Central Algarve

This area has become a Mecca for many thousands of people seeking a lazy life, sun and excellent beaches. However, those seeking a more active stay will find most facilities available in the numerous hotel and holiday complexes.

The area’s main resort is Albufeira which has its own splendid beach. Every inch a resort, disliked by some and loved by others, Albufeira’s faithful return year after year, many to buy retirement and holiday homes in the town’s satellite resort villages.

Development is continuing all round Albufeira with holiday villages, leisure complexes, swimming pools, residential parks and the like, as no effort is spared to keep visiting holidaymakers busy and happy.

Popular with children are the Algarve’s largest fun and theme parks along the EN125 highway. "Zoomarine", "Aqualand" and "Slide and Splash" are all within easy reach and more, smaller attractions are planned elsewhere in the area.

Further to the west we find what is claimed locally as the largest, sandiest beach in the Algarve. The beach at Armação de Pêra is indeed splendid and the resort is popular with Portuguese and foreign visitors alike.

Carvoeiro & Ferragudo

Carvoeiro - a village in a dip between two hills. Many private holiday villas rather than apartments and village centre is small but still has a reasonable selection of eateries and shops. 3kms away is Vale de Milho golf course (9 holes). Also Pinta and Gramacho courses.

Ferragudo - small village with a few restaurants and bars but not much else. Can visit winery in Lagoa (5kms from Carvoeiro).

Silves – inland market town with medieval castle. Lies on Arade river. Gothic cathedral built on site of Moorish mosque in 14th century. Local museum – small but informative of Silves history.
Fabrica do Ingles (English factory) so called because once was english owned cork factory. This complex has cork museum and on summer nights has light, laser and water shows and other attractions. Many cobbled streets with restaurants, bars and shops and a local market selling fresh fi sh and produce.

Armação de Pêra

Armação de Pêra – popular with Portuguese. Main centre with high rise apartment blocks, many shops and restaurants etc and a long sandy beach.
Pêra – small village in expansion, 4kms from Armação de Pêra. Local beach called Praia Grande and also nature reserve called Lagoa do Salgados with Flamingos, many bird species and protected flora and fauna.
Galé and São Rafael – this area is just east of Armação de Pera. Relatively unspoilt, the majority of the development in this area has been by locals and there are some fi ne villas and restaurants in this area. The beaches in this area are renown for their cleanliness and attractive coves. A good choice of beaches for those with small children providing small rock pools for paddling and trawling with a small net and bucket. Try Arrifes, São Rafael, Coelha, Castelo, Evaristo or Lourenço. Galé beach is the longest beach in the area and stretches all the way to Armação de Pêra. There is no commercial centre as such but the main road running from the marina to Galé has many restaurants, cafes and bars.
Vale de Parra – set slightly inland from Galé and São Rafael. It lies on the inland road from Pêra to Albufeira. Many attractive properties here and restaurants and supermarkets dotted along the main road. Attractive countryside to the north between Vale de Parra and Guia. Horse riding, water sports and golf all in this area.
Guia – Just a few kilometres in land is the home of a nationally known dish called Chicken Piri Piri. This barbequed chicken brushed with a chilli oil became so popular that Guia now has many restaurants specialising in just this chicken dish. Guia is also home to Zoomarine a large marine life park with sea lion, seal and dolphin displays. You can also swim with dolphins here. Guia is also where Cliff Richard produces his Vida Nova wine. It is possible to pay an educational visit to his winery.

Albufeira

Albufeira – old section once a quaint fishing village but converted to tourism in 1960s. Roman called it Baltrum and built a castle to defend it. Moors renamed it Albuhera (meaning castle by the sea) and built walls to protect it as it was a thriving port with trade links to North Africa. Locally known as the capital of tourism, it is said that it was the first Algarve town to be developed specifically as a tourist destination. Down town (old section) Albufeira has a pedestrian town square with restaurants, bars and shops and buskers. One cobbled street known as “Rua dos bares” (road of bars) gets packed in summer with night clubbers having a drink before the discos get into full swing at around 2am. There is a fi sherman’s beach with market stalls (handicrafts) and as name suggests, where several fi shermen moor boats and mend nets. To the west is a new marina where you can take a boat excursion. Further east is the Montechoro/Areais São João area which virtually merge with Cerro Alagoa. A one way road leads from the Montechoro area, through Areais Sao Joao to the beach at Oura. This road is known as The Strip as if a bustling hive of tourist activity with shops, restaurants and bars. In Oura there is Kiss Disco, the most established disco in area. Approx 8kms is Kadoc disco which is much larger and offers a bus service. Oura beach is small and gets very busy as it serves a large area.

Olhos d’Água – a small bay right on the front of Olhos d’Água. Advisable to walk down through the village as there is very little parking.

Vilamoura

Vilamoura – is located just 30 minutes drive from Faro airport. Covering some 20 km² of land, it is one of Europes largest tourist beach resorts. Almost every kind of sport and entertainment are on offer, including six golf courses, sports clubs, a shooting range, night clubs, a casino and numerous restaurants and vibrant bars. Most of the restaurants and bars can be found on and near the marina.

For the avid historians there is a preserved Roman Site and Museum providing an insight to the area’s past. Originally a Roman fi shing town the ruins include baths in which the mariners used to bathe.
The tourism in Vilamoura is extensive and well developed, with many different resorts with ratings from 3* to 5*. This is a substantially higher average than the surrounding areas which have ratings varying from 2* to 4*. As it mentions above, as a consequence of being mostly privately owned, the town is very opulently designed.

The town/marina has an extensive variety of activities which are usually on a Tuesday and Thursday and weekends, activities include touring the local caves (on the coastline) which are nearer Albufeira rather than Vilamoura. This trip (cave) is usually performed by boats. There are also two companies which operate trains-on-wheels for travel between resorts.