On the Road: The Algarve, Portugal
Of all of the stops planned on our Portugal tour, I was looking forward to the Algarve the most. With countless golden beaches and emerald green water, Portugal’s southern coast is the perfect destination for the Goldilocks of beach lovers: no matter what your beach style is you’re guaranteed to find something just right! The Algarve is a great alternative to the South of France or even Italy - absolutely stunning beaches and flawless weather but your Euro stretches much further.
Sandwiched in between a few days in lovely Lisbon and Porto, KC and I flew down to Faro and rented a car so that we could explore the coast. We had so many beaches on our list I think we actually averaged 2-3 beaches a day! So not as relaxing as I’d hoped but we saw some beautiful spots and covered the Algarve pretty thoroughly.
Where I stayed: Vila Monte Farm House (Faro), a gorgeous countryside spot with a sprawling whitewashed mediterranean-style estate. Unfortunately not right on the ocean but it does have two pools.
What I ate/drank: Fire roasted chicken and seafood, gazpacho with clams and crispy ham, steamed clams with chorizo, all at A Terra (hotel); tuna tartare and lobster tagliatelle, fresh oysters and pea soup with scallops at Laranjal (hotel); goat cheese salad and baked cod at O Tonel (Tavira); grilled octopus, grilled salted sardines and fresh figs with cheese & parma ham at Canico (Piranha); grilled octopus and prawn kebabs at Sol Nascente (Farol da Ponta da Piedade).
What I did: we rented a car so we could drive along the coast to different beaches and towns. If doing some day trips I recommend clustering as follows (ordered from east to west along the coastline):
Tavira: just east of Faro, a picturesque town on the way to Spain with an adorable old square and some beautiful buildings. A good option to wander around the old town one afternoon and then stay on for dinner.
Portomao: more central Algarve, here you can find Praia de Benagil, Praia da Marinha and Praia de Carvoeira, which are relatively close to one another. Rent a boat at Praia de Benagil or Praia de Marinha to explore the caves and grottos along the coast (the Benagil Caves are amazing with people actually sunbathing inside the caves when the sunlight hits an opening at just the right angle!). You can book with Taruga Benagil Tours (book in advance or show up early, tours book up quickly). Praia da Marinha has the dramatic arches you’ve probably seen in tourism adverts for the Algarve while Praia de Carvoeira has a cute little whitewashed town next to the beach that is perfect for pictures (hike up the hill for the best views or just rent a beach chair). Just down the road is Prainha, a beach that isn’t even on the map but can be accessed through the bottom floor of the Canico restaurant. It’s a gorgeous small beach with plenty of caves and coves and is a bit more quiet than some of the others. Watch the tides as they come in quickly late afternoon and cut off some walkways.
Lagos: further west along the Algarve are Praia Dona Ana, Praia do Camilo and Farol da Ponta da Piedade (again, all quite close together). Praia Dona Ana had some beach chairs for rent but make sure you get there early! Gorgeous views from all three but the views from Farol da Ponta de Piedade were incredible.
Sagres: as far west as you can go, definitely much quieter than the rest of the Algarve and more of a surf town vibe. We walked around the immense Fortress of Sagres and checked out a few beaches with crazy waves perfect for surfing; we also walked to the “end of the earth” as previously thought by explorers - the southwesternmost point on mainland Europe (next stop America!). It was really cool with dramatic cliffs that dropped abruptly into the ocean and surrounded by eerie mist.
What I read while there: ‘The Bees’ by Lalaine Paull
Be sure to check the tide tables before visiting the beaches
Get to the beaches early, street parking fills up really quickly and you’ll have a long walk
Be prepared for A LOT of stairs up and down to the beach - but they’re worth it I promise!
Unless you plan to stay put at one resort (which would be a waste), you definitely need to rent a car to see the Algarve properly. But don’t be like us and burn rubber out of the rental car office without checking your car first. Once on the road we discovered that our rental car had 1. non-functioning GPS 2. no manual 3. no spare tire 4. a barely functioning radio and no ability to connect our iPhones to the stereo. We managed to get around okay thanks to Google maps and jimmied a speaker out of a convex corner of the dash + iPhone but it was less than ideal when spending a few hours in the car each day.
A few drivers passed us making puppet talking/Pac Man gestures with their hands. We finally learned that in Portugal this means “turn on your headlights” which is apparently law in Portugal no matter what time of day (daytime running lights apparently do not suffice). But that one definitely had us stumped for a while.
Portuguese drivers be crazy. Crazy. Expect lots of tailgaters and insane speedsters and road rage hotter than piri piri sauce.
Photos (mine, iPhone 6S):
Enjoying some of the local wines
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