Portugal – Algarve
It’s my 61st birthday, and we are back at our go-to place on the Algarve.
This is one of our favourite destinations for a short four or five-day break. We often head here for my birthday weekend; indeed, this is our fourth October trip in the past five years (and our second visit in 2026).
This time we explored a little further: Tavira and Silves (on the recommendation of others) as well as the usual gems – Culatra, Ilha Deserta, Faro old town and beach, as well as the Ria Formosa Natural Park.
Our WizzAir flight departed Gatwick at 08:10, and even after a short delay at Faro airport, we ended up sitting on one of our favourite beaches, sipping a beer, by midday. Oh, and at the expense of boring anyone reading this, the flight cost less than £12.50 each way (using the usual hack, see hints and tips).
After clearing passport control, we jumped on a number 16 bus (from the stop directly outside the terminal), 15 minutes later, we were walking along the beach.
As usual for this trip, we travelled relatively light, only cabin bags, but even this was too much to carry along the beach, especially as temperatures were in the mid-twenties. So we decided to plonk our arses down on what are the only sun loungers and parasols on this part of Faro Beach, in front of Wax Beach restaurant.
We don’t usually “do” the sun loungers here, but given the bags, (and more than a few hours before we could check in) it made sense.
We found this region of the Algarve when I accidentally saved it in one of my weather apps. I then noticed it always appeared to have good weather, so we came here to find out – and it does!
And when you think of all the places we could explore, I think it’s a great advert for this place that we choose to return here year after year. We are starting to really get to know this place too, but, as we found out on this trip, there is still soooooo much more to explore. I am beginning to understand why people return to the same place year after year; there’s something very nice about the familiarity.
Dolphin Watch
I’ll start with what we hoped would be a highlight, and that’s exactly how it turned out!
A trip on my birthday to see if we could find some wild dolphins… we booked again with Ecomarine, the same guys we went out with on our last trip in March. This time the trip was for five hours, combining dolphin spotting with visits to two of the local islands. Last time we weren’t successful in finding dolphins, so they honoured their promise to give us a 50% discount for this trip.
Two hours into our tour and far out to sea, we came across a huge pod of bottlenose dolphins. Rather fortuitously, they gave us the most amazing display, jumping out of the water and swimming beside the boat. It was magical.
Our boat simply bobbed up and down an area where the dolphins were feeding many metres below us. In every direction we looked, we could see huge adults and juveniles in small groups popping to the surface for air. When we did move the boat to stop us drifting, a few decided to join us and ride the bow wave.
Now this tour isn’t just about the dolphins; it’s an education about the national park region, wildlife, and marine biology, mainly from Afonso, but also an enthusiastic Carlos, who knows this area like the back of his hand.
As we have spent many hours on both islands, we didn’t feel short-changed with only brief stops on each, and the weather was perfect for a swim on both.
Above, Me and Emma with Afonso, Carlos, Lydia (traveling from Singapore), Kuba and Deborah (from Northern Ireland).
Castelo de Silves
We took a 40-minute train ride along the coast to the capital of the ancient Arab kingdom of the Algarve; it was under control of the Moors from the year 713 until 1242 (after some to-ing and fro-ing between the Arabic Muslim leaders and Christian kings of the region).
It still has a few of the old gates intact, as well as the extensive grounds of the castle.
It’s pretty awesome and well worth a visit if in the region.
The city is perched high on a hill, with stunning 360-degree views.
Nowadays it appears to be a Mecca for artists; everywhere we turned there was someone putting their skills to canvas.
Ilha da Barretta (Deserta)
We invariably head here to get away from humanity. Get off the boat, walk along the boardwalk, head for the dead-tree landmark, turn right and keep walking.
The only thing you will hear is the sound of crashing waves and the only things you’ll see is sand, seashells and the occasional flock of gulls.
We have been here before, so know exactly where the flamingos hide away, but this year they were further than we expected, so we were content to view them from afar.
In five hours we only saw three people, and only one of them walked past our position on the sand island. It was only on our walk back that we found other people on the lagoon side of the island.
It really is a paradise, and hard to believe the regional capital, and airport are only a few miles away.
Tavira
A short 20-minute train ride to the east is the pretty city of Tavira. It is much smaller than Faro but has many of the same characteristics of the old town; cobbled streets and charming buildings, including a Moorish castle.
Faro Old-Town
We decided to revert to our tried and tested accommodation, a little guesthouse just outside the city walls. It’s ideally sited, and incredibly good value at around £22 pppn (see hints and tips).
After days on the beach, we’d often grab a sun-downer on our private roof terrace, or drop into a local cocktail bar, or spend evenings discovering amazing restaurants and bars.
It’s one of the main reasons we have grown to love this place; the old town is incredible, with so many awesome places within striking distance. We’ve been here half a dozen times but feel there is still much more to explore.
Every trip we discover yet another gem, as well as revisit our favourite locations.
