By carJoseolgon — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)Faro district, Portugal · Portugal
A hundred and fifty kilometres of coast with two different faces. To the east, the Sotavento: the Ria Formosa, sixty kilometres of lagoons and sand islands with flamingos, and quiet towns like Tavira and Olhão. To the west, the Barlavento: golden sandstone cliffs the sea has bored into arches and caves, and Cape St Vincent, where for medieval Europe the world ended. And inland, Silves, capital of the Algarve back when it was a more important city than Lisbon.
Cacela Velha and Tavira · 24 km
Marc Ryckaert (MJJR) — CC BY 2.5 (Wikimedia Commons)viewpoints
A hamlet of barely a dozen houses perched on a rise, with a church and an 18th-century fort looking out over the eastern end of the Ria Formosa. Below, a spit of sand separates the lagoon from the ocean.
There is nothing to visit and that is the point: you come to look. Walk down to the beach on the path if you have an hour, because from above you do not quite grasp what you are seeing.
20 min to the next stop · 13 km
Digitalsignal — CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)history
The river Gilão runs through it, crossed by the bridge everyone calls Roman, although its origins are Moorish and the present structure dates from the 17th century. It is known for having more than thirty churches for such a small town, and the four-sided roofs of its old quarter are its hallmark: nowhere else in the Algarve do you see so many together.
From the castle you see the whole layout and those roofs. And the Ilha de Tavira is reached by ferry from the quay: ten minutes, and the beach runs eleven kilometres.
Olhão, the Ria Formosa and Faro · 31 km
Niitsou — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)nature
Olhão's market, in two brick halls beside the quay, is the finest fish market in the Algarve. And from there the boats leave for the Ria Formosa: sixty kilometres of lagoons, channels, saltpans and sand islands that shelter the coast. It is flamingo country and a staging post for migratory birds.
Boats to the islands run to fixed timetables and out of season there are only a few a day. Check the return before boarding, as it is easy to end up on an island longer than planned.
20 min to the next stop · 11 km
Sergei Gussev — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)history
You enter the old town through the Arco da Vila, and inside stands the cathedral, raised over a mosque that in turn occupied a Roman forum. But what nobody forgets is the Capela dos Ossos in the Carmo church: a chapel lined entirely with the bones of more than a thousand Carmelite monks, exhumed from their own cemetery in the 19th century.
The chapel is small and the visit takes ten minutes, but it is not for everyone. If you are with children, decide before going in.
Silves, Carvoeiro and Benagil · 112 km
Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)history
It was the capital of the Algarve under Muslim rule, when it was called Xelb and was a more important city than Lisbon, famed for its poets and libraries. From that time remain the red sandstone castle, the largest in the whole Algarve, and a wall you can walk right around on top.
Look at the roofs as you walk: Silves is full of stork nests on the churches, and in spring the bill-clattering echoes across the town.
20 min to the next stop · 14 km
Vitor Oliveira from Torres Vedras, PORTUGAL — CC BY-SA 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)viewpoints
An old fishing village wedged into a cove, and a step away the Algar Seco: a stretch of sandstone cliff where the sea has bored arches, chimneys and windows through the rock. A wooden boardwalk runs along it.
The boardwalk goes from the village to the Algar Seco, fifteen minutes on foot. Go late in the afternoon: the stone is golden and with a low sun it catches fire.
10 min to the next stop · 5 km
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A stone dome pierced at the top, with a sand beach inside lit only through that hole. It is the most reproduced image of the Algarve and one of the best-known sea caves in Europe.
Important: you cannot swim in or land inside. It is seen only from the sea, by boat, kayak or board, and must be booked. From land there is a lookout over the hole, which is the other way to see it.
Lagos, Ponta da Piedade and Sagres · 37 km
No machine-readable author provided. Barao78 assumed (based on copyright claims). — CC BY 2.5 (Wikimedia Commons)history
From this port sailed many of the caravels of the first Portuguese discoveries along the coast of Africa, and here, in 1444, the first enslaved Africans of modern Europe were auctioned: on that very spot on the square there is now a museum that tells the story plainly. The rest of the old town is walls, the church of Santo António and the Ponta da Bandeira fort.
The Slave Market museum is small and hard going, but it is the reason Lagos matters beyond its beaches. Half an hour is enough.
10 min to the next stop · 3 km
Jose A. — CC BY 2.0 (Wikimedia Commons)viewpoints
Three kilometres south of Lagos, the golden sandstone plunges into the sea in columns, arches and caves. There is a lighthouse above and a stairway of nearly two hundred steps down to the water, where the boats leave from.
From above you see the shape; from below, by boat, you go inside the caves. If you do only one thing, take the boat. And the Praia do Camilo next door has its car park full before eleven.
40 min to the next stop · 34 km
Auvideo — CC BY-SA 4.0 (Wikimedia Commons)history
The southwestern tip of continental Europe, where the coast ends in a sixty-metre cliff. Tradition holds that here stood the navigation school promoted by Prince Henry the Navigator in the 15th century, and from here came the drive behind the expeditions that opened the African route. For medieval Europe, this was the end of the known world.
Go to the cape for sunset and wrap up: it is always windy, August included. And buy a sandwich beforehand, because there is little on offer up there and by sunset it may already be closed.
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