The Algarve is Portugal’s most popular holiday destination, a coastline of golden cliffs, hidden coves, and the great Atlantic beaches that have drawn tourists since the 1960s. But the Algarve is not just the resort towns of Albufeira and Vilamoura (the high-rise hotels, the English pubs, the package-holiday infrastructure that has given the region its reputation). Beyond the resorts, the Algarve has some of the most beautiful beaches in Europe, the most dramatic coastal scenery in Portugal, and a food culture, the seafood of the Atlantic, grilled simply and served with a cold vinho verde, that is one of the great pleasures of the region. Here is what to do when you visit.

Quick Facts: The Algarve, Portugal

• Best time to visit: May–June and September–October for the best weather (warm, sunny, and the water is swimmable, the Atlantic is cooler than the Mediterranean, even in summer, and a wetsuit is comfortable but not essential) and the quietest beaches. July–August is very busy, the beaches are crowded, the accommodation is expensive, and the Algarve’s microclimate (hot, dry, and protected from the Atlantic winds by the Monchique Mountains) makes it one of the hottest parts of Portugal. The almond blossom in February (the hillsides of the Barrocal, the limestone interior, are covered in a froth of white and pink blossom) is a beautiful and under-visited season
• Don’t miss: Ponta da Piedade (Lagos, the most dramatic coastal scenery in the Algarve: golden sandstone cliffs, sea arches, grottoes, and turquoise water. Walk the clifftop path from the lighthouse, the views of the stacks and arches, the seabirds wheeling below, and the sea carving the cliffs into ever more fantastical shapes are the essential Algarve experience. Best viewed: at sunset, when the golden light sets the sandstone cliffs on fire). The Benagil Sea Cave (the most famous sea cave in Portugal, a vast domed chamber with a hole in the roof like a natural skylight, accessible only by boat or by swimming from the Benagil beach. Boat trips: ~€25–30 from Benagil or Portimão. The cave is extraordinarily beautiful and, in summer, extraordinarily crowded. Visit early, the first boat trip of the day, or swim across at dawn, to see it without the crowds). The Ria Formosa Natural Park (a 60 km-long lagoon system behind the barrier islands of the eastern Algarve, a landscape of salt pans, sand dunes, and tidal channels that is one of the most important wetland habitats in Europe. The birdlife, flamingos, spoonbills, purple gallinules, is spectacular. Take a boat trip from Faro or Olhão, ~€25 for a 2-hour tour). And the old town of Tavira (the most beautiful town on the Algarve, a cluster of whitewashed houses, a Roman bridge, and the castle walls looking out over the salt pans and the sea. Tavira is quieter, more beautiful, and more authentically Portuguese than the resort towns of the central coast)
• The food: The Algarve’s seafood is the highlight: the grilled sardines (sardinhas assadas, the essential Algarvian food experience, served on a slice of bread with boiled potatoes and salad, best eaten at a beachside restaurant with a cold beer, from June to August, when the sardines are at their best), the cataplana de marisco (the Algarve’s signature dish, a copper pot, sealed with a clamp, cooking seafood, tomatoes, peppers, onions, and white wine in its own steam, the aroma when the cataplana is opened at the table is one of the essential food experiences of Portugal. ~€25–35 for two), and the percebes (goose barnacles, the most expensive and most distinctive seafood in Portugal, harvested by hand from the wave-lashed rocks of the Atlantic coast. They look like dinosaur claws, taste like the sea, and are the ultimate Algarvian delicacy. ~€30–50/kg at the fish market)