Hi,
i am trying to plan a trip to the algarve coast in july - even though its crazy touristy down there. but still i want to find out if anyone knows any nice sort of close to but not right in the "action" places to stay? i thought of around (not in) albufeira since you can reach a lot of places in an hour by car, its pretty central. any ideas? we will have a car for the whole time we are there. Then we will probable go to another place for the second half (its 2 weeks in total), what can you recommend, it should be more quiet, sort of the chill out phase, west of Lagos maybe near sagres or maybe east of faro aorund Tavira maybe?
Also, anyone know of good diving spots?
What are some must sees there? i really am interested in the natural park ria farmosa, anybody been there?
any ideas on how to go about planning the trip are helpful. the interests are nature/beaches(as uncrowded as possible of course)/diving/maybe some action sports oh and of course good food ;)
any help?
thanx
sl
Hey,
Reading your preferences i would definitely head to Sagres. Although in July is not the frenziest time in Algarve, which is in August, Sagres is one of the nicest places to be. The weather is not so warm as the rest of Algarve, but it's where all the surfers and wind surfers gather in the South of Portugal
You have beach in Sagres but some very nice ones at a 10 minute drive. From Sagres, if you go up the Atlantic Coast you'll find typical towns with typical food without the masses of tourist and some of the best, almost deserted, beaches in Portugal.
If you are not interested in the hard nightlife just steer away from Albufeira.
Ria Formosa is really beautiful too, if you spend a day around you won't regret it, although it'll be around an hour drive from Sagres.
Hope i was helpful! By the way, I'm portuguese :)
ML
Perhaps not the specific area you are planning to go to, but after reading your request and mentioning the specific whishes and points of interest, I recommend you to go the Alentejo beach area.
Your keywords: more quiet, chill out, interested in natural parks, nature, beaches uncrowded as possible of course, good food.
This website gives a lot of information about the Alentejo, for instance have a look at this page about the wetlands of the Reserva Natural do Estuário do Sado.
So discover the real Portugal. And go to the Alentejo, one of the last unspoiled parts of Portugal.
Enjoy, bye.
Aljezur, Western Algarve! 28 kilometers north of Lagos, away from all the mayor tourism, great food (seafood, fish, sweet potato, to name some) and absolutely beautiful beaches (your wife might not need the book). Mountain biking, surfing, hiking. Diving spots are not too far away.
Most important, there are some beaches to discover that are still unspoiled.
Try Algarvissimo, a local website with good info, we always use it before returning to the Western Algarve.
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