Estoi and goodbye Tavira With our time in the Eastern Algarve running out, we made one last out of town trip - to the tiny village of Estoi. Only 10km north of Faro, our research promised us an easy journey, which is true - as long as connections between trains and buses are made! By catching a train from Tavira to Faro at 9.38 we should have made the 10.15 bus from Faro to Estoi, with about 10 minutes to spare...........and we were pretty confident when the ...

Faro Two years ago we visited Faro on what was, unknown to us, an obscure Municipal holiday, when everything except a couple of shops and cafés were closed. We walked around a fair bit on that day, but as it was difficult to get a real feel for the place, we decided that it was time to return - this time when everything was open! A city with lots of history, interesting sights and many tourist attractions, Faro is often “missed” or overlooked. Situated a...

Olhão & more Tavira In addition to going “out of town” again this week, we’ve continued our discoveries in Tavira....but first on the agenda was Saturday Market Day in Olhäo - the largest fishing port in the Algarve. Previously just a tiny village with a few straw huts where people lived, it only became a town of note in the 19th century. With early traces from the Neolithic period and the late Bronze Age it was, like other parts of the Algarve, un...

Santa Luzia & Vila Real de Santo António This week we’ve traveled a little further from our home base to take a look at the border town of Vila Real de Santo António. We also visited a seaside village that can easily be reached from Tavira - Santa Luzia, known as the Octopus capital of the world! The wonderful beaches and waterways are hard to resist in this part of the world..... so early in the week we set off to see the seaside village of Santa Luzi...

Cabanas and Tavira The beaches throughout the Algarve in southern Portugal are spectacular, regularly rated amongst Europe’s finest. A large part of the eastern coast is made up of islands that form the protected Ria Formosa Park, an important habitat for bird and marine life. A series of beautiful islands, with gorgeous beaches, sit just offshore.....the closest to us is Ilha de Tavira which is reached by ferry and is just a couple of minutes walk from our ...