Algarve • South of Portugal

A week to discover and relax in this beautiful part of Portugal.

• Beautiful beaches • Wild Dolphins • Amazing landscapes •
What else do you need ?
☀️🌊🐬

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Day 01 • First steps in Portugal

You know how I love to take my time and enjoy the discovery, when I just arrive in a new place. So obviously the first thing we had to do was to pick up the car, set up the apartment, do some grocery shopping and enjoy the pool residence.

Day 02 • Albufeira

We took things slow on our second day, after all we were on vacation. 😎

We enjoyed the beach which was a little bit too crowded for me… The city is pretty cute though even if there is a lot of pub and bar. We learnt later that Albufeira is also called the English city, because many of its tourists are english and they do love to party ! So I wouldn’t recommend this city if you are looking for a quiet place to spend your holidays. Luckily our apartment was a bit up the hill. (Portugal is known for its hills so everyday was leg day there.) Anyway we choose this city because despite its size it got all the advantages of a big city, lots of shops, supermarkets… Plus Albufeira is central, which is a good point to discover the Algarve.

Day 03 • Dolphins watch

There are some wild dolphins living in the mediterranean sea. The Algarve is a really good place to observe them in their natural space.
Knowing that we definitely wanted to watch them, we went to Albufeira Marina to find information about dolphins watch. This place is so colorful 🌈 The architecture here is incredible and there is a lot of option for restaurants and pubs.

There is a lot of companies offering various tours down there. Mostly you can find a way to dive, to kayak, to observe dolphins, to cruise following cliffs… With all these choices, the hardest part was to find the right company. We finally decided to book with Dolphins driven, because this company is part of a conservation and research association in order to preserve Marine life. (I recommend them, they were awesome, really nice staff, they took time to answer all our questions. I had a great time with them).
Here we are, we choose the morning excursion. I thought that was better to observe dolphins, but the guide told us that dolphins hang out in the area all day long… So apparently there is no «good or bad » hours to observe them. We were on a 16 seats speed boats (Yeah you’re going to hit waves, I hope you’re not seasick).I was glad to find out the size of the boat (we were actually 12 onboard that day), plus the guide and the driver. They were both lovely. After safety information, life jackets on, LET’S OBSERVE SOME WILD DOLPHINS 🐬 
At first we struggled to find them, I mean they are wild animals, you can’t predict where they will be. Our guide finally managed to find a group (about 40) and what an AMAZING moment !!! There is no word to describe the feeling of observing wild animals. It’s like a gift directly from mother Nature. I could have stayed there all day long…

After a while we left the dolphins to their aquatic activities, it was time for us to visit Benagil cave (the famous Algarve’s cave, with a big hole in the middle). We wanted to visit this place by kayak on the next day but that way we thought it could be the opportunity to spot the place before going. (We didn’t regret that choice).
We cruised back to the coast to end up at Benagil cave. Even though this place is really beautiful and almost magical, it was so crowded… that kind of spoiled the beauty of the place. I managed to take beautiful pictures using the right angle, but I can tell you there were at least 4 others boats, around 8 kayaks, some swimmers and 40ish persons on the beach… Not as magical as I would imagined it.

I’m pretty glad that we visited this place with our cruise before going. We Changed our plan for the next day… We won’t go kayaking in Benagil cave.
After that crowded place, we visited some others quieter caves on our way back to Albufeira Marina. The cruise to come back was so relaxing… we cruised following the cliffs.

The Algarve landscape really is something.

Day 04 • Trek at Benagil cave & Cova Redonda

Plan A.
The original plan was to go early in Benagil Beach, Rent a kayak to visit Benagil Cave. Luckily with our cruise the day before, we saw how crowded the cave could be. But out of curiosity, we still wanted to visit at least Benagil beach and the area. NOT A GOOD IDEA AT ALL ! It was so hard to find a place to park, the place looked like a giant anthill. Plus the kayak rent was so expensive 😱50€ for 30 minutes… That was a gigantic NOPE for us !
We had to improvise.

Plan B.
We’ve found a way to trek on Benagil cliff to the cave’s hole. Actually there is a proper path, we just found this one by chance. We walked in the area for a while, but not that long since we weren’t really prepared to do so. We reach the top of the cliff, where the Benagil’s hole stand. Observing the hole from the top was also impressive. We didn’t regret this choice as Plan B.

Now it’s time to chill at the beach, but not Benagil one. As you start to understand I don’t really enjoy crowded places. We ended up at Cova Redonda. What a great surprise ! A beach where you can actually enjoy quietness. You have to earn it though. A long way with steps is waiting for you to go down to the beach (remember that at the end of the day, you’ll have to climb that up). We stayed there until the end of the day. Vacation time ☀️

Day 05 • Ilha da Armona

There are plenty of islands that you can access from Faro. We decided to explore one of them without planning which one. We arrived at the Marina and asked for the shuttles departure schedule. We had the choice to wait 1h to visit a farthest island or  wait 20 min to go to a close one. Close one it is !
Ilha da Armona here we come ! I kinda like when things aren’t really planned. This island was a great surprise. When we arrived at the harbor, we choose to follow the path to the other side of the island. I think that having a swim near mooring boats is not a good idea. Plus the beach in the other side sounds more quiet. While crossing the island we discovered really cute tiny vacation houses. At the end of the path we discovered a large and natural area.
🍃Please be respectful and stay in the path, it’s really important in order to preserve the flora and fauna of the island.🌊
Once you arrive at the beach you can go left or right as you wish. We choose right to find a less busy area.

Fortunately, we thought about bringing our own lunch. We improvised a picnic on the beach. 🍏Please be clean, keep your trashes and throw them away whenever you find a bin. If you didn’t bring food, no worries, there is restaurants on the harbor.

We enjoyed most of the day on the island. The water was awesome, barely wavy, which is great to swim. At some point we went back near the harbor, to enjoy a refreshing ice-cream and wait for our return boat.

Day 06 • Kayak at Sao Rafael

Since we weren’t able to kayak at Benagil, we choose to do it at Praia Sao Rafael. At the beach entrance there is a company where you can rent kayak, paddle board or surf board, they also offer tours and classes, we decided to go for a Kayak tour since it was small groups (we were 6 kayaks that day, plus the security boat). I recommend to go with a tour, especially if you’re not used to kayaking, it’s just safer. Plus going with experienced people is the opportunity to learn more about the area and discover places we wouldn’t have seen by ourselves. We followed the cliffs, went into caves, discovered secret beaches… The staff was really cool, they gladly answered our questions, we learnt a lot about the marine and coast life. 2 hours kayaking in the ocean was way enough for us. I was so happy that we did it. 

Day 07 • Praia da Falesia

Today is almost our last day here 😭
So we decided to visit an other beach. We heard a lot about praia da Falesia, so here we go ! 
Like most of the beach in the Algarve, I reckon, there is a path to go down to the beach. Once on the beach it’s always the same, you can either stay there, where it’s crowded or walk a little bit further to get your own piece of the beach. This beach’s name don’t lie, cliffs are awesome there, with beautiful red/orange shades. We stayed all the rest of the day, just chilling, swimming, strolling… VACATION

I was really glad to discover this part of Portugal. Portuguese are lovely, I really enjoyed their way of life and the food is incredibly delicious (Please give me Bacalhau everyday).Even though some places are really crowded (which is something that I specifically hate), the landscapes were amazingly beautiful. Plus being able to observe wild dolphins xas wonderful.
If you’re looking for a great place to chill, go there without hesitation.