The spectacular coastline just a short walk out of Lagos
After the wedding we did a 3-1/2 hour drive down to the Algarve, the region of Portugal that runs along the Southern Atlantic coast. The Algarve is Portugal’s beach playground, with a series of resort towns, of all different characters, dotting the whole coast.
We chose the town of Lagos, close to the western edge of the Algarve. Lagos (the “s” at the end is pronounced like “sh.”) is known as something of a bustling British summer vacation enclave. Because we are here pre-season, we will not enjoy a proper beach experience, but then we will miss out on the partying Brit crowds as well. A reasonable trade-off.
The highlight of the area is a coastline just outside the town that is lined with gorgeous coves and rock formations. A wonderful hiking route leads you to viewpoint after stunning viewpoint. And it was nice to enjoy these trails without the crowds that must be coming as the weather warms up. Jim went a step further, spending a fair amount of time on one of the beaches and enjoying a swim way too frigid for my taste.
This was a nice, low-key stop for a few days, especially after the fun chaos of the wedding. The weather was intermittent, but offered a good dose of sunshine for exploring this stunning coastline.
We love flaming chorizo!
After that wonderful lunch of tapas and flaming chorizo, a rainstorm suddenly came out of nowhere. You can’t tell from this picture that it’s pouring rain behind me, forcing us to stay and have a glass of wine to wait it out.
More Algarve coastline
Our hotel, just inside the old city walls, offered a lovely pool and huge internal gardens, where they grow lots of fresh ingredients for the restaurant
A church in a pretty town square
Jim does a selfie on the hiking trail
In Indian restaurants they think it’s weird when we don’t order rice or bread. But the pretty colors make up for what’s missing in texture.
Elegant homefronts in this low-rise town
Loving the gorgeous hiking
One night at dinner we overheard people at another table talking about “the wedding.” Later someone mentioned “Accenture,” the company where Hajir works. So we had to ask, and indeed we enjoyed meeting Neha and Payton, whom we hadn’t manage to meet at the wedding itself.
Jim takes a “refreshing” swim
One more look at this coastline