Albufeira, The Algarve, Portugal

Albufeira & one of our shorter blogs. Forty-five minutes away from our site & when we arrived I did my usual trick of driving into the town & down narrow streets before realising it. However it does help to convince you are in the right place!!

For us, disappointing & well past its best which was probably in the sixties or early seventies. The town hall planning department has not helped either. Overall the feeling of a place for a cheap package holiday & all that entails!! Although I hope my pictures caught some of its nicer points.

I didn't take any of the main beach as, to be fair, they were working on part of it.

However there are a few areas which still retain some character & we had an enjoyable lunch in one of them. The owner had a good sense of humour, which made lunch even better, or maybe it was the free glass of port at the end of the meal!!

P.S. George is resting under the table having had his lunch & some of Janet's Sea Bass.

Alvor, The Algarve, Portugal

This afternoon we went to the fishing village of Alvor, which is situated between Lagos & Portimao.

Although an earthquake wiped out most of the traditional Moorish village in 1755, it has grown since then into a very nice tourist & residential village. The buildings are mainly low-rise and the charm of the old town with the narrow cobbled streets leading down to the harbour on the lagoon of the river estuary is very enjoyable.

The riverfront in Alvor has been done up over recent years and is now fully paved and lined with palm trees and several beach bars. With the view across the estuary we felt that this was the closest you would get to a similar fishing village/port in Devon or Cornwall E.G. Salcombe.

Alvor’s main beach, Praia de Alvor, is just a short walk away. It is a lovely long, dune backed, and sandy beach & was very clean. The eastern end of the sands has some large rock formations and is known as Praia de Três Irmãos.

For those who have motorhomes this is a great place to ‘wild camp’ for a day or two & we have made a note of this.

 

Just to explain to non motorhomers - it is quite easy to wild camp in a motorhome. You have gas, water onboard & full cooking  facilities etc. Leisure batteries will provide sufficient power, usually for at least three days. (However towing a caravan is not really suited to wild camping!).

Overall a very nice experience, after which we went back to Lagos to do the ‘shopping’ before an enjoyable late afternoon drink at our van & in the slowly setting sun!

Silves (& Happy Birthday to Trevor & George)

Saturday 26^th March.

After a couple of days of very hot weather, (>25C, during which we decided it was better to chill out on site), today was cooler so we decided to venture out...

But firstly, Happy Birthday Trevor!!

(Trevor & Pauline are currently in Australia, so probably won't read this!)

George is also four today & when we visited Silves this afternoon four Portuguese girls who where fussing him sang Happy Birthday when we told them that it was his birthday!

Just before this we said goodbye to our Dutch neighbours in their £100k plus motorhome (with matching trailer). They had a dog called Didea who George played with.

Now off to Silves which is an old town littered with orange and lemon trees, sitting on the banks of the Arade River ("Rio Arade"). There is history everywhere you look in Silves, to remind you of it’s affluent and bold past as a Moorish capital (“Xelb”).The importance of Silves lay in the fact that it was the main access to the inland areas of the Algarve because of its river location, although the river is now too silted up for large vessels to use.

The most prominent monument is Castelo de Silves, which is now said to be the best preserved castle in the Algarve. The castle and the Cathedral beside it are the first buildings you see as you approach Silves, as they sit on the hilltop above the town.
The castle has eleven towers, two of which are barbicans, and thick walls that enclose an area of 12,000m². Four of the towers, modified at the time of reconstruction work in 14/15th centuries have gothic doorways.

The castle once sheltered the old Moorish 'alcáçova' which was the residence of the lord of the city. Not much remains of the defensive walls and towers which protected Silves, but one of the four gates remains and is the 'Torreão da Porta da Cidade' (The turret of the City Gate). Inside the tower are two rooms and annexes which now house the Municipal Library.

Sé de Silves (Cathedral of Silves) one of the Algarve’s few remaining gothic monuments with ancient tombs, sits alongside the castle and a network of narrow, cobbled streets take you down into the town.

Unfortunately I didn’t get the chance to photograph any of the castle area.

Lagos Old Town

Today we had first trip into Lagos.  We decided to explore the older part of the town which is still circled by the city walls that were constructed during the 16th century when it was the residence of the governors of the Algarve.

The centre of Lagos really isn't very big, but it can be a bit confusing! There are so many little streets criss-crossing that it is quite easy to lose your bearings, but as long as you head down hill you are sure to get to the centre!

We bumped into some 'neighbours' (who have two shelties), had a morning coffee with them & invited them for lunch tomorrow.

There is the usual range of shops, bars & restaurants & we had a very enjoyable lunch in one of them. We shared mussels as a starter & Janet said her sea bass was the best she she can remember!

Lagos old town is very clean with lots of free 24hr parking. Next time we go in we will explore the port/marina area.