Going to Algarve

What to do in Algarve

by Matt Link

With its robust fruit orchards basking in the warm Mediterranean climate, The Algarve lives up to its nickname, the Garden of Portugal, as the sunny region overflows with crops of oranges, carob, figs, pomegranates, and almonds. It also has a coastline teeming with fresh seafood. Full of Moorish and Roman ruins, cubist houses, and other flavors left by past Phoenicians, Greeks, Visigoths, and Christians, this area's more recent invaders include Northern European tourists and transplants who have made the southwestern tip of Portugal one of the most popular vacation destinations in Europe.

As though transplanted from arid North Africa, the coastline harbors once-quiet fishing villages that now feature tourist apartments and some of the best beaches in Portugal. Stretching a hundred miles from Henry the Navigator's Cape...

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