WELCOME TO ALGARVE                             Versão Portuguesa

The region is an extensive and pleasant one, with a Mediterranean climate, marked by the smell of the sea at low tide and the scent of wild flowers.
A stroll through the tangled web of narrow streets, alleys and steps to be found away from the coast is the best way of getting to know this part of the region. But you can also easily lose yourself in the vastness of the coastal strip. Here the backdrop is composed of some of Europe's most beautiful beaches, from where you can admire the rocky coastline and the playful shadows they cast on the sand.
As you travel across the Algarve, amidst its hills and plains filled with places of great ecological interest, rich in biodiversity and ecosystems, you will feel as though you are passing through an area full of different traditions, unchanged for many centuries. The handicraft is skilfully manufactured by the local craftsmen, who make use of longstanding, ancestral techniques and produce an excellent range of pottery, woven baskets, copper and brass articles, or other pieces made of linen and jute.
The region's built heritage is something you cannot afford to miss. The architecture of the whitewashed houses, with their brightly-coloured mouldings and remarkably beautiful chimneys, the church belfries and the museums, all reveal particular memories of the ancestors of the Algarve people and help to make this such a special destination.
Also to be recommended is the range of outdoor sports that are available, whether you're playing golf on lush green courses or enjoying some physical exercise at some of the region's excellent facilities, whether you're on the coast or perhaps up in the hills, where, after the rigours of winter and even before the first signs of spring, the land is covered in a pinkish white blanket, produced by the blossom of the almond-trees scattered across the horizon. 
This is the true portrait of an Algarve that you'll find waiting for you, all year round.
 

Algarve Gastronomy
 Tastes of the Hills and Sea

Discovering the extent of the Algarve’s culinary range is a pleasure for anyone visiting the region. Simultaneous lyric in flavours but unpretentious in preparation, the Algarve cuisine reflects both roots set deep in realities long since gone and a diverse set of influences, as is the case with so much of this region’s heritage. In a land of fishermen residing on the fringes of the Atlantic, fish and shellfish have always played a leading role in the kitchen. In many cases, the best recipes are those of fishermen who, over the centuries, have perfected the best means of sealing in all the natural flavour - ever so slow charcoal grilling.

But yet there is much more. There are many recipes in which the best of the sea’s produce is cooked along with herbs, spices and other ingredients. The most famous is Clams cooked in the Cataplana, a copper utensil. Islamic in origin, the Cataplana is particularly effective in preserving delicate flavours. However, the influences have come from all over.

The inland region has also contributed to the Algarve cuisine with some wonderful recipes based on the local agriculture, wild herbs and plants, and the meats culled from the hillside pastureland.

Now internationally famous, the cakes and desserts are the sweetest of delights! There is no holding out against the divinely produced specialties featuring their lavish dash of sugar and eggs in addition to the almonds, figs, oranges or carobs grown across the Algarve.

And, to accompany all this, there is the famous distilled spirit known as “Aguardente de Medronho”, many fruit liqueurs and some fine regional wines. This is the richest of legacies and one well cared for at any one of the many restaurants or traditional tasquinhas dotted across the region. Know more about it... buy now our Guide.

Links:    Visit Algarve
             Strawberry World