From Albufeira to Portimao, November 2019
The south coast of Portugal is absolutely stunning and I highly recommend it. There are some very built up areas and busy beaches because it is so popular with tourists (especially British and German), but the sections inbetween are amazing and very unpopulated.
Albufeira
I arrived in Albufeira by bus (Terminal Rodovario de Albufeira, just off Estr. de Vale de Pedras) from the airport. This was actually no mean feat, as the Rede Expressos poster information at the bus stop is erroneous. Rede Expressos is the national bus company and is usually an extremely good service (on time, efficient online booking system) which I used many other times with no trouble. I recommend that you use their website rather than written information, as it is up to date. However, do not allow your phone to translate it into English as it translates the place names which are also real words such as Sal from Alcacer do Sal meaning salt and Pias (a small town in the south east) meaning sinks! This makes it very hard for non Portuguese speakers to find where they are going.
This is the correct information, as of November 2019
When I arrived, I walked into the town which took 30 minutes. The road takes you past Lidl and other stores. I went in briefly, but it was so similar to home, that I resolved to shop locally and left immediately.
The Orange Terrace Hostel (Rue Padre semedo do Azevedo 24, 8200-167 through booking.com) provided everything I needed, including breakfast. There were some great people there and a delightful terrace! Cost 16 euros.
I hung out in a little municipal park with a sort of modern pond and benches overlooking the main strand, and shopped at a little shop at the top of the hostel street for bread and other provisions – very cheap.
A man was jumping from an enormous height into a big net when I went past the marina – the sort of things some people do for fun.
I did not follow a trail, but instead either ‘followed my nose’ or changed my google maps into the satellite setting where you can see all the tiny paths on the cliffs .
At one point I got rather lost in a maze of villas, trying to take a short cut as it was very hot and I knew there was a beach coming up where I could take my boots off and have a swim.
Then it poured with rained and I spent a good hour with a green tea in the restaurant. Most people seem to eat big meals at these places so they are not really suitable for a cake and a cuppa, although in this case it was after lunch and they were very friendly (as they all always were).
Patroves
I stayed at the Lost and Found hostel that night (more of a motel on a busy road, but it had a pretty courtyard where I could do my morning Tai Chi, an amazing kitchen and it was scrupulously clean. There were two supermarkets nearby, with ATMs for getting money out.
I used booking.com again for this. Cost: 15 euros for a bunk in a dorm of four with a spacious shower room and toilet en suite. I shared with a Spanish man of few words, and had a good chat over supper in the kitchen with another who told me about the family restaurant near Granada where he works.
The next day I made my way through Sesmarias to Praia de Gale and thence Praia dos Salgados. There are many sections of boardwalks (like the Camino Portugal de la Costa in the north) and they often traverse through protected natural areas where there are birds (egrets, for example), plants and animals of interest.
It is basically one beach along the length of this part of Portugal.
Wide open sandy paths run amongst still-green undergrowth. Inlets and lagoons, sand banks with fishermen and high-rise, white-washed apartments in the distance: Armacao de Pera, where there is a fortress, and knowledgeable staff at the tourist information. Here I stopped to buy a pastel de nata (Portuguese custard tart) for my elevenses.
My way wound through spiky bushes, and always the sea was on my left, sometimes edged with swans. Brown and cream butterflies were warming their wings on hot stones which had been whitened by the sun, parched roots were exposed and soft pine needles lay everywhere, yellow-green at this late time of year. There were grand palm trees and lemons hung on branches of shiny leaves in Carvalho’s garden (I’m told he is a famous footballer). His property sits above a beach which is named after him.
At this point on the coastal path, I took a wrong turn and went down to the sea which meant that, of course, I had to go back up again – about 150 steps – hard work with the rucksack in the sun.
There are high class resorts with grounds kept fresh from constant watering all along here, and the most spectacular beaches.
A woman tending a clothes stall helpfullly pointed me towards the right bus stop, where I waited for a bus to take me to my lodgings. It had taken me longer than I had expected and I was reliably informed (by the surfing dude in the wooden cabin on the beach) that I would not make it by dark. He was right.
This took me to perhaps the most disappointing hostel of my whole trip – Hostel Carvoeiro (see below). It promised a garden, but was separated into various areas which all seemd private or had a vehicle of one sort or another in them. The kitchen and dorm was open-plan. The hospitalero was not around once I had booked in, and there was one other person who seemed to be a long-term lodger, a chef in a local cafe. It being cold at night at this time of year, even in the Algarve, I prepared my tea on a temporary stove in the one mug that I could find, and huddled until the morning.
Carvoieiro
Once again I had been staying a little way inland, and so had a short walk to the start of the Caminho das Promontorios (Trail of the Headlands). The route was harder to find and I lost my way several times, once bringing me to tears of frustration as I wandered around in circles. In the end I simply waited until someone else came along – a man who continued to look back afterwards, to check that I was still following. It was quite a long way, but really lovely scenery, and there were lots of day-hikers going one way without rucksacks and getting a taxi back.
I phoned the bar that night and asked if anyone lived in Portimao where I was staying, hoping to avoid losing them altogether, or having to walk back. I was lucky. A few calls and days later, I arranged to meet someone who gave me my costume back, though never the travel towel which D had kindly bought for me from Germany. I managed without one for the remainder of my trip (three and a half weeks), and was very grateful indeed for everyone’s kindness.
Link to the Lighthouses of Southern Portugal page.
In the past, smoke and fire signals were set by day and night, respectively, to warn the populace of danger.
From the Farol da Ponta do Altar, I made my way around the promontory towards Portimao and as there was still a long way to go, I took a water taxi. While I waited on the beach, I bought a cool and most welcome drink.
Portimao
When I read the small print for the Plaza Real by Atlantichotels which I had booked (again through booking.com), it said I had to leave a deposit of 200 euros which I have never had to do before. Despite my best efforts to contact both booking and the hotel, I could not get it waived and was rather nervous in the run up as I didn’t carry that sort of cash. However I needn’t have worried: the kind receptionist explained that they do not take it off the card nor need cash, just that they take details in case you make a mess in the room. It was a bit like hiring a car without paying for third party insurance – slightly nerve-wracking – but then again, I wasn’t planing on having a party.
It cost 24.67 euros and I had a whole apartment to myself – 4 rooms! (There was also the use of a pool, but I arrived too late to use it and it was in shadow and therefore cold). The big supermarket is a good walk away (back towards the city), although there are two smaller ones nearby.
Walking without a donkey 