest population in the region. This former tuna-fishing port full of historic churches, imposing classical-style mansions and beautiful riverfront gardens probably dates back at least as far as the Phoenicians or the Carthaginians. In fact, its seven-arched stone bridge of Roman origin is still in use.
Tavira’s castle, in the centre of the casco histórico (old quarter), was a defensive structure built by the Moors. The walls look directly onto the Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo (Church of St Mary of the Castle) whose Gothic portal is the only original 13th-century element of the building to have survived the devastating 1755 earthquake.
A good excursion from Tavira is to the nearby island Ilha de Tavira, where there is a wonderful, huge beach backed by sand dunes. Ferries make the five-minute trip from Quatro águas, a couple of kilometres (1 mile) east of the town.
Silves
Silves is the former Moorish capital of the Algarve. More than eight centuries ago, Silves, as Chelb, was one of the strongest outposts in 12th-century Arabic Iberia, a magnificent city of palaces, gardens, bazaars and a huge red castle on a hill.
Silves is now a charming backwater, but the glorious setting remains. The imposing, rust-red Castelo dos Mouros (Moors’ Castle) took shape after the Reconquest, though it preserves distinctly Moorish lines. Next to the castle is the impressive Gothic Sé Velha (Old Cathedral), built by the liberating Christian crusaders. Opposite the Sé is the 16th-century Igreja da Misericórdia with a classic Manueline-style side door. The imposing Torreão da Porta da Cidade (Turret of the City Gate) shows the importance given to Silves’ defence.
Parque Natural da Ria Formosa
Near Faro, the Ria Formosa (meaning Lovely Lagoon) is a lagoon system that provides 90 percent of Portugal's harvest of clams and oysters. It is also an important bird sanctuary, especially for waders such as egrets and oyster-catchers, and some rare species.
Lagos
Lagos, the principal resort of the western Algarve, is the rare beach town that offers something for everyone. By night Lagos is lively, with outdoor restaurant terraces and bars, and by day it combines a rich historical past with a busy present. Attractive beaches are on the outskirts of town, so it is not a classic resort in the mould of Praia da Rocha.
The restored fortress, Forte da Ponte da Bandeira, guarded the harbour entrance in the 17th century. Many of the streets are narrow, cobbled and built for donkeys rather than hire cars. Though Lagos town still retains a good part of its original walls – most of them from the 16th century, but part-Roman in places – they have been rebuilt and expanded over the centuries. Lagos was an important trading port under the Moors, but had its heyday after the Reconquest, when it briefly became both the military and civil capital of the Algarve. Its slave market building is still standing.
The main street of Lagos is the charming, cobbled Rua 25 de Abril, packed with restaurants, bars and ceramics shops. The beaches near Lagos range from Meia Praia, 1.6km (1 mile) to the east, a long (4km/2 miles) flat stretch, to pocket-sized coves just west of the city. Praia de Dona Ana and Praia do Camilo are both small, pretty and crowded. Weird and wonderful rock formations and steep cliffs that glow orange at sunset are popular with photographers; Ponta da Piedade (Point of Piety) at the southern tip, before the road turns west to Sagres, is part of a stack and cliff formation, a stunning terracotta sequence of bridges, terraces and grottoes.