I had the opportunity to go to the south of Portugal recently. We went to the Albufeira area of Algarve for a few days. While the Algarve is known for it’s sandy beaches there is also an Islamic heritage, with the names of places beginning with ‘al’ once being Arab. Albufiera in Arabic means ‘castle on the sea’.

We did a jeep tour, visiting a farm and and small villages. It was great to see how homes had been created in the slopes of the hills and I loved seeing all the creative artistic touches that were dotted about everywhere. We stopped in a cafe to enjoy Portugal’s signature dessert pastel de nata which was sweet and quite delicious.

The tour guide also pointed out the famous piri piri chillis that was fun to see. At the top of one hill was a swing to take in the rural landscape which was great. We also passed many orchards of oranges but also saw lots of pomegranate, olive and cork trees which I was delighted to see.

On another day we went on a boat ride to look for dolphins but sadly they didn’t appear. We did move on to look at the Benagil caves though which were quite beautiful.

I enjoyed my trip to Albufeira, learning about it’s history and seeing what delights it held. It’s a scenic rural and beachy area and a great place to unwind and experience something new.