ALGARVE Part 1
01 – 03 November 2025
Sorry to leave Lisbon, but excited for the road ahead, we packed up and left the Ibis that had been our happy homebase for the last few days and grabbed an Uber to Sicily By Car to collect our rental. A spanky new Fiat 600 would be our chariot for the next week.
Having found a great Lisbon to Lagos road trip itinerary online, we tapped it into the GPS and hit the open road. Luck was on our side and although the drive was in pelting rain, it had let up by the time we reached our first stop, Sines, the birthplace of intrepid explorer Vasco da Gama.
Unsure as to whether the town was so eerily quiet because it was Saturday or because it was All Saints Day, we parked the car and crept along the cobbled old town roads to observe the peace. Popping out at the beach, we stopped for a photo with the Vasco da Gama statue before venturing onto the sand on the beach named after him. Although dry, it was still hardly beach weather, so we headed back to the car, with a stop-in at the free-entry Castle and museum en route.
We appeared to be travelling through an uncanny series of micro-climates. Back in the car, we had rain continuously as we navigated to the next stop 10 minutes down the coast. Then as we parked, suited up and retrieved the brolly, the rain miraculously stopped, allowing agreeable conditions for our quick stop at Port Covo. On first impression of the neat seaside holiday resort town, we admired the uniformity of the rows of white block homes and the sanctity of the pedestrian street that led down to the beach. There were pathways and viewing points dotted along the cliffs that overlooked small slices of toffee-coloured sand in private coves below. We could imagine this to be a wonderful weekend getaway to spend some time doing very little.
With the rain seeming to have given up completely, we had dry passage to Vila Nova de Milfontes. Translated as ‘town of 1000 fountains’, we were surprised to see not a-one. We parked and walked to the right all the way up to the lighthouse and didn’t see a fountain. Then back along the beach to the left and into the old town. A castle, a memorial to 3 Portuguese chaps who it appears were famous for flying to Macau in a turbo-prop plane in 1924, a cluster of narrow cobblestone alleys. But still no fountain. We had a fabulous seafood lunch at Paparoca Sanduicheira overlooking the estuary. No fountains down there either. Curiouser and curiouser.
The last leg of the day saw us delivered safely in Lagos, where would be staying at the Tivoli Hotel and Resort. We were very pleasantly surprised at the luxury that welcomed us – and mentally high fiving AI for finding us such great value within our stipulated budget. A sprawling resort one road in from the promenade, the Tivoli had everything you could think of. Indoor and outdoor pools, pool table, table tennis, jacuzzi, gym, library, business centre, live music in a buzzing Happy Hour bar and inclusive of a buffet breakfast – that we would find out the next morning was fit for a Dom! To top it all off, we were given a complementary upgrade from a standard room to a suite with a pool view (later exploring would discover that this was probably from a leak in our original wing, but whatever).
Loathe to leave our resort, but curious to discover our new surroundings, we set off into the crisp (dry!) evening. Lagos was very pretty, with lights from the bobbing boats in the harbour twinkling on the rippling waters. The row of restaurants across from the promenade already delivering snatches of conversations and waves of laughter as we passed by. Always such a novelty to walk so freely out at night.
Having had no specific intentions, we’d walked up to the right from our hotel. About a kilometre down the road, we found a (locked) castle on the quay and a section of old city wall with a well lit archway entrance that earned it a bookmark for the following day’s explore. There was also much activity and merriment down this end of town, with families spilling out of the church, obviously having enjoyed an uplifting All Saints’ Day sermon.
SUNDAY
We awoke to bright sunshine, which was something for which to be grateful after enduring the last few days of grey skies and intermittent drizzle. With our route mapped the night before, we donned our togs and put tekkie to tar for our jogging tour. Back down the beautiful wide and smooth promenade – once again admiring the Portuguese commitment to excellent stonemasonry on every road in every town as a standard. We ran around the ancient city wall and back through the Old Town, exiting at the arch we’d seen the previous night.
Then back along the full length of the promenade to see what that held in store. A far more modern and developing part of Lagos, with spacious apartments with glass balconies reflecting the view of the spotless marina. Crossing the bridge had us back at our side, slipping up our now-familiar inlet road to return to our resort.
With a midday check-out, there was time for a multi-course feast of a breakfast and then to laze and linger before having to take to the road again.
The first stop was a much-needed leg-stretch to settle our gluttonous first meal of the day. A mere twenty minutes drive up the coast to the sleepy beach town of Selema and we were happily shuffling along the beach sand, with the moderate sun shining down on us. As nice as it was for a quick photo-stop, it was a telling tale that even the local surf shop was closed on weekends; this spot may be a little too chillaxed for us to have lingered longer!
Another twenty minutes down the coast and we were at Cabo São Vincent, Europe’s most south-westerly point. This was for a long time the end of the known world, marked by menhirs that predated the Ancient Greeks and believed by the common people in olden times to have been where the sun sank into the sea. The main modern attraction was a lighthouse that, although now closed to the public, was well maintained and stands stark white with its red rings and impotent-by-day light, ready to ward tonight’s wayward vessels off the craggy shoreline.
