Accommodation in the Algarve

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Hotel	Thumb	Town	Region	Beds
Vila Monte Resort		Moncarapacho	Algarve	108

 

Eastern Algarve
OLHÃO & ISLANDS

OLHÃO is the Algarve's largest fishing port.

Its main points of interest lie on the waterfront and on the islands offshore.

On the waterfront promenade stand the twin buildings of the municipal market, among the liveliest in the Algarve. Naturally, it brims over each morning (except Sundays) with a remarkable assortment of freshly caught seafood. It is not hard to find a good value-for-money restaurant nearby specialising in fish dishes.

The parish church in the centre of the town was constructed by fishermen over a 17 year period at the end of the 17th century. From its belfry, there are good views of the town's “cubist” houses and the sand spit islands of Armona and Culatra.

Ferry-boats to the islands, which have excellent ocean facing beaches, leave from a jetty at the eastern end of the waterfront promenade.

TAVIRA

TAVIRA is a lovely old town which stands on either side of the river Gilão.

Its two halves are connected by a seven arched Roman bridge.

A small, medieval castle on a low hill in the centre of the town presides over all.

Next to the castle is the Church of Santa Maria do Castelo, which contains the tomb of the town's liberator during the 13th century Christian reconquest, Dom Paio Peres Correia.

Nowhere else in the Algarve has so many churches. The Misericórida, Carmo, São Francisco and Ondas churches are decoratively the most interesting.

Grapes for the table and for wine making are grown in surrounding fields.

Salt is produced, as it has been for many centuries, from sea water in nearby pans.

Just offshore, easily reached by ferry-boat, along sand spit island called Ilha de Tavria is great for peaceful bathing.

VILA REAL S. ANTÓNIO & MONTE GORDO

VILA REAL DE S. ANTÓNIO stands at the mouth of the broad Guardiana river which forms the boundary between the Algarve and the Spanish province of Andalusia.

It was built as a model fishing port by the Marquis of Pombal, the Portuguese leader who directed a programme of national reconstruction after the Lisbon earthquake of 1755, which devastated so much of the Algarve.

The attractive main square, not far from the waterfront, bears his name.

The town's importance as a gateway for travellers has diminished since the opening of a modern suspension bridge across the river.

Many Spanish shoppers cross the river on the regular ferry-boat service from Ayamonte to look for bargains, particularly in clothes, textiles and shoes.

Scenic cruises up the Guadiana start from, and return to, the ferry-boat quay.

CASTRO MARIM

CASTRO MARIM is a village nestling between the ruins of two fortresses on adjacent hills.

For many centuries it was a place of key strategic importance because of its location overlooking the broad estuary of the Guadiana river, a frontier between warring factions at least since Roman times.

The inner ramparts of the larger of the two fortresses, Castro Marim Castle, were built by Alfonso III in the 13th century, probably on the site of a Moorish fortification. The mighty outer walls were added later.

The castle was the first headquarters of the Order of Christ, the relegious-military order to succeed the Knights Templar in the 14th century.

The fort of São Sebastião on the other hill was built in the 16th century.

The flora and fauna in the surrounding marshland and salt pans are protected within the Castro Marim nature reserve.

ALCOUTIM & RIO GUADIANA

ALCOUTIM sits sleepily on the right bank of the Guadiana River opposite the Spanish village of Sanlúcar.

Castle ruins high up on either side are reminders of former days of wariness and hostility between Portugal and Spain. Total tranquillity reigns today.

The Guadiana, like Portugal's other major rivers, rises deep inside Spain. For its last 64 km it forms the boundary between the two Iberian countries.

The most scenic approaches to Alcoutim from the south are by boat up the river from Vila Real de Santo Antonio, or by the road which runs alongside the river from about 2 km south of the village of Odeleite.

From the west, it can be approached by the N124 through the village of Cachopo and Martim Longo.

This whole north-eastern sector of the Algarve is remote and rural with scattered hamlets and low rolling hills.