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Home > Features > Algarve
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Martin Symington's report on the Algarve
Posted On
20.03.07 |
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Slice Portugal’s south coast into three roughly equal pieces and you have a trio of quite distinct Algarves: the wild, sea-surged west, the picturesque flatlands to the east and a section in between that throngs with holidaymakers. The middle chunk has pretty much everything a summer holiday needs - blazing sunshine, long beaches backed by sandstone cliffs and washed by the Atlantic tide, and some of the best water and land sports anywhere in Europe.
For an easy, effortless - if pricey - holiday, go for the large exclusive estates bordering the beaches west of Faro. Each is made up of whitewashed villas with pools, manicured lawns, golf courses and tennis courts, restaurants and nightspots, plus a flagship five-star hotel. You rub shoulders with international sports and showbiz stars and because these estates are self-contained, they are safe for families. Teenagers get up to their legendary hi-jinks at Vale do Lobo.
It is cheaper to stay at resorts such as Albufeira and Praia da Rocha. These are busy tourist towns which were once fishing villages and now, in summer at least, are entirely given over to the holiday business. Beach by day and boogie by night. For an idea of the scene, think Ibiza-lite.
Eastwards from Faro, villas and resort villages give way to marshy lagoons, nature reserves, salt pans and sandy islands. Beyond these is Tavira, which is touched rather than engulfed by tourism and is one of my favourite towns anywhere in Portugal. Bells peel from 20 churches as the fishing fleet sails up the River Gilao. The quayside is lined with 18th-century classical facades and outdoor restaurants serving freshly-landed swordfish and tuna.
In the west beyond Lagos the coast splinters into myriad caves, coves, outcrops and arches. The extremity is Cape St. Vincent, where the rock face is sheer and grey, dropping several hundred metres into the sea while millions of seabirds swirl on the buffeting wind. It is all suitably dramatic for the very corner of a continent.
I have known people spend a fortnight without poking their noses outside the gates of their five-star estate. But with a car and a touch of wanderlust, there is a real Algarve to discover.
Martin Symington is a freelance travel journalist who writes regularly for the Times and other national newspapers and magazines. He was born and raised in Portugal and has watched the Algarve change from a very poor backwater to a thriving and prosperous holiday destination. Martin has won many awards, including the AA/BGTW Travel Writer of the Year 2005.
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Martin Symington's Algarve Report
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