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Handily sited if you want advice on jobs and youth discounts from the Instituto Português da Juventude. Also close to Faro’s historic centre and ferries to the Ria Formosa sand dune islands.

Slap bang in one of the Algarve’s best-known resorts, this youth hostel is popular year-round. Airy rooms and dorms surround a courtyard studded with dwarf palms.

About 20 minutes on foot from the town centre, the Portalegre hostel is more functional than cosy, but has shops, cafés and restaurants close by.

Situated about 4 km (2 miles) north of town, the hostel – which is spacious and inviting – makes up for its lack of proximity to the beach and sights with a tennis court and pool. There is also an indoor billiards and table tennis area.

Nearby lagoon beaches make the Sines hostel an attractive option, though it does have its own pool set in grounds of trim lawn and dwarf palms.

Set in a quiet street off Praça Marquês de Pombal, this is a cosy and homely place to stay. There’s a small bar area, where guests can get plenty of information about nearby sights and activities, including river cruises along the Guadiana.

The yellow shutters of this hotel sparkle over the quiet town of São Brás de Alportel. Most rooms overlook a hinterland of olive and cork trees, while the pool, tennis facilities and regional cuisine completes the picture.

A long, narrow beach that never gets too crowded in summer. It’s exposed to fresh south-wester-lies so draws the windsurfing set. A good option if peace and quiet are the order of the day.

Two half-moons of smooth white sand make up this beach, interrupted by some weird outcrops of ochre-splashed sandstone.