A different Algarve
The Algarve is generally synonymous to summer, beach, holidays and frequently also to confusion. And yet, this sunny Portuguese region has much more to offer than only sea and beautiful beaches. It has warmer temperatures the whole year round, which makes it ideal for a holiday or weekend outside the high season. It has beautiful landscapes, much more enjoyable when they are not full of people. And it has centuries of history and a culture of its own waiting to be discovered. In the Sotavento (east) region we come across a different Algarve: quiet, charming, not too touristy, where we can eat good fish and shellfish at an open-air restaurant without paying too much, where Portuguese is heard more often than other languages, where the atmosphere is warm and comfortable. This is “my” favourite Algarve and today I am going to take you there on a journey.
The Ria Formosa stretches from Faro to Manta Rota and is one of the most fascinating and biodiversity-rich areas in southern Portugal. Here, beaches always have room for one more person, the landscape varies depending on tides and we can still spot fishermen and traditional houses. Even at the peak of summer, the pace of life in its villages is quite relaxing and less chaotic.
Located in the heart of Ria Formosa and crossed by the river Gilão, the town of Tavira symbolises everything that is best in the Algarve. From long before the foundation of Portugal, this place was inhabited by Phoenicians, Turdetani, Romans, Carthaginians, Moors and Jews, and this mixture of cultures left its mark. Definitively conquered for the Portuguese crown in 1239, it received its first charter in 1266. The strategic importance of Tavira’s seaport turned the town into a key location for defending the south coast of Portugal and for the Portuguese expansion towards African territories. Raised to city status in 1520, Tavira celebrates this year its 5th centenary. The architectural heritage which has survived to date, as rich and diverse as its history, makes this town one of the best examples of a Mediterranean walled city, and this is one of the reasons why Tavira is the representative of Portugal for the Mediterranean Diet as UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
This is a town to be best visited by foot, so you may leave your car at one of the parking lots that you will find as soon as you arrive in Tavira, one on each side of the river, when you come from N125. Then follow along the bank of the Gilão, where the houses have stairs which touch the water when the tide is high, but look surreally suspended above nothing when the river bed is empty. Cross the Old Bridge, which is supposed to be Roman, walk through the porticoes of Praça da República and climb the narrow steps that lead you to the Church of Misericórdia and then to the Galeria Palace and the Castle, which hides inside it a charming garden and is a privileged viewpoint over the town. Everything around you is white, cracked here and there by the colours of stones, by the surprisingly bright yellow of some buildings, or by a multi-coloured palette of clothes drying in the sun.
Next to the Castle stands the irregularly shaped and beautiful Main Church of Holy Mary, which was supposedly built in the 13th century from an old mosque. The current features of this church display an array of architectural styles, especially the Manueline, Baroque and Neoclassical styles, as a result of the several modifications that it underwent over past centuries.
Walk down the narrow streets of the town, once again to meet the river and visit the Coreto Garden. The garden’s name reveals the icon of this place: a splendid octagonal bandstand, brilliant example of the cast-iron architecture of the 19th century. Built in 1889 by a factory in Oporto, it had to be shipped to Tavira by sea. Another major attraction of this place is the funny group of terrapins which live in the small pond surrounding this bandstand. Right next to the garden you will find the Ribeira Market, a masonry building with an inner structure also made of cast-iron and some ceramic elements. This market was once the main provider of food products in the town, but nowadays is only a sort of shopping centre with some cafés and restaurants.
We continue zigzagging through narrow streets flanked by old traditional houses, until we reach the saltpans. Right next to them, an enormous chimney of the old canning factory catches our eye, adjacent to the imposing Convent of the Bernardas, now converted into a hotel. We walk a little further until we finally reach the lovely Saint Sebastian’s Chapel, of medieval origin but with baroque touches. It is said of the martyr Saint Sebastian that he is an advocate against epidemics and contagion – which means that he is the most appropriate saint to appeal to in these times...
In the cuisine of this region, fish and shellfish obviously have an important place. My favourites in this domain are fish soup, mussels or razor clams au naturel, or tuna steak. But desserts do not come in second place, made with almonds, “gila” (fig-leaf gourd), figs and carobs – it's difficult not to give in to temptation.
