Algarve, Portugal – what to visit

Hey hey! Today’s post brings us back to September 2016. Portugal was always in my bucket list, this country is so fascinating and exciting, I’ve always wanted to visit it, but back then, when I was still living in Bulgaria it was not one of the cheapest and easy reachable destinations in terms of flight tickets and connections. But finally we found a good deal and we started organizing our trip. The itinerary that we chose was as follows : Faro – Lagos – Lisbon. I will start with some recommendations about what to visit while in Algarve, Portugal.

Faro

I will not dedicate a lot of time to this city, not because it is not beautiful, it is, believe me, but because we spent just few hours there and I didn’t have the time to see much. Faro is located in the Portuguese region called Algarve. We arrived late at night, slept there and had short sightseeing in the morning before leaving to Lagos. In the old part of the city there are many cute little local cafes and restaurants, hidden in picturesque squares around the city. We went to a bar/restaurant with an amazing view called “O Castelo” .

We went there in the morning but we’ve been told that in the evening they organize different events with live bands and music. Faro definitely looks like a beautiful city and I would love to go there again in order to explore the rest of the city. As we had tight schedule we had to hurry to our next destination – Lagos.

Lagos

We took the bus for that purpose. After approximately 4 hours ride we arrived in Lagos. One advice – always take food when travelling! I didn’t expect such a long ride and obviously I was not prepared and to be honest, I almost cried out of starvation, but finally we got there!

• Accommodation:

We stayed in a resort called Apartamento Mar Azul. It consists of 5 buildings with apartments. We got lucky and had our apartments on the top floor of the second building (the first building was shorter) and we had an amazing sea view and big terraces where we could have drinks and enjoy the majesty of this view.

I strongly recommend this aparthotel, the apartments are spacious, well equipped and located right next to one of the best beaches in Lagos – Praia de Dona Ana. By saying right next to I mean – you take the stairs and 3 minutes later you are at the beach! Pretty nice for a lazy vacation, isn’t it?! If you are waaaay too lazy to go to the beach you can also enjoy the pool, the view from there was still that stunning.

• Beaches:

The beaches in Lagos are famous with the interesting rock formations inside the sea, the panorama is absolutely unique! Local people have named part of these rocks because they look like animals or other objects. These rocks on the beach also give you scene to express your creativity while taking cool beach pictures. And as you can imagine, we had a lot of fun!

There are also small caves which you can access mainly in the morning when the water is low, after that they disappear!

Laying down and sunbathing is one of my favourite things to do, but I also get bored sometimes,so another activity that I enjoyed a lot was collecting seashells. There were so many and so so different compared to what I’d seen so far!

My friends wanted souvenirs so… mission completed! Cheap gifts 😀 All the beaches in the area are pretty similar, we visited only two – Dona Ana and Praia Camilo.

We liked Dona Ana more so we didn’t stay at Camilo.

If you have a car I would strongly recommend to go to Benagil beach and caves, it is one of the most famous hidden beaches in Europe! We couldn’t go and this is something that I definitely regret!

• Sightseeing:

Lagos is a relatively small city, it is easy to walk around and enjoy its beautiful narrow streets.

A must see place is Farol da Ponta da Piedade.

One of the most picturesque capes I have ever seen! From there you can book a boat trip or a kayaking tour. The price was around 15/20 euros per person (2016). It was an amazing experience, they take you inside beautiful caves and show you all the rocky formations in the area.

• Restaurants:

As we were a big group for us it was a bit hard to find a restaurant with a free table big enough for all of us. One of the best restaurants there is called The Garden. As you can guess from its name the tables are in the garden (shocking!) and the interior is super cute and unique. It is usually full so I would recommend to book a table in advance. The funniest thing was that our waitress was Bulgarian!

Another nice place we visited is O!Cavaleiro. The staff was helpful, the food was delicious and it is located in the city center but it’s kind of hidden from the craziness around.

• Bars:

Our crew consists of famous rooftop bars lovers and we didn’t miss the opportunity to visit one of the local rooftops. The bar is called Bon Vivant and has 3 floors. Good atmosphere, yummy cocktails and nice music. If you are in a mood for a crazy night – The Tavern, variety of drinks, drunk foreigners dancing on the tables and a lot of fun. The nightlife in Lagos could offer way more, these places are just a few that I had the chance to visit.

If you plan your vacation for the end of the summer keep in mind that the water of the ocean is really cold and the nights are chilly. Take a jacket – stay warm.

See you soon, when Travelista goes to…