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Attractive aparthotel and villa complex. Its facilities include indoor and outdoor pools, a sauna, gym and supermarket. An imaginative children’s park is complemented by nearby golf, tennis and water sports facilities.

A sweet bitter-almond liqueur from the Algarve, ideal as an apéritif or digestif.

If there is one dish synonymous with the Algarve’s rich ocean harvest, it’s this one. Fresh cockles are sealed in acataplana , a rounded copper cooking vessel resembling a wok. Allowed to cook in their own steam with a combination ofpresunto (cured ham),chouriço (sausage), tomato, lemon, olive oil and garnished with coriander and garlic, the result is a succulent seafood delight. Enjoy with chilled white wine.

Typical of the villages that pepper this rugged region. Nearby Miradoura de Caldeirão is an inspiring place for a picnic, and to the south are the last remaining examples of round dwellings.

Beautiful and original antiques fill this small shop near the Torre das Três Coroas in the old quarter. The Saturday market (in the lower town, across the Rossio) is the place to buy goat’s and ewe’s milk cheeses and the famous preserved plums.

Underrated Algarvian dry white apéritif wine which is similar to an amontillado.

The best supermarket in the land for imported foreign produce difficult to get elsewhere in Portugal.

Shoppers in the know travel here from right across the length and breadth of the region. Foreign produce such as fresh Argentinean beef, macaroni pasta and spicy tandoori curry powder feature. The cosmopolitan wine selection includes bottles from California, Chile and Australia.

The striking blue-and-white façade is hard to miss, and the stylish interior design is equally ebullient. Embroidered gardens of palm and pine surround an inviting pool, although the huge Meia Praia beach is just five minutes away.