The Other Side Of The Algarve

Most travellers dismiss Portugal’s Algarve as a whirlwind of booze and beaches, but its quiet east is a land of wild walks, lagoons and historic villages waiting to be explored…

- Robin Mckelvie

Clearing customs at Faro Airport, the main entry point for Portugal’s busy Algarve, I was instantly accosted by a dizzying array of tour reps. Each was touting a sign for the buses that spirit new arrivals to the overflowing resorts outside of the city. This was the Algarve that I had been expecting, the one in most people’s imaginations.

The region’s long-held reputation as a playground for sun-blasted Brits on tour isn’t entirely unfounded. Trawl west of Faro and you’ll soon see that side to the Algarve. Indeed, the airport is all that most of Faro’s 3 million yearly arrivals ever see of its regional capital even, let alone the fishing villages and raw coast towards the Spanish border.

Escape east, however, and that other side emerges. This is the Algarve of deserted sands, half-forgotten islands, wild wetlands and boat-fresh seafood all served up in whitewashed villages. It’s an ancient land alive with Moorish ghosts and tall tales of lost Portuguese adventurers. But to most visitors that come here, it might as well not exist.

I was determined to explore this overlooked corner after a Portuguese friend insisted it was not only their favourite part of the Algarve, but in all of Portugal. It seemed a bold claim, but one I was eager to test, starting with the most overlooked part of all: Faro itself, the forgotten capital.

A taste of the east

My first stop in the city was Faro y Benfica, a seafood restaurant that lies on the edge of the marina – an area that, unlike Vilamoura in the western Algarve, is home to a flurry of fishing boats rather than millionaire’s yachts.