DK Travel : The Algarve : Places of interest

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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.
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.
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.
Caldas de Monchique

The warm spa water here has brought visitors since at least the age of the Roman Empire. It is just as alluring today, but there are other reasons to visit this hillside hamlet, not least the wood of pine and eucalyptus which provides a lush, cooling canopy in the heat of summer. Woodsmoke and birdsong drift lazily through a valley peppered with whitewashed cottages and smallholdings.
Carrapateira

This is where surfers come to relax after a day taming the waves at Praia da Bordeira and Praia do Armado. See Beaches. A loose configuration of terraced cottages and sandblown cafés, Carrapateira is well used to the camper vans that disgorge the salt-encrusted youths.
Carvoeiro

Friendliness suffuses this alluring little town, making it ideal for families. It is one of the Algarve’s main self-catering areas, and the hilltops that flank the pocket-sized beach are awash with apartments. On the other side of the promontory is the snorkelling territory of Algar Seco rock formation.
Castelo de Vide

The old Jewish quarter is the most enjoyable part of this attractive spa town. It stretches away from the 13th-century castle that gives the town its name in a cluster of steep lanes, many sporting plaques testifying to the quality of their floral displays. A synagogue (also 13th-century) sits at the top of this stepped thoroughfare, which also leads down to the 16th-century marble Fonte da Vila.
Castro Marim

The timeworn frontier town of Castro Marim looms with genteel poise over the mouth of the River Guadiana, and its twin castles bear witness to the strategic importance the settlement played during centuries past. Grand views from the ramparts of the main 13th-century stronghold encompass the Reserva Natural do Sapal to the north and Vila Real de Santo António to the south. Spain shimmers in the distance. See Villa Real and Castro Marim.
Elvas

Chunky pentagonal bastions, thick walls and gaping moats surround this busy frontier town near the Spanish border. The 17th-century fortifications resemble a multifaceted star and are very well preserved – they are best viewed from the castle. Within the walls are the excellent Museu Municipal and Biblioteca and the tiny 16th-century church of Nossa Senhora dos Aflitos. The mighty Aqueduto da Amoreira stretches between Elvas and a spring some 5 miles (8 km) away at Amoreira.