After spending a week in Spain at a beautiful villa (Casa Vista Maravillosa – see previous review),me, my son, his partner and my 12 year old grandson all drove to Portugal for the final week of our holiday. Alvor in Portugal is a seaside resort and fishing village in The Algarve. It has an old, cobbled lane, town and the wetlands of the Alvor river estuary provide a habitat for resident and migratory birds.
We were staying in a house rented through work colleagues. It was ranch style and had a garden full of exotic looking plants and had a small above ground swimming pool that was really only big enough to cool off in.
Alvor has a lovely long beach and even though it is on The Atlantic Ocean, the water was not as cold as I had expected. It is a good location to see some of the sights in the area.
One day we went to Sagres to visit the Fortaleza De Sagres. This is an 18th century fort and was supposedly Henry The Navigator’s fortress (whether or not there was an academy of navigation there remains under debate!) They did however uncover a huge compass or sun dial (they aren’t sure which!). There is also a panoramic walk past a light house and a blow hole where you can sit and listen to the sea pounding away below. Well worth a visit!
We also went to Cabo De Sao Vicente which is the most south westerly point in Europe. The day we visited was an incredibly hot, clear daybut as we neared Cabo the mist descended and it became a lot cooler. This area reminded me of Lands End in that it has been cheaply commercialised. There is a tatty market and lots of fast food vans (where if you bought something you received a certificate saying you had eaten at the most south westerly point in Europe!) If it hadn’t been so misty the views would have been splendid but it was all a bit tatty for me.
Alvor is only about 40 minutes away from Faro and this is where I flew home from (I had declined the 3 day drive back with my family. How many times can you listen to “Are we there yet?” before you throttle your grandchild?)
There are lots of other places nearby that can be visited. My son;s family spent a day at one of the two nearby water parks after I had left. So Alvor is a nice little place to base yourself if you are visiting that part of Portugal.
