Sotavento (Eastern Algarve)
The leeward coast of barrier islands, tidal lagoons, salt pans and unhurried towns where the Ria Formosa natural park shapes daily life.
The Sotavento, or "leeward" Algarve, runs from Faro eastward to the Spanish border at the Guadiana river. Its municipalities include Faro, Olhao, Tavira, Vila Real de Santo Antonio, Castro Marim and Alcoutim. Where the Barlavento is defined by its cliffs, the Sotavento is shaped by water. The vast tidal lagoon system of the Ria Formosa stretches for 60 kilometres along the coast, sheltered from the open Atlantic by a chain of sandy barrier islands that shift and reshape with each major storm.
The Ria Formosa Natural Park, established in 1987, covers 18,000 hectares of salt marshes, mudflats, dunes, channels and open water. It is one of the most important wetland habitats in Europe, supporting more than 20,000 overwintering waders and acting as a critical stopover on the East Atlantic Flyway for birds migrating between Africa and northern Europe. Greater flamingos are present year-round in the shallower lagoons, wading through the salt pans in flocks of several hundred. The park is also one of the last refuges of the Mediterranean chameleon in Portugal, a small and slow-moving reptile found in the low scrub behind the dunes. The barrier islands themselves, Ilha Deserta, Ilha da Culatra, Ilha da Armona, Ilha de Tavira and Ilha de Cabanas, are reached by ferry from the mainland towns, each offering long and largely empty beaches backed by low dunes and wild vegetation.
Faro, the regional capital, is often bypassed by visitors heading straight from the airport to the resort towns further west, which is precisely what gives the city its appeal to those who stop. The walled old quarter, the Cidade Velha, is entered through the Arco da Vila, an 18th-century neoclassical archway designed by the Italian architect Francisco Xavier Fabri. Inside the walls, cobbled lanes lead uphill to the Se de Faro, a cathedral that blends Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque elements as a result of successive rebuilding after the 1755 earthquake. From the bell tower there are sweeping views across rooftops to the lagoon. The Igreja do Carmo, outside the old walls, is known for its macabre bone chapel, the Capela dos Ossos, its walls and ceiling lined with the skulls and femurs of over a thousand Carmelite monks. The University of the Algarve, established in 1979, brings a student population that sustains a year-round cafe and bar scene along the pedestrianised Rua de Santo Antonio.
Olhao, eight kilometres east of Faro, is the Algarve's largest fishing port and one of its most characterful towns. Its centre is built in a distinctive cubist style: flat-roofed white houses with external staircases and rooftop terraces that reflect North African building traditions brought back by fishermen who traded across the Strait of Gibraltar. The waterfront market halls, separate buildings for fish and vegetables, are among the finest in Portugal and the best place in the region to buy fresh seafood. From the quayside, ferries cross to the islands of Armona and Culatra, where small fishing communities live year-round alongside the seasonal beachgoers.
Tavira is widely regarded as the most beautiful town in the eastern Algarve and a strong candidate for the most beautiful in the entire region. Straddling the Gilao river, connected by a seven-arched bridge of Roman origin, it holds 37 churches within its municipal boundaries, more per capita than almost anywhere in Portugal. The town's low skyline of tiled pyramidal rooftops, known as telhados de tesoura, whitewashed walls and wrought-iron balconies gives it a refined, unhurried atmosphere. The castle hill offers views across the town to the salt pans and lagoon beyond. A ferry runs from the waterfront to the Ilha de Tavira, an 11-kilometre barrier island beach.
Further east, the fishing village of Cacela Velha occupies a clifftop position overlooking the lagoon, its tiny whitewashed church and handful of houses among the most photographed scenes in the Algarve. Santa Luzia, between Tavira and Olhao, calls itself the octopus capital of the Algarve, its waterfront restaurants serving polvo in every conceivable form alongside views of the lobster pots stacked on the quay.
At the eastern limit, Vila Real de Santo Antonio was built in five months in 1774 on the orders of the Marquis of Pombal, laid out on a rigid grid plan modelled on the Baixa district of Lisbon. Across the Guadiana, the Spanish town of Ayamonte is visible from the waterfront promenade, and a ferry crosses the river regularly. Inland, the fortress town of Castro Marim guards the river crossing, its 13th-century castle and 17th-century Fort of Sao Sebastiao facing Spain from a low hill above the salt marshes that produce some of the finest flor de sal in Portugal.
Towns
Faro
The Algarve's administrative capital and transport hub, a cultured university city on the edge of the Ria Formosa lagoon.
Tavira
The most elegant town in the eastern Algarve, with 37 churches, a Roman bridge over the Gilao river and a refined, unhurried atmosphere.
Olhao
The Algarve's largest fishing port, with cubist flat-roofed architecture, outstanding waterfront markets and ferries to the Ria Formosa islands.
Vila Real de Santo Antonio
A Pombaline grid-plan border town on the Guadiana river, built in five months in 1774, facing Spain across the water.
Quarteira
A local beach resort with a popular fish market, long sandy beach and proximity to the purpose-built resort of Vilamoura.
Vilamoura
A purpose-built luxury resort centred on a 1,000-berth marina, with championship golf courses, a Roman archaeological site and upmarket nightlife.