Portugal's sun-gilded south
The Algarve is the destination most people imagine when they think of Portugal — and yet the reality far exceeds the postcard. Stretching along the country's southernmost edge, this is a landscape of golden limestone cliffs, turquoise coves, fishing villages and a light that seems to last longer than anywhere else in Europe.
Ponta da Piedade and Lagos
Lagos is the natural base for exploring the western Algarve. Its old town, enclosed by Moorish walls, spills down to a harbour where fishing boats still outnumber yachts. A short drive south, Ponta da Piedade offers the Algarve's most spectacular cliff scenery — sea stacks, arched grottoes and caves best explored by kayak at dawn, when the rock glows amber and the water is utterly still.
Sagres and Cabo de São Vicente
At the continent's southwestern tip, the fortress town of Sagres was once the nerve centre of Portugal's Age of Discovery. Henry the Navigator gathered his cartographers and navigators here, and on clear evenings the Atlantic seems to stretch without limit. Cabo de São Vicente, a few kilometres further, is a clifftop lighthouse beloved by birders and anyone who needs reminding how small we are.
The Vicentine Coast
North of Sagres, the Costa Vicentina — Europe's largest protected coastal area — offers something the package-holiday Algarve cannot: solitude. Wild beaches accessible only on foot or by dirt track, backed by cork oak and cistus scrub. Odeceixe, Aljezur and Carrapateira are villages of whitewash and bougainvillea, with some of Portugal's finest surf breaks at their feet.
Silves and the inland Algarve
The red sandstone castle of Silves — former capital of the Moorish kingdom of Al-Gharb, from which the Algarve takes its name — rises above orange groves on a bend in the River Arade. Inland from the coast, the countryside opens into rolling hills of carob, almond and citrus, punctuated by whitewashed market towns that most visitors never reach.
When to go
Spring (April and May) is the Algarve at its most beautiful: wildflowers cover the clifftops, temperatures are warm without being oppressive, and the beaches are quiet. September and October offer sea temperatures at their peak with noticeably thinner crowds. July and August bring the heat and the crowds in equal measure.