The Algarve

We always enjoy the south-west corner of the Algarve. The main town Lagos is vibrant and lively in the summer, but all year round has some things going on. It is touristy but not too much, it has a great beach, gorgeous restaurants, fabulous nightlife, and is in close driving distance of other amazing beaches along the south and west coast, traditional villages and national parks. The nearby town, Sagres is a surfers paradise with great surfing to be had on the west beach and tranquil swimming on the south beach. Also nearby is the more traditional town of Aljezur, and inland is Monchique and Silves, both worth a visit.

We lived down here for quite a while, some of 2018, most of 2019 and half of 2020 so know it very well. We don't really like the rest of the coast along the Algarve, it's just a bit too touristy for us generally, although there are a few nice places. Inland Algarve can also be beautiful.

We returned to one of our old park ups at the marina in Lagos which has easy access to the town and beach and also there are facilities nearby at the marina complex.

We had a few problems with the police in the town of Lagos. Although we didn't get moved from the spot pictured above, we did get moved from a car park further out of town and from the marina/train station carpark. Both times we were woken at gone midnight and told to move!

We were told to go to the aire in the town. This aire used to be an official campervan aire and was €4 for 24hrs. It got closed during the worst of the pandemic but was now back open in an unofficial capacity. It was free with clean water available, it seemed perfect!

Within a week the council decided they were going to close it again and sent the police to evict the 100-200 campervans there. A weird policy as so many people will never come back to Lagos with its unfriendly policy to campervans.

We know the area so well that we didn't have a problem finding other places to park where we were not bothered, but for many I imagine they headed straight out of the area.

We visited Sagres for a couple of days where we caught one of those great west coast sunsets and had some great beach time.

We also visited Barão de São João, an alternative village that has attracted artists, musicians and alternative folk since the 1970s. 

We spent about 3 weeks in the Algarve and the best part was seeing friends that we hadn't seen for a year. We also really enjoyed the beaches but decided we wouldn't want to move back here again!

Thanks for looking :) xxx