We ended up returning to what has got to be the world’s most non-Irish, Irish bar called Pipers… live music starts here late. On the night we visited, things kicked off at 11 p.m., when the bar filled up mainly with locals. The music was infectious, the dance floor not being empty for long. Our favourite waiter was working again… his attention to detail is amazing and bar skills simply captivating.
Since we’ve been to Faro numerous times before, we didn’t spend too much time here during the daytime, choosing to explore elsewhere. Faro old town is beautiful, with stunning buildings. More detail can be found in my previous blogs.
Faro – Beach
The local beach is pretty impressive, especially the further you walk along the beach to the east. Like beaches the world over, most people tend to congregate near the main entrance area, but if you head along the beach it quickly empties.
For us, the shoulder season is the best time to visit as it’s still warm, but not too hot, and there is plenty of elbow room.
Our final (Birthday) night
Emma set me up for a little birthday treat on our last night, at a lovely fish restaurant called Escama.
It is a specialist eatery, selling fresh fish with only a few rules: choose your fish from the selection at the counter, decide on the method of preparation, select a wine and side dishes – enjoy!
It’s home cooked honest food, not fussy or pretentious, but the price is a little higher than some of the swankier places nearby, but well worth the experience – we will return to explore the menu further on another visit.
Emma chose Sargo prepared “Bulhão Pato” and I had Dorada, grilled. WOW just WOW.
Hints and Tips
ACCOMMODATION FARO:
Happening Guesthouse, 9 Run de Sao Francisco, 8000-169 Faro.
£44. (For TWO people in a shared double bedroom)
Review:
We love the location of place, but were suspicious when we first booked a few years ago, as it has shared bathroom/s and was so cheap, despite being next to the old-town. However, the rooms are spotless, and there are three bathrooms to choose from, each being pristine and cleaned often. In my books, no different from sharing facilities in an average family home. There is a lovely roof terrace here, and a kitchen, with cooking facilities and a fridge freezer. Perfect for storing wine for “pre-drinks” before heading off, or a breakfast. We stayed in the same room (room 1) this time, as we had done so twice in the past. However, if you read my March 2025 post you will see that the conditions in room 2 were not favourable when we came here then. In fairness Portugal had a VERY wet and bad winter, which probably exacerbated the dampness that was present in the room. On that occasion we contacted the owner and refused to stay there unless moved (there was evidence of mould, so I didn’t feel comfortable staying there). The owner was unable to move us, so we booked elsewhere, receiving a refund.
We booked ‘Happening’ again this for this trip because previous visits were great, hoping the bad experience earlier this year was a one-off. It appears to have be so.
Dolphin watching and Island trips.
I highly recommend these guys, Carlos and Afonso who run/operate a small outfit called EcoMarine from the Jetty at Faro. We have been with these guys twice now, the first time in March, where we were not successful in spotting dolphins, the second time in October where we had the most amazing experience, losing count of the number we saw. They gave us this second trip at half price given the unsuccessful trip first time round. It’s not only about the dolphins and you will see if you go on this trip. These guys are so enthusiastic and knowledgable. This was the highlight of our stay.
Flights
We only paid around £12.50 for each flight on account of using some credits gained in the way I have been talking about ad-nauseam on these posts – well why wouldn’t I let my friends know?
It’s all here, and there is no catch and NO, I dont receive any kickback or benefit for promoting this – it’s simply a hack that I think is worth sharing. Click here
Walk-in hotel breakfast – grab a bargain
We tried the usual hack we use at least once on these trips to Portugal, but have done so with a different hotel in the past. So this time we tried out Hotel Eva Senses on the edge of the marina.
Most hotels do this, so when we discovered the walk-in rate for the breakfast buffet was only €15 per person, it just had to be done! For that, we got ourselves an unlimited breakfast menu, as much coffee, fruit juice, cooked omelette and meats, fruits, cereals as we could eat. Here they even have fizz on the menu, so Buck’s Fizz it was!
The view from the rooftop bar here was spectacular, and food was splendid.
Now, €15 will just about buy a small breakfast and a single cup of coffee elsewhere!
This isn’t quite as swanky as Hotel Occidental across the marina, but we feel the food is better and choice of food much greater. If you haven’t tried this little hack, just ask any hotel what their walk in rate is and you’ll get a price that hopefully is as reasonable as this one. The picture below was my second course, I’d already had a huge plate of fruit and yogurt.
Restaurants
Cidade Velha and Rooftop – We ordered a Cataplana, which is a traditional spherical or clam-shaped copper pot that seals tightly to steam and lock in the flavours of fish and seafood dishes. Outstanding flavour and incredibly filling!
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Tertúlia Algarvia – we ordered Sea Bream for Emma and what turned out to be one of the nicest Octopus meals I have had for a while.
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Escama – I spoke about this earlier, incredible quality, but with a higher than average price tag. BUT, well worth experiencing for some great traditional sea-food.
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Chalet buffet restaurant
This is an all you can eat Chinese, Japanese sushi restaurant which is great value and quality with a huge choice of dishes.
A meal for two people, including a bottle of wine £22 each! You can see why we’ve been back a few times!
