The AlgarveTravel Guide
Portugal's sun-baked southern coast: ochre cliffs, sea caves and golden beaches from Sagres to the Spanish border, backed by whitewashed towns and a lagoon full of islands.
Is The Algarve right for you?
summer
Around 29°C by day in July, 16°C in January — recorded at the local weather station.
It depends where you stand. There is a cheap version and an expensive one — the guides below say which is which.
We have a full day here planned hour by hour. Longer stays are covered by subject rather than by route.
summer
Average daily highs, recorded at Faro (FAO), 1991-2020 normals.
Where this comes from
Instituto Português do Mar e da Atmosfera (IPMA) — The Algarve is a region; Faro is its capital and the station the region's articles use.
Mixed
Typical cost profile for visitors
- Seville, Spain180 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in May, October · a different price level (mid)
- Lisbon220 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in May, June, September · a different price level (mid)
- Sintra240 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in May, June, September · a different price level (mid)
- Málaga, Spain310 km
a short hop — comfortable overland · both good in May, June, September · a different price level (mid)
Seville
LisbonFinding The Algarve
Reading The Algarve
The 7 Unmissable Algarve Experiences, Ranked
Sea caves, cliff-top trails and the end-of-the-world cape — the Algarve experiences that actually deserve your limited beach time, ranked.
Four Ways Out of the Algarve, and How to Turn a Beach Week Into a Fortnight
The Algarve runs out after about six days, but a fifteen-minute ferry, a newly electrified railway and a mountain range at its back put Seville, the Guadiana museum-villages, the first certified dark-sky reserve in the world and a wilder Atlantic coast all within reach.
The Culture Lover’s Algarve: 8 Sites Where Its History Shows
Under the beach umbrellas lies a Roman, Moorish and seafaring past. Eight places across southern Portugal where the Algarve’s deeper history is still visible, ranked.
Sunrise to Midnight: One Full Day in the Western Algarve
Cliff paths at first light, sea caves by boat, a Moorish castle at midday and the end of Europe at sunset — a full day between Lagos and Cape St Vincent.
Cross the Guadiana: Building a Fortnight Around the Algarve
Seville is closer to Faro than Lisbon is, the Alentejo begins an hour inland, and the ferry to Spain takes about fifteen minutes. Here is what lies beyond the beach road, and three trip shapes that actually hold together.
The Algarve Changes Its Menu Every Thirty Kilometres
From tuna cured like ham on the Spanish border to goose barnacles at the end of the continent, a town-by-town account of where the Algarve eats and what to ask for when you sit down.
Where to Base Yourself in the Algarve (and Where Not To)
The coast runs 150 kilometres and its towns could hardly be less alike. A candid guide to the Algarve resorts and old towns worth booking, and the ones that will disappoint you.
Eleven Algarve Towns and the Table to Book in Each
The Algarve's cooking is organised by harbour rather than by resort, so here is where to sit down across eleven of its towns and villages, and exactly what to order once you do.
Clams in the East, Barnacles in the West: An Algarve Eating Map
Where to sit down in each corner of the Algarve, what to ask for once you are there, and roughly what it should cost, from the Olhao fish halls to the barnacle kitchens beyond Sagres.
The Algarve, framed
What we'd do in The Algarve
See and do
- The Benagil Cave by sea
The Algarve's icon: a vast domed sea cave near Benagil with a natural oculus in its ceiling that pours sunlight onto a hidden beach.
Read: The 7 Unmissable Algarve Experiences, Ranked - Silves Castle
The red sandstone fortress above Silves is the region's most complete Islamic monument, and the town below was the capital of a powerful Moorish taifa before the Christian conquest.
Read: The Culture Lover’s Algarve: 8 Sites Where Its History Shows - The map worth studying before you book
Three roads do almost all the work.
Read: Cross the Guadiana: Building a Fortnight Around the Algarve - Ponta da Piedade at golden hour
Just outside Lagos, this headland is a sculpture garden of golden sea stacks, arches and grottoes.
Read: The 7 Unmissable Algarve Experiences, Ranked - Faro's old town
Inside the walls, the Cidade Velha is a compact, whitewashed set piece around the cathedral and the bishop's palace.
Read: The Culture Lover’s Algarve: 8 Sites Where Its History Shows
Eat and drink
- Loulé and the hill kitchens
Loulé sits inland behind Vilamoura and has the region's largest traditional market, housed since 1908 in a Moorish-revival building with onion domes.
Read: The Algarve Changes Its Menu Every Thirty Kilometres - Building a week out of this
If you have seven days, split them: three nights east around Tavira or Olhão for the lagoon shellfish, four nights west around Lagos or Ferragudo for Atlantic fish and the Vicentine coast.
Read: Eleven Algarve Towns and the Table to Book in Each - Almancil and the Golden Triangle
Between Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo and Almancil sits the Algarve's concentration of fine dining, and the honest summary is that this is where the money eats.
Read: The Algarve Changes Its Menu Every Thirty Kilometres
Where to stay
- Lagos
The best-balanced base in the region: a walled old town you can actually walk at night, real restaurants alongside tourist ones, a marina, and the cliffs and sea stacks of Ponta da Piedade at the edge of town.
Read: Where to Base Yourself in the Algarve (and Where Not To)Check ratesad · Booking.com - Carvoeiro and Ferragudo
Small, cliff-backed and family-friendly, with coves reached by steps and a slower rhythm than anywhere further east.
Read: Where to Base Yourself in the Algarve (and Where Not To)Check ratesad · Booking.com - Tavira and the eastern Algarve
The east is the region's quiet reward: a genuinely handsome historic town on a river, the Ria Formosa lagoon, and beaches on sandbank islands reached by small ferries.
Read: Where to Base Yourself in the Algarve (and Where Not To)Check ratesad · Booking.com - Sagres and the southwest
Wild, wind-scoured and beautiful, at the meeting point of the south and west coasts, inside a protected natural park.
Read: Where to Base Yourself in the Algarve (and Where Not To)Check ratesad · Booking.com
Practical essentials for Portugal
Euro (EUR)
Portuguese; English is very widely spoken in tourist settings, Portugal ranking among the strongest non-native English countries in Europe
Type C/F, 230V 50Hz
CP trains link the cities, and each has its own card: in Lisbon the metro, buses, trams and ferries share the rechargeable navegante card, and the metro gates also accept a contactless bank card or phone.
Not expected: round the bill up or leave 5-10% for a good meal, and note that the couvert of bread and olives is a charged item, not a tip.
Tap water is safe to drink, supplied under EU drinking-water rules.
Right-hand side; an EU or UK photocard licence is accepted with no International Driving Permit needed.
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Country-level guidance, checked against official sources. Currency, fares and entry rules change — confirm anything time-critical before you travel.