We had felt that the magnitude of being at the extreme end of Europe had warranted the major diversion it appeared to be on the map while planning. Of course, objects in Algarve were often closer than they seem and we were tickled to find that there was barely a song and a half between the lighthouse and our apartment at the Navigator. We had struggled to find suitable accommodation in Sagres, with most being holiday homes better-suited to longer stays. We had reconciled that being only one night, we were prepared to stay in the more remote site since the setting on a peninsular offered promise of being memorable.
We chose well. Not only was our ‘remote setting’ no more than a couple of hundred metres from the centre of town, but we were also ‘upgraded to a room with a sea view’. We had to chuckle – since the hotel was on the last road on the peninsular, there was an unobstructed view of the ocean on three sides of the hotel so you had to try really hard not to have a sea view! The receptionist gave us a city map, circling the places of interest that included a handful of beaches and viewpoints as well as recommendations for refreshments, sundowners and dining.
First would be the fort. We walked towards it, still able to see São Vincent on the horizon. Built on a steep promontory / peninsula in the 15th century by Infante Henrique the Navigaor, the fortress was designed to protect the west coast of the Algarve as an important sea route between the Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea, as well as the port of Sagres that was driving Portuguese exploration activity and the hub of the Lusitania fishing industry. Although plundered by Sir Francis Drake and being ruined by the earthquake of 1755, several restoration efforts have maintained the prominence of the fortress over the centuries.
Our walk back through the high street revealed a sleepy hollow of surf shops, coffee stands and numerous restaurants. Having seen countless vans with boards strapped on their roofs over the course of the day, we surmised Sagres to be a hotspot during the summer months for surf holidays. All credit to the many surfers that were still braving the icy Atlantic waters now in the shoulder of autumn into winter! We were putting in the effort to walk and view the beautiful beaches in the surrounds, with absolutely no intention of actually swimming!
After methodically ticking off all the circled items, we settled in at the Mara Vista for a sundowner, basking in the sunshine and soaking in the rippling waters on the skyline.
MONDAY
With the combined novelty of no work and late check-out, we celebrated not having to wake up to an alarm or rushed routine. It was another lovely sunny day so we took to the streets to take a jog the long way around, but end up at the bakery for our regular morning pain and pastei.
The plan for the day was to make our way inland for a dabble at the wine life the region had to offer. From our online research, farms in the Algarve didn’t play as fast and loose as those at home, so we picked one at which to make a booking, with a recommended cheese pairing and location near our day’s destination being the deciders. With a 14h30 booking and around 60km of road to cover, we had some time to kill on the way.
With an open mind, we hit Alvor as our first stop. We found a touristy town plodding along in the late morning… but with several clues about a raging night life. An impressive collection of Irish bars, lots of posters for live music options throughout the week (our favourite being The Wonkey Donkeys), operating hours promising service until 4am, with late night fast food hatches to match. A treasure map of curry houses and snatches of English conversations as we wandered around the compact old town completed the review.
Our ensuing stop was also a bit of a wash. Parking on the esplanade in Portimão, we instinctively walked towards the old castle to the right. Disappointingly, on arrival we found the castle to be both dilapidated and inaccessible. Still, it had been a good amble and a breath of fresh air so hard to complain.
On return to the car we turned our attention to a more familiar cultural pursuit – lunch. Having been remarkably committed to the authentic thus far, we conceded a quick and convenient Burger Ranch 100% pure Portuguese beef burger as the perfect solution for the twenty minutes we had to spare.
Well prepared, we were thrilled to arrive at Avard for our wine-tasting experience. There had been many options to choose from – all lovely I’m sure – but hard to imagine them beating this one. With a very tranquil and laid back atmosphere, we were at one from outset, as we were seated on the sunny verandah awaiting the start of our tour.
Our host, Carlos, joined us minutes later and began the tour with the short history of this relatively young farm that had only begun in 2016 (although the lands were ancient with the farm’s name meaning ‘refuge’ in recognition of the Phoenician sailors who sought safety on these riverbanks in BC times). Lockdown had been kind to Avard, giving the opportunity to mature their processes and refine their formula. Once the world opened again, this little farm was ready to supply spectacular wine, that they are rapidly scaling and soon looking to export. Quite an achievement for 54 hectares of farm with 17 hectares of vines; white grapes facing the Atlantic for a bit of salinity and red grapes facing the north to be protected by the mountains.
Carlos explained the climate compatibility for Sauvignon Blanc, Cabernet Sauvignon, the ‘Queen of Grapes’ to make port wine and the negra mole grapes that come in all colours from the same bunch on the same vine. He also described in detail the variety of wine from Portugal between the south (10 months of sunshine and clay sand) and 900km north (10 months of rain and granite soil). All the while, he poured the wine and paired the cheese; we sipped and chewed and nodded and noted.
What was supposed to be an hour turned into two and a bit and we were very pleased with ourselves only having a couple of kilometres to complete the day with a check-in in Silves. It was still light so we parked the car and walked into the old town for a quick squizz at the castle, the cathedral and a few other musts before settling at a cafe table to review our day and plan the next.