10 Top Places to Visit in Algarve, Portugal

Ponta da Piedade is the most concentrated stretch of dramatic coastline in the Algarve - golden sandstone stacks, natural arches, and grottoes rising up to 20 metres straight out of the Atlantic on the headland 2 km south of Lagos. A clifftop walking path runs the whole length, with several viewpoints accessible from the road and a steep 180-step staircase down to a small jetty where boat tours start. The full clifftop walk takes about 90 minutes one way and connects Praia do Camilo and Praia Dona Ana, two of the best beaches in the western Algarve, into a single morning route.

Small grotto boat tours from the Lagos marina or directly from the Ponta da Piedade jetty cost 20-35 EUR per person for 45-90 minutes and weave through the sea caves and stacks. The lighthouse at the headland is a working navigational beacon and not visitable inside, but the surrounding bluffs are the most popular sunset spot in the western Algarve.

Praia da Marinha consistently ranks among Europe's best beaches and is one of the most rewarding places to visit in Algarve for sheer scenery alone. The setting is a half-moon of pale sand between two ochre limestone headlands, framed by twin sea arches at the eastern end - the formation that appears in every Algarve postcard. The beach faces south, holds the sun all day, and the cliffs make swimming feel like a secluded plunge pool even in August.

Access is via a 200-step wooden staircase from the clifftop car park (free, fills by 10 am in summer). The 6-km Seven Hanging Valleys Trail (Trilho dos Sete Vales Suspensos) starts here and runs west to Praia do Vale Centeanes via Algar Seco - one of the best clifftop walks in the Algarve highlights circuit. A seasonal beach bar operates June-September; bring water and shade otherwise. There are no lifeguards outside peak summer, and the unfenced cliff edges have collapsed in places, so stay well back from the marked viewpoints.

Lagos was the launchpad of Portuguese maritime exploration in the 15th century, and the walled old town still wears its history visibly. The original Moorish-era walls enclose a knot of cobblestone streets between Praca Gil Eanes (the main square with its statue of King Sebastiao) and the marina. The Igreja de Santo Antonio - a small church with a 1715 gilded interior considered one of the finest Baroque rococo carvings in Portugal - is the must-see indoor sight; entry is via the adjacent Lagos Museum at 5 EUR.

Other anchors include the Mercado Municipal (open until 2 pm Mon-Sat, the best place to buy fresh sardines and Algarve almonds), the small Slave Market memorial in Praca do Infante (Portugal's first colonial slave market site, now a sobering exhibition), and the city walls themselves which can be climbed in sections near Forte da Ponta da Bandeira. Evenings, the streets around Rua 25 de Abril fill with seafood restaurants and the bars stay open well past midnight in summer.

Cabo de Sao Vicente is the south-westernmost point of mainland Europe and the rawest coastline in the Algarve travel guide circuit - 75-metre cliffs hit by Atlantic swells from three directions, an 1846 lighthouse with the second-strongest beam in Europe (60 km visible range), and an exposed plateau where the wind regularly tops 60 km/h. The cape, around 8 km west of Sagres town, is free to enter; the lighthouse interior is closed but the small museum at the base is open 10 am-6 pm daily for 1.50 EUR.

Sagres itself is a low-rise fishing village with the 15th-century Fortaleza de Sagres - the cliff-edge fortress where Prince Henry the Navigator is traditionally said to have founded his school of navigation. Entry is 3 EUR and the wind-rose stone circle inside is worth the visit alone. The surrounding Costa Vicentina coast is now a protected natural park and has the Algarve's best surf beaches - Praia do Tonel, Praia do Beliche, and Praia do Amado a short drive north.

Tavira is what people mean when they say they want the Algarve before mass tourism arrived. The town straddles the Gilao River with the elegant seven-arched Roman bridge (Ponte Romana, despite the name actually medieval) at its centre, and the layout is dense Moorish-era - narrow lanes, low whitewashed houses, distinctive pyramid-shaped tile roofs found nowhere else in Portugal. The hilltop Castelo de Tavira ruins are free to enter and the small garden inside has the best town view; the Igreja de Santa Maria do Castelo beside it holds the tomb of Dom Paio Peres Correia, the knight who took Tavira from the Moors in 1242.

