Portugal’s Algarve, stretches along the bottom portion of the country’s coastline. It’s in the Algarve where most people come to spend their holidays along the soft sandy beaches backed by eroding cliffs with dramatic rock formations.
We spent one week in the Algarve with the town of Albufeira as our base. From here we set out each day to visit the smaller towns surrounding the area. Our first stop was to the Old Center of Albufeira, a beautiful beach city boasting an incredible elevator (see first picture above) leading down to a lovely beach, great restaurants, and decent shopping.
The next day, we set out in search of pottery. We headed to Porches, a village famed for its ceramics and shops selling tiles in various styles, but this ended up being a bust. We still found pottery to buy, just not here.
Next up, we headed inland to the town of Silves, the medieval residence and capital of the Moorish kings of the al-Gharb (Algarve). Here we walked through castle remains and the fortressed walls of a formerly grand place. After a few close calls from driving in extremely tight and scary streets, we headed back to the shore for more comfortable weather and something to eat.
Our last foray into town touring was to the town of Faro. We had a great lunch and walked it off looking for something, anything to buy, but alas, there was nothing. The town is pretty and architecturally interesting, but with little to buy.
We spent our last few days sunning, reading, playing tennis and relaxing, preparing for part II of our vacation in the Loire Valley of France.
Jen Maan in Amman 
What a beautiful area. Good luck with your pottery search. It will be fun to find something representative of this site that you can take home with you.
Thanks –I got lucky and found couple of great shops that send items in the mail.
Hi Jen, Raj, Joe and Anne,
What a terrific blog and pics, Glad you are having such a wonderful time!!!! the pics are incredible and the description is equal!
Vaya con Dios…..oh, thats not Portugee!
Dick and Mary
Hi Richard and Mary, Thanks for the Hotel Alison recommendation. We all enjoyed our time here and look forward to returning to this hotel on future trips!
Love it! Beautiful pictures of the area and you look so cute in your dress!
Thank you so much!
The beaches look amazing. Tobie, I’m so sad. I wasn’t invited 😦
You were invited. Tobie, don’t listen to her.
Tobie, she’s lying- she speaks untruths!
Tell your dad that things must be pretty good….. The trip looks fabulous!
Hi Jacque, Things are good but my parents have decided that they both have to return to work after the vacation to pay for things.
That first picture kind of reminds me of the cove in La Jolla! Lovely shots!
I totally agree. That’s what I said to Raj when we got there.
Oh how I wish I was there. Did I forget so soon… It is as beautiful as your pictures represent.. Great trip.. Mom and Dad aka joe and ann
I agree. I wish we had more time there.
Beautiful city! Adorable you!
Gorgeous! Those beaches look amazing. I’d want to pitch a hut and stay the whole week!
Your dad doesn’t have time to work….He’s pretty busy at the boat, scrubbing, polishing, etc.
Hey, sounds like you had a good time. We live near Silves and we love it! Shame you never got to the Western Algarve and places like Lagos and Odeciexe. they are total contrast to Abufeira. What did you think of the food?
We did visit Lagos and Silves, but didn’t make it to Odeciexe. We loved all of the seafood. My husband loved the Chicken Piri Piri.