Tour of the Algarve starts tomorrow!

I plan to tour Portugal next Spring and wonder if there are any specific places you can recommend?

Yeah, we went last year. Only the Algarve (and slightly north), but the roads inland from the coast are fantastic. Just get a road map and off you go! Monchique is a pretty town (touristy, so expect lots of coach parties), but from there you can climb to the highest peak, Foia, which is 3000'.

We will be based in Pechao, just inland from Faro. Once you get away from the British tourist traps along the south coast it is all beautiful scenery and lots of hills! The big plus is that the prices drop once you get inland too; 10 Euros will get you a great traditional meal in a little village cafe/bar/restaurant.

Alcoutim on the Spanish border is lovely too, worth a ride to visit there, especially the road from the south which follows the river.

Really, just pick a place to be based (bear in mind, inland is cheaper) and then just pick out the roads on a map, there aren't too many, so it is pretty easy to just do big loops out and back. For veriety rent a van for a day and drive somewhere further afield to do your loop. We've rented a van for the week and it will be about £20 each plus fuel.

Here are some pictures from last November;








What a descent this was!!!


So there it is, and those photos are representative of the amount of traffic you will see on the roads.....none! We did a 100 miler and were overtaken by 10, yes 10 cars all day. Bliss.

PP