Across the river estuary, Ilha de Tavira is one of the Ria Formosa barrier islands - 11 km of uncrowded Atlantic beach reachable by a 2-minute ferry from Quatro Aguas (1.90 EUR each way, every 30 min in summer). Tavira's salt pans east of town produce flor de sal and attract greater flamingos from November to March, and the town's restaurants are known for tuna - the eastern Algarve's traditional almadrava trap fishery.

Albufeira gets dismissed as a package-tour cliche, but the older part above the cliffs - Albufeira Velha - is a tightly packed grid of whitewashed houses, Moorish-era arches, and tiled steps tumbling down to Praia dos Pescadores (Fishermen's Beach). Largo Eng. Duarte Pacheco, the main square, is the heart of the old town nightlife and a useful free Wi-Fi spot. Praia dos Pescadores is the easiest in-town beach and the Tunel da Praia, a 90-metre lit pedestrian tunnel cut through the cliff, is the most photographed entrance.

For something quieter, walk 15 minutes west along the clifftop boardwalk to Praia do Peneco and Praia do Tunel - same sand, half the crowds. The Strip (Rua Candido dos Reis to Avenida Sa Carneiro) is the nightlife epicentre and gets rowdy from June to September; Old Town stays calmer but still has good rooftop bars like Sky Bar. Daily fish market mornings at Mercado de Albufeira (Rua da Igreja Nova) end by 1 pm.

Faro is the Algarve's regional capital and the entry point for most visitors via Faro Airport (FAO), but it's also a genuine destination in its own right. The Cidade Velha (walled old town) is entered through the 18th-century Arco da Vila and contains the Se de Faro cathedral - climb the tower for 3.50 EUR for the best view across the Ria Formosa lagoon. The Capela dos Ossos (Bone Chapel) at the Igreja do Carmo, decorated with the bones of 1,245 monks, is a stark counterpoint and one of the most striking interiors in southern Portugal; entry is 2 EUR.

The real draw is the Ria Formosa Natural Park - 170 square km of lagoon, salt marsh, and barrier islands stretching from Faro east to Cacela Velha. Boat trips and four-wheel ferries leave from the Faro marina to the islands: Ilha Deserta (Ilha da Barreta) is uninhabited with a single excellent restaurant Estamine and 11 km of empty Atlantic sand; Ilha do Farol has the historic lighthouse; Culatra is a working fishing village. Boat tickets to Deserta cost 15 EUR return.

Silves was the capital of the Moorish Algarve from the 8th to 13th centuries (the Moors called it Xelb) and was once a city of 30,000 people, larger than Lisbon at the time. The hilltop Castelo de Silves - the largest and best-preserved Moorish castle in Portugal - is built from distinctive red sandstone and rises directly above the old town. Entry is 2.80 EUR (combined ticket with the archaeology museum is 3.90 EUR), and you can walk the full circuit of the walls and battlements with sweeping views over the orange groves toward Monchique.

Below the castle, the small Se de Silves cathedral was built on the site of the Moorish great mosque after the Christian reconquest in 1242. The old town is compact and easily walked in 90 minutes; the surrounding countryside is the Algarve's main citrus-growing region and dotted with cork oak forests and traditional whitewashed villages. Silves holds its medieval fair (Feira Medieval de Silves) in August, when the town fills with costumed performers, markets, and demonstrations of medieval crafts and combat.

Praia da Falesia is the longest continuous beach in the central Algarve - a 6 km strip of golden sand backed by ochre and red sandstone cliffs that rise 30 metres above the shore, topped by umbrella pines. The beach runs from Olhos de Agua east to Vilamoura and is divided into named sections - Praia do Barranco das Belharucas, Praia da Falesia, Praia do Forte Novo - each with its own clifftop car park and staircase access. Because the beach is so long, even in August you can walk for 10 minutes and find a 50-metre stretch of empty sand.

The contrast of the red cliffs against the blue Atlantic makes this one of the most photogenic Algarve beaches at sunrise and sunset, and the gentle gradient of the sand makes it safe for families with young children - though Atlantic surf can pick up by afternoon. Several beach bars along the strand serve grilled sardines and fresh fish through lunchtime; the eastern Vilamoura end is closest to luxury hotels and tends to be the busiest.