The Algarve

The Algarve region occupies 5,412 square kilometres in the south of Portugal, and has about 350,000 permanent residents. This population rises to over a million in the summer, as tourists are drawn by the region's often spectacular beaches and warm waters and its Mediterranean climate. And although the Algarve is not technically the Med, its sunshine is just as reliable.

Algarve Geography. The Algarve is bordered by the Bay of Cádiz to the south, the Atlantic to the West, the region of the Alentejo to the north and the Spanish province of Huelva to the east. It is a hilly area, with fertile valleys, being in particular split by the Ria Formosa which empties into the sea at Faro. The coastlines either side of this estuary are quite different in character and appearance, and it is often helpful to talk about the Eastern and Western Algarve as two different places (and the Atlantic coast could also be considered a third kettle of sardines). The Algarve has two major nature reserves covering much of its territory: the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa, extending from Faro to the Guadiana and Spanish border, and the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e da Costa Vicentina, which does indeed begin in the corner of the Alentejo above the Algarve, but extends down its Atlantic coast and turns around the Cabo de São Vicente to Sagres then runs back east towards Lagos.

Algarve History. There were Phoenician trading ports in the Algarve three thousand years ago, and the Carthaginians founded Portus Hanibalis, modern Portimão, in the sixth century BC. The Roman occupation of the Iberian Peninsula in the second century BC took in the Algarve, and there are important Roman remains in Lagos. The Visigoths took the area in the fifth century, being expelled by the Moors in 716. It was the latter who named the region Al-Gharb, the country of the west, and they occupied it for longer than any other part of Portugal. Alfonso III finally took the Algarve from the Moors in 1250 (so completing the reconquest of Portugal). In the fifteenth century, Henry the Navigator used the Algarve as the jumping-off point for the voyages of discovery which laid the foundations of the Portuguese Empire. He established an important school of navigation at Sagres, and made Lagos a ship-building centre. But the Portuguese capital was in Lisbon, to which most of the colonial wealth went, and the Algarve entered a period of economic decline. The great earthquake of 1755 which destroyed much of Lisbon hit the Algarve hard as well, and the subsequent reconstruction left many of its towns with a distinctive, rationalist architectural style. Nothing would have such a sweeping effect on the region until the tourist boom of the nineteen sixties and seventies.

Algarve Travel

Golf. Omnipresent throughout the Algarve, but courses are especially thick on the ground to the west of Faro.

Diving, Horse Riding and Other Activities. Sports and other activities of most kinds are better catered for in the Western Algarve.

Faro. The Algarve's capital, largest city and location of its airport, so very possibly your initial point of contact with the region. It is an interesting and entertaining place, with great beaches to hand and a bubbling nightlife, and you could do worse than just stay there.

Western Algarve. This is the classic, picture-postcard Algarve, which will appeal to golfers, families with children, and in general those who like their holiday destinations to have the full range of facilities. See particularly the coast around Lagos, with its limestone cliffs and weird, erosion-formed caves, grottoes and rock formations, often springing picturesquely out of the water. Other places of interest are Albufeira, Carvoeiro, Lagoa, the historic city of Silves, Portimão, and Sagres.

Eastern Algarve. The less famous side of the Algarve from Faro to Vila Real de Santo Antonio, where the coast is sheltered by long, sandy, dune-backed ilhas. All this coastline falls within the Ria Formosa Nature Reserve and has much to offer birdwatchers and other nature lovers, and though certain places can get very busy indeed, in places, it feels much less crowded. Places of interest include Olhão, Tavira, Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Castro Marim and Alcoutim.

Practical Algarve Travel

Eating and Drinking. This is fishermen's country and fish and seafood are the star dishes. Fish is served simply grilled or fried, fresh tuna and sardines being highly recommendable. Cataplana, a dish of mixed seafood steamed with chicken, pork, bacon and herbs, is delicious and something of a show stopper, being brought to the table in the utensil of the same name in which it is cooked. Caldereida, a fish and seafood stew, is ubiquitous, as is frango piri-piri, grilled chicken in a very spicy sauce. Lombo de porco com almeijas, a dish of pork and clams from the neighbouring Alentejo region, is another possibility for the fish-weary. To go with your meal, the Algarve has four wine-making DOCs: Lagoa, Lagos, Portimão and Tavira.

Moving Around. No problem. If you don't have a hire car, most of your transport needs will be met by the regional railway lines which operate between Vila Real de Santo António and Faro and between Faro and Lagos. The local bus company, Eva, is also useful, and taxis are not particularly prohibitive, either.

Getting There. Faro must be one of the best connected airports in the world, but is not all that well served by the low-fare airlines. Easyjet operates flights there from a number of southern English airports - Bristol, Stansted, Gatwick and Luton, but the most northerly is East Midlands, for some reason. Prices start at around £70 from Bristol.