Portugal’s Algarve Coastline

Southern Portugal’s Coast is especially beautiful; from rugged cliffs with huge caverns to long sandy beaches, it appears that the Algarve coast has it all.

After an easy drive (wide highways!) of 3 hours south, we made it to our Airbnb a little early and decided to explore the town. That took about two minutes as Salema is a small village located on a sandy cove of the Atlantic with some great restaurants and taverns.

From our Airbnb in Salema we explored the largely empty coastline west and north. Most accessible beaches are in coves, some with no access by land but only by water. Where we could, we hiked down to the beaches just to explore and cool-off in the Atlantic. We visited the most western part of mainland Europe just to see if we could see America-nope, but there is a nice lighthouse….

After 3 days in Salema we headed east to the town of Fuseta. An active fishing and tourist harbor, Fuseta was significantly larger than Salema and offered a wide variety of water sports – the kiting looked excellent but I just didn’t have the time😕.

Finding our Airbnb in Fuseta proved to be beyond our ability; Google maps directed us to a desolate area of open fields and worn-out appliances. After contacting our host, we met him in the town square (5 miles away-good job Google) and followed him the short distance to our next home.

One of our many self-guided excursions took us to Sand Sculpture Exhibition. Each March, professional sculptors practice their craft in a single area. The sculptures last typically into October or November, until first big rain. I was a little surprised at the 10 euro price per ticket to see sand sculptures, but it was worth it.

We will miss the people and the country of Portugal 🇵🇹.

Next stop: Seville, Spain – by bus 🚌.