Algarve Luxury Villa Holidays

Best Beaches In The Algarve

The closest beach to Casa Na Colina is about a 10-minute drive, but even if you travel almost to Spain it’s not more than 25 minutes to the most wonderful, often deserted, sandy beaches.

We haven’t done that many beaches yet, as we always seem to be busy doing other things, but we are gradually working our way around them. We’re concentrating on the beaches of the eastern Algarve, of course, since they’re closest to us.

The furthest afield we’ve been is the fantastic beach at Cabeço. Right next door, and a fraction closer to Tavira, is Praia Verde. A bit closer still is Manta Rota. All of these are accessed from the N125 and all are well signposted. They are beyond the eastern boundary of the Ria Formosa National Park and so you have miles of sandy beach fronting straight onto the Atlantic.

The beaches closer to Tavira - the Praia da Ilha de Tavira (accessed by ferry from Tavira) and, our favourite until we visited Cabeço, Barril beach at Pedras del Rei are both on a long spit of sand called the Ilha de Tavira that stretches from Tavira itself down to Fuzeta. These are part of the Ria Formosa, and you have to cross the lagoons and mud flats to reach the beaches.

Further east you have the next island, the Ilha de Armona. This stretches from Fuzeta, from where you can catch the ferry to the part of the island known as Fuzeta beach, down to just east of Olhão. At the Olhão end the beach is known as the Praia de Armona, and this beach is reached by ferry from Olhão (or by walking the length of the island from Fuzeta beach!).

Due south of Olhão are the next two islands in the chain, the Ilha da Culatra with its beach, the Praia da Culatra, and the Ilha do Farol (named for its lighthouse) and its beach, the Praia do Farol. These are both accessed by ferry from Olhão.