Algarve is a Beautiful town along the coast of Atlantic Ocean with Most Iconic views. The place looks serene with White Limestone rocks and their various caves, structures which have formed with Sea waves splashing the rocks during high tides over a million years
We spent 4 days and 3 nights in Algarve and mainly focused on absorbing the tranquility of the place as well has doing some fun adventures with our friends.
The Best Way To reach this Beautiful Place-
Lisbon is the nearest airport, pretty crowded specially in the summers.
However, best way to travel to Algarve from Lisbon is to rent a car. The rentals are pretty cheap specially if you are travelling in groups.
We were a group of 14 people, had 3 pre booked car from Sixt & Avis. There are multiple car rentals but we went for these two.
The distance is ~250KM (~159 miles) and roads are really nice and ideally shouldn't take more than 2-2.5 hrs. Though the sun is too hot in this area during Summers (temperature shows 30 degree Celsius but feels like more than 45) but one can sight quite a lot of Orange Farms on the way. Don't forget to bring loads of good sunscreen if you are planning on going there in Summers
We took a 5 mins detour midway to have our lunch at this cozy little place-
The Hosts are amazing with lot of food choices for Vegetarians, Vegans & Non- Vegetarians.
We stayed at the best property in Algarve. We found this great place on AirBnb. This had 9 bed rooms, fully functional kitchen and the bessst view, The place is literally at the Cliff with nothing just serene blue waters getting complemented by the limestone formations.
We reached around 4PM at the property and started exploring the area. There is a private beach like 10 mins walking distance from the Property and the views we saw there make me wanna go back.
The Sunrise, sunset, moon rise all has been amazing here.
Activities to do in Algarve:-
Kayaking
You have to have to try Kayaking here. The famous Benagil Caves can't be reached through motor boats. Kayaks are the best way to go through the small caves. And don't you worry if you don't know how to Kayak. There isn't much to know honestly, specially if you have a Guide like
These guys have recently set up their shop and have brand new Kayaks. The Guide has been doing Kayak tours all his life before starting his own company. We paid 30 Euros per person for a sun set Kayak. While the afternoon Kayak tour charges are less, it's too hot to do it in the afternoon. With Sun setting at 9:30 PM best time is to start your tour at 5-5:30 in the evening so that you enjoy all the places without rush and can sense the calmness in the water.
A good tour will easily take you 2-3 hrs going though the caves of Famous "BENAGIL CAVES". You'll get to see all the secluded beaches which are not easily accessible. Some of these beaches can be accessed via Rope climbing, again an adventure for someone looking to have more fun.
Apparently, these Caves are a result of waves splashing during high tides for millions of years. These Caves get filled with Water during High tides and people actually enter these by jumping from the top and coming out swimming into the Ocean. Must be a crazy thing to do I guess. During our time the waters were low so Kayaking was the best we could do.
Sky Diving
If Sky diving has been on your bucket list then algarve is the place to get it done with. When you jump from 15000 ft up in the sky, you get to see the real beauty of the place. This was the most exhilarating experience we have ever had. We booked our slots with Tandem Skydive
The charges are much less compared to other places like - Dubai in UAE and the plus point being you have the option to land on the BEACH. Imagine that!!. It costs ~210 euros per person for jumping, for photos & videos you have to shell out extra 110 euros.
The trainers at this place are amazing, they make you feel so calm before the jump they even let you glide your parachutes. I believe we all must do this once in our lifetime.
Beach Hopping & City touring
The beaches are crowded, but the water makes you forget all this. One can easily spend the entire day just chilling in the water. I wish we had more time to explore the city and beaches
Must Eat Places in Algarve
The Supermarkets in Algarve or rather all of Portugal have all that you need and relatively cheaper compared to other cities. However the place is full of cozy Cafes and restaurants for all your meals.
These are some of our favourites:-
Cafe Fino: for Breakfast or brunch. The place has waiting time for 30 minutes but the cozy vibes make you just go with it
Belmondo: Do visit this place for a peaceful dinner, some great wine and the best ravioli.
Riviera Pastry Shop
Hope you liked the details here, will definitely be sharing details of my other travel stories soon!!
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