The Algarve is Portugal's southernmost region and the best known to tourists: about 150 kilometres of Atlantic coast, from the Guadiana river on the Spanish border to Cabo de São Vicente. The name comes from the Arabic al-Gharb, "the west": it was the last Portuguese land taken from the Moors, in 1249, and keeps their traces in its white villages, lacy chimneys and castles.
The coast has two souls. In the east, the Sotavento, around Faro, Olhão and Tavira, is sheltered by the Ria Formosa lagoon, with sandy islands and very long beaches such as Ilha de Tavira. In the west, the Barlavento offers sea-sculpted cliffs, caves and coves between Albufeira, Carvoeiro, Portimão and Lagos, up to the wild headland of Sagres and the Costa Vicentina, a surfers' paradise.
But the Algarve is not just the sea. The interior, the Serra do Caldeirão and Serra de Monchique, hides quiet villages, markets such as Loulé's, Moorish castles such as Silves, almond blossom in January and generous food: cataplanas, octopus and sweets made of almonds and figs.
Getting around
Faro airport has flights from all over Europe. The regional railway runs along the coast from Vila Real de Santo António to Lagos, but to explore the beaches and the interior a car is best. Below you will find the region's destinations on the map, our guides and all the municipalities of Faro district.
Destinations on the map
Guides to the region
Albufeira
An old Moorish town of white houses on the cliffs, now the capital of beach tourism in the Algarve.
Aljezur and Costa Vicentina
The Algarve's Atlantic side: sheer cliffs, vast beaches and hardly a building on the horizon.
Carvoeiro and Benagil
A fishing village in a cliff-ringed bay, close to Europe's most photographed sea cave.
Castro Marim
A frontier village between two fortresses, overlooking salt pans and the river that separates Portugal from Spain.
Faro
Much more than an airport: an ancient city looking out over the Ria Formosa lagoon.
Lagos
Sixteenth-century walls, memories of the great voyages and golden cliffs plunging into the ocean.
Loulé
The capital of the Algarve hinterland, with colourful markets, craft workshops and hills covered in almond trees.
Monchique
Green, cool mountains behind the beaches, with hot springs, woods and views to the ocean.
Olhão
An authentic fishing port, with a maze of flat-roofed white houses and the sandy islands of the Ria Formosa in front.
Portimão and Praia da Rocha
A lively seaside town with one of the Algarve's most famous beaches, grilled sardines and a fishing village next door.
Sagres
The headland where Europe ends in the ocean and from which Portugal set out to discover the world.
Silves
The town that was the Arab capital of the Algarve, crowned by the region's largest castle.
Tavira
The Algarve's most elegant town, with dozens of churches, noble houses and an island of sand in front of it.
Vila Real de Santo António
A town designed on paper in the eighteenth century on the border river, with one of Portugal's warmest beaches.
Vilamoura
One of Europe's largest resort complexes, among yachts, golf and pine woods, close to the villages of the interior.