DK Travel : The Algarve : Places of interest

Page
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

Reserva Natural do Sapal

Much of this wetland park comprises working salt pans, but it’s also a major winter feeding ground for spoonbill, greater flamingo, Kentish plover, avocet, black-winged stilt, Caspian tern and other birds. The visitor centre is located on the edge of the saltmarsh, and there’s a lovely nature trail. See Walks in the Algarve.
Roma Mini-Golf Park

A hole-in-one under the columns of a Roman temple? It’s possible at this mini-golf park where life-sized replicas of villas, arcades and an amphitheatre reflect the Roman theme designed around the layout.
Sagres

Sagres’s claim to fame is the huge landmark fort spread across the arm of the precipitous Ponta de Sagres. It’s here that Henry the Navigator’s original fortress and the Vila do Infante – his legendary school of navigation – is said to have been located. Little remains of either except for the giant pebble Rosa dos Ventos (wind compass) and the plain little chapel of Nossa Senhora da Graça, both supposedly used by Henry in the 15th century. Sagres itself is a modest town bestowed with a pretty harbour and some magnificent beaches that attract surfers from around the globe. See Sagres.
Sagres

Though not strictly a resort town – it has little in the way of entertainment infrastructure and its isolated position keeps it off the tourist treadmill – Sagres offers access to some of the most unspoilt beaches in the Algarve. See Sagres
Salema

Even if you’re not staying in Salema, it’s worth detouring to it from the EN 125, via the beautiful ravine, speckled most of the year with colourful flora and fleet-footed goats. The tarmac peters out where the cobbled slip road begins, a causeway cluttered with colourful fishing boats, rickety lobster pots and shrouds of netting. The sloping streets are banked with salt-laced terraced houses and cramped little tavernas.
Salir

The walls of Salir’s Moorish castle are lit up at night and emit an eerie glow, but on the other side of the village the view is more benign, stretching across the valley from the parish church and garden. In summer this rural idyll is blanketed by narcissi and alive with the warbling of brightly coloured passerines.
Salir

In springtime, wild flowers of every hue blanket the meadows around this hilltop hamlet, with its ruined 12th-century Moorish castle. The terraced battlements are now reclaimed to ingenious effect by enterprising locals who use them as vegetable plots. The short walk around the castle foundations is rewarded with an inviting panorama over the limestonemassif of Rocha da Pena. The area is a known nesting site for the huge eagle owl. Naturalists may also be lucky enough to spy the odd genet or Egyptian mongoose.
Santa Catarina da Fonte do Bispo

The village is mainly famous for its traditional red clay bricks and roof tiles. Some of the local olive trees are believed to be more than 1,000 years old.
Santa Luzia

Stunted palmeiras stud Santa Luzia’s long esplanade, swaying lazily in the sea breezes. The village is synonymous with octopus, and dozens of emptycovos (pots) can be seen stacked near the quay, the hapless contents of which are probably on the dinner table. Summer sea safaris depart from the quayside and cruise the waters off Ilha de Tavira.
Santa Luzia

An old seafaring myth claims Santa Luzia came by its foreign-sounding name after an effigy of the Virgin Mary was salvaged from an Italian vessel. Today the image most associated with Santa Luzia iscovos – octopus pots. This is the octopus capital of the Algarve, and hundreds of the earthenware pots, all numbered and roped together, can be found piled neatly on the beach in readiness for their next outing.