Although there's no shortage of restaurants, bars and cafés all in the region of Ria Formosa, our next stop is in Cabanas de Tavira, where there's an impressive array of restaurants along the waterfront road, now provided with a walkway overlooking the ria. My suggestion? Try the octopus fritters and coriander rice at the restaurant Noélia & Jerónimo, and then dare to say that they're not delicious. Treating your stomach to good food and your eyes to the beautiful landscape is an unbeatable combination.
We head to Cacela Velha, which the Portuguese people and social media seem to have discovered in the summer of last year. This recent popularity is well deserved, as the whole of the village and the landscape of the ria at its feet are a delight to the eye. The whims of the tides draw maps in the sand, which change throughout the day and according to the position of the sun, dotted with people and boats. The village, tiny and practically unchanged since the first time that I visited it (more than twenty years ago...), maintains the ability to reveal to me, in each visit, a corner or detail that I had not yet noticed. Above all, the walls of the Fort hide a secret that only a few lucky people know: the beauty of the ria on a clear night with a full moon.
After Cacela Velha, the ria ends and the beach stretches for 13 kilometres without interruption. Manta Rota and Altura have lost some of their authenticity but – fortunately! – have not yet surrendered to mass tourism. Praia Verde has gone from a huge pine forest to a luxury resort, and Monte Gordo is a collection of buildings which are best ignored, a stain on the fine fabric of the eastern Algarve.
We arrive in Vila Real de Santo António, the south-eastern tip of the Algarve and of the country, nestling between the River Guadiana, the extensive wooded area named Mata Nacional das Dunas, and the marshlands of Castro Marim. On the other side of the river, a short boat or car ride away, we see Spain, more precisely Ayamonte. The two towns actually do not have many features in common and this is mainly due to the controversial figure we know as the Marquis of Pombal. In fact, until 1774, the only town that defended our border in that area of the Algarve was Castro Marim. To reinforce our defences at a time of great change, King José I decided to create another town in the region and entrusted his super-minister with this task. As he had done in Lisbon, the Marquis of Pombal decided to create a city organised in blocks of low buildings, with two storeys and mansards, separated by streets and avenues laid out with a ruler and set square at 90-degree angles, a configuration that remains to this day even in the most recently built areas. It should be noted that the entire city was built in record time for that period: only two years.
The heart of Vila Real de Santo António is the iconic Praça Marquês de Pombal, with its central obelisk – which pays homage to the King and the Marquis himself – acting as the sun, as was a fashion in the Age of Enlightenment, from which alternating stripes of black and white stone radiate through the ground. Orange trees and benches for resting border the central square, and the buildings which surround it, as in the immediately adjacent streets, include countless esplanades and shops of various kinds. It is here that we find much of the town’s dynamism, especially during the coolest hours, and it is also from here that we begin to explore the surrounding pedestrian streets, with their white or softly coloured houses which still maintain, for the most part, their original features.
Vila Real de Santo António runs, from south to north, parallel to the Guadiana, from which it is only separated by a large avenue, another of the town's favourite places to stroll. The wide pavements are made of Portuguese cobblestones, with designs that replicate the traditional geometric motifs in stone on the façades of the houses. Along the avenue, palm trees alternate with futuristic white street lights, there are flower beds with grass and flowers, park benches, kiosks and all the usual paraphernalia of a riverside area. Next to the marina, a sculpture by João Cutileiro, also white, depicts the omnipresent Marquis in modernist style.
It is here, in this “open-air” town, young by national standards and serene by tourist standards, that this tour of my different Algarve ends. There is much more to discover in these parts, but good things should be savoured little by little – because this way we will always have a reason to return.
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Other posts with itineraries in Portugal:
Weekend itinerary: Two days in Porto
Coastal day trip near Lisbon, from Guincho to Azenhas do Mar
Roteiros de fim-de-semana em Portugal
Roteiro de fim-de-semana: entre a natureza e a História
Roteiro de fim-de-semana: das Terras do Demo à Serra da Estrela
Da Figueira a Aveiro, pela costa
Regressar à pré-história no Alentejo
Trás-os-Montes, a terra fria que é quente