DK Travel : The Algarve

The Moors called their al-Gharb the Sunset Land, and visitors have been waxing lyrical ever since. Blessed with a mild winter climate and a sunny disposition, Portugal’s playground province remains one of the most popular year-round holiday destinations in southern Europe. Lively coastal resorts spill over ribbons of golden sand in sharp contrast to the quiet villages of the hinterland, where history and tradition go hand in hand.

Folk dancers

Brandy-mel

A potent mix of brandy and honey, this is a favourite mid-winter tipple.
Bullfighting

The Portuguese bullfighter, orcavaleiro , is on horseback, and the fight combines bravado with virtuoso horsemanship.
Burgau

The best time to savour the village-like atmosphere of Burgau is out of season. You notice more when the cobbled lanes are deserted and the only sound is the collision of the ocean with the beach. There are some lovely coastal walks, too, with many prime picnic spots.
Burgau Coastal Walk

The spectacular clifftop paths between Salema and Luz are well-trodden by ramblers who enjoy negotiating headlands and don’t mind the occasional stony track. The full distance is about 10 km (6 miles), but to halve that length, start the walk from Burgau.
Cabo de São Vicente

An austere landscape, dramatic limestone cliffs and a restless, unforgiving sea led Greek chroniclers to describe this windblown cape as the end of the earth. The Romans revered the rocky out-crop and called it Promontorium Sacrum, a place where the setting sun hissed in its dying embers as the ocean swallowed it up. The promontory retains an air of mystique. The cape’s lighthouse is an important navigation reference point and looms over a former convent building. Henry the Navigator is said to have had a house in the small castle to the right of the tower.
Cabo de São Vicente Lighthouse Crochet Workshop

Baskets full of crocheted bootees, pin cushions, coasters and table mats, all intricately woven in white and embellished with colourful decoration.
Cabrita, Carrapateira

The proprietor is equally proud of his fresh fish and an autograph by late Beatle George Harrison, scribbled on a one-dollar bill.
Cabrito Assado

Roasted kid is what country folk sit down to. The meat is brushed with a thin layer of lard to keep it moist, sprinkled with minced bacon and laced with white wine. Garnished with whole garlic cloves and dusted liberally with paprika, it’s then slowly roasted until crispy brown. Rich and wholesome, this truly is one of the great gastronomic wonders of rural Algarve.
Cacela Velha

Thought to have been a Phoenician settlement in origin, this quaint coastal hamlet commands one of the most unspoilt locations in the Algarve. A patchwork of fields and meadows surround a bluff crowned by an 18th-century fortress. Lying in its shadow is the parish church, its whitewashed candescence playing off the façades of the fishermen’s cottages lining the tiny square.
Cacelha Velha

The settlement is little more than a whitewashed church, a squat, 18th-century fortress and a row of fishermen’s cottages, but it is quite exquisite and totally unspoilt. Fanned by an invigorating sea breeze, this smudge of antiquity looks out over a lagoon and the Atlantic beyond. It’s a popular weekend destination for locals, who are happy to queue for the only restaurant.

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Restaurant price categories

For a three-course meal for one with half a bottle of wine (or equivalent meal), taxes and extra charges.
- under €20
- €20–€30
- €30–€40
- €40–€50
- over €50