A weekend in Algarve

Hey people, it’s about time we tell you about our 4-days break in Algarve, right?

Yes, we think so, too. We headed for a little holiday last month, right after I submitted my dissertation (which I passed by the way!! yuhuu). We did the same last year when we went to Paris, immediately after Matteo submitted his, and found it very regenerating. So off we went, Friday to Monday in mid September, on the sunny shores of Algarve, on Portugal’s southern coast.

View Algarve Sept 2009 in a larger map

The background

We wanted to take a break so that I could just forget about everything and realise the Master was really over. We had a few options for a 4-days trip and eventually decided for Portugal over Denmark. The reason was mainly to take advantage of the last days of Summer in a warm place, rather than potentially freezing in Copenhagen. So we opted for going there (and to Sweden, too) when we are sure it’s going to be cold anyway. Hope this will be the next trip we can write you about.

Before leaving, against all odds, we did plan the trip pretty carefully. A good friend of ours is Portuguese and used to spend his Summers in the Algarve region, where his gran-parents are from, so we had the chance to go straight to the source rather than randomly perform searches on the web. We got to learn where to go and, more importantly, where NOT to go: we avoided Albufeira completely, as he told us it’s probably the main destination for British tourists. Not much for the tourists themselves, but to have a better overall experience in terms of food and tradition. If you are looking for a more party atmosphere, where signs are written in English, and English Breakfast and Fish and Chips are on the menu, then Albufeira may be the best option for you. We just wanted to be lazy and look at the ocean kissed by the sun, and we got it all.

How to get there and around

Algarve is very convenient to reach from London: we flew into Faro (RyanAir and EasyJet both fly there from Stansted) and hired a car from one of the many companies you can find at the airport and book in advance. We did not get a sat nav (not really a choice, more of a misunderstanding due to the website we booked from) but it is very easy to get around. We drove directly to Lagos, where our friend suggested to go straight away, without even stopping at Faro. He said waking up in Lagos would have been much nicer.

In Lagos we stayed at the Pensao Mar Azul, which is in the hearth of the pedestrian area of the city centre and we strongly recommend it for short breaks in the area: if you plan to travel a bit around the area, it’s a very good place where you only really need to sleep. It is clean and affordable, and the staff are very friendly. Of course you need to consider that being in a pedestrian area during the week end there’s people hanging around till early in the morning so I woke up several times by people laughing and speaking loudly, but for the price and location we couldn’t really complain.

The first night in Lagos we went out for a beer in a really cosy restaurant-bar and we asked for a Sagres beer, but they were just serving Bock ;(. We tried to have a Sagres in every place we stopped by but we never managed to have what we thought to be the most popular Portuguese beer. Shame…

Saturday: Carrapateira and Sagres

The first full day we were there was a Saturday (we flew Friday evening) and we spent it on the western coast of the region. We drove about an hour or two heading to the Praia do Amado by Carrapateira. We got there towards late morning, and the beach was still quite empty. It is pretty popular with surfers and there’s a surfing school, too. We decided to lie on the beach for a couple of hours and just enjoy reading and people watching.  It wasn’t the best of plans to get a sunburn on the first day, so we stopped there only for a short while and headed for lunch instead. The man at the bar suggested we went to a nearby fish place where we had a wonderful cataplana, a dish made by mixed boiled fish in a tasty sauce with boiled potatoes. This is very typical from the region and was on our list of meals to go for suggested by our friend. I made some notes on my Molenskine, where I had a full suggested menu in case we got lost with the Portuguese language!

We left Carrapateira and drove down to the Cabo do Sao Vicente, Sagres and Praia do Martinhal. Cabo Sao Vincente was far more impressive than Sagres, to be honest. It wasn’t possible to get to visit the lighthouse but we got really close. The landscape is breathtaking but you really have to be careful since there are no barriers between you and the cliffs… In Sagres we visited the Fortress and the vegetation was quite particular. It was a long walk though and we didn’t find the place where they produce the Sagres beer so we opted for a stop at Praia do Martinhal before heading back to Lagos for the evening.

Sunday: Lagos and Portimao

On Sunday we stayed in Lagos (at Praia de Dona Ana) in the morning. It is a lovely, cosy beach where lots of local families go. Fishermen stop by the seashore to pick up tourists or whomever wants to get around for an hour tour. For 10€ you get an hour tour on a small boat, that’s lovely. We didn’t do it because we wanted to go to Portimao too, but if I could chose again I would go for the tour as well.

We then headed to Portimao at the Praia da Rocha where we only stayed for a short while because the wind was far too strong. We never managed to get to swim in the ocean, not used to the cold water. Then back to Lagos where before dinner we went to the Praia da Batata. It’s easy to walk to Praia de Batata following the Marina and it’s another cosy spot to go to before getting changed for the night.

For dinner we came back to the cosy restaurant-bar where we went for the beer the first night. We were brave enough to try another cataplana with some short pasta on it but less fish. I’m a big fan of Cataplana now and I strongly recommend it. It was nice to have a cold glass of wine, a dessert and some fresh air eating outside enjoying being on holiday, finally.

Monday: Tavira and Faro

On Monday we were flying late in the evening so we had time to go to Tavira in the morning, where the weather wasn’t great so we ended up visiting a Portuguese supermarket and find out what they sell and buy in Portuguese shops. Supermarkets are similar to Italian ones, food smells nice all around, salami, cheese etc, and there’s a good variety of options for breakfast and not so many pre-cooked food. In London I got bored since there’s no much choice and I end up choosing the same biscuits all the time.

We head back to Faro, where we  had lunch in the historic centre (at Taberna Santo Antonio) before visiting the Capela dos Ossos within the Igreja do Campo, since it was closed during lunch time. Capela dos Osos is worth a visit even if it is very tiny so it doesn’t take long to visit, but it is impressive for sure. It’s a chapel made entirely by monks’ bones, and it has some 1200+ skulls!

I always love to find a tourist information point. Once there you can get a map, a booklet about the city, its  tradition, basic words in their language and many more things so there is no need to buy lots of guides and you get a nice collection at the end of each trip.

We had some more time to kill before flying back so we took advantage of the proximity of Praia de Faro to the airport so we spent some time there.

Tips and suggestions

We had a wonderful time in Algarve, and it’s a great place to go to if you are looking for a nice and relaxing short break. Renting a car was a great idea, since we’ve been able to see as many places as possible in such a short period of time. Our suggestion is to go local: look for typical dishes and go where the locals go. Ask your friends around the world before going and visiting their countries, it is much more fun. I asked my contacts on Twitter what they would recommend as a must see in Algarve, and this is how I got to know about Capela dos Osos and many more things to do. Try to avoid political election time, since the landscape around all the region was propaganda everywhere
People are very friendly, and most of them speak English, even people of a certain age, which was surprising for me. Faro is in the same time zone as London, so you don’t have to change the time on your clock if you’re flying from the UK.

Finally, the word “obrigado” was a like a passepartout. We heard that all the time and not sure if it is used only to say thanks or even hi, goodbye etc..

Hope there will be another trip soon Adeus