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Silves
Silves
is a delightful town with a colourful history.Today,
Silves is a sleepy down boasting a superb castle and a cathedral.
The
main square of Silves has a town hall, ancient pillory and pavement
cafes. Shop lined streets lead from here to the covered market and the
embankments of the River Arade, a nice spot to linger over lunch with a
view over the town's medieval bridge.
Alte
Alte
is probably the most picturesque of all the villages in the central
Algarve countryside. To get a feel of village
life, stroll around it's narrow backstreets. The focal point of the
village is the parish church ornate with it's decorative woodwork and
rare 16th century tiles. About 200m upstream is Fonte Grande, a popular
picnic spot, with picnic tables and a local restaurant popular for it's
folklore.
Monchique
Monchique
is a charming little town situated nearly 900 metres up in the
Monchique mountains.
The spa
village, Caldas de Monchique, is well known for it's spring waters
which are used for the treatment of rheumatism and chronic illness of
the respiratory tract. Springs feed the fountain that adorns
Monchique's main square, Largo dos Choroes. Cafes, craft shops and art
galleries ring the square offering free tastings of medronho, produced
by distilling fermented fruits of the strawberry trees.
Portimao
Portimao
is one of the Algarve's main fishing ports. Today, Portimao is a commercial and industrial centre of great importance connected with fishing and industry.
Praia da Rocha
Just
Zkm south of Portimao stands Praia do Rocha, best known for it's vast
sandy beach. It was one of the first places in the region to gear up
for tourism and is now a developed, popular resort. Shops, restaurants
and bars abound on the Avenida Tomas Cabreira, the main seafront road.
Carvoeiro
Carvoeiro
is a pretty fishing village which has remained virtually untouched.
There is a small beach in the heart of the resort and small roads feed
out from there where you can wander around and shop or simply enjoy a
drink or meal in one of the many local bars and restaurants clustered
around the centre.The
sheltered beach can get very crowded at the height of the season, but
local fishermen will happily take visitors to other beaches, such as
Benagil and Marinha, and onto the nearby caves, tunnels and rock stacks
of Algar Seco about ikm to the east of the resort.
Armacao de Pera
Armacao
de Pera started out as a place where the farmers of Pera, a village a
few kilometres inland, kept boats to supplement their income by
fishing. Armacao de Pera is now a fairly large resort with one of the
longest beaches in the Algarve.
Albufeira
Albufeira
is the Algarve's most popular tourist resort. It is a fun,
family-orientated resort enjoyed by all age groups who enjoy a bustling
holiday atmosphere by the seaside.
The
small streets leading back from the beach are full of small shops, bars
and restaurants and during the summer evenings live music can be
enjoyed in and around the main square.
Towards
the newer, eastern side of Albufeira you will find what is
affectionately known as "the Strip" - a long road flanked on both sides
by cafes, bars and restaurants. In the summer months this is probably
the Algarve's liveliest street, particularly at night when all the bars
spring to life! Beyond the Strip are the areas of Montechoro and Praia
da Oura, the latter of which leads down to a golden sandy beach.
Loule
Loule
is a city to savour at leisure, arriving early in the day for the
market and exploring the town's attractive streets and historic
buildings before lunch. The second most populated city in the Algarve,
it combines bustling modernity with narrow, cobbled alleys where
saddlers, metal workers and seamstresses carry on age-old traditions.
Quarteira
Formerly
a fishing village, and one of the first resorts to be developed in the
Algarve, Quarteira has now officially been declared a city. It has an
exceptionally long seafront promenade and a long sandy beach, lined
with shops, bars and restaurants. In the old quarter, there is a lively
fish and produce market every day, and the outdoor gypsy market, held
on Wednesdays,is one of the best and biggest in the region.
Faro
Faro
is the capital of the Algarve and is the largest, busiest and one of
the oldest of the region's towns. In the centre there is a quiet walled
city of immense historic character, as well as a lively shopping area
with plenty of pavement cafes.
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