I have decided to number these entries since I plan to have a number of weekends in the Algarve.  This was the first of many.  These past few weeks have been full of a number of issues encountered while renovating apartments that will soon be available for rentals in Lisbon’s Principe Real neighborhood.  My main rental website is here.  Although I have been trying to move this renovation work along AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE, delays occur, as is par for the course.  Friends of mine had rented a Villa in Lagos, one of the nicest towns on Portugal’s Algarve Coast, and invited me along.  I couldn’t say no…

We decided to drive down, and chose to take the quickest route, the A2 highway which goes directly from Lisbon down to Faro, the main city on the Algarve Coast.

Map of Portugal’s A2 highway from Lisbon to Faro

It was an easy 2 1/2 hour drive straight South until we ended up at our destination Lagos.  Our villa was located on the coast and had beautiful water views.

Lagos Algarve views on the Atlantic Ocean

The Algarve has something for everybody.  There are honky tonk towns with lots of activity and night life going on all night (i.e. Abufeira, Faro) as well as calmer destinations aimed more at those looking for a quiet getaway in a beautiful setting (i.e. Lagos, Vilamoura).  Fun for everybody is assured.  Since you are on the Atlantic ocean coast, the beaches are among the nicest you can find in Europe and let the environment remains calm and very quaint….

Boat ride along the Lagos coastline to visit the Aquamarine Grottos

We chose to do an afternoon boat ride that began in Lagos, and went along the southern coastline to Sagres.  It was a very fun journey on which we met a number of English and German friends.  Sangria was flowing and they had a great barbecue lunch included as well.  The visit to the Aquamarine grottos was a wonderful experience and we were all able to try some diving as well.  I preferred the Sangria to the diving so I maintained my status as a spectator on this journey.

The town of Lagos is a very pretty ‘typical’ Algarve towns.  Whitewashed walls, Portuguese ‘Calcada’ tiled streets, and lots of attention to detail as it was constructed are all still there today.  Even modern artwork has been added to the setting in a very discrete manner.

Modern artwork in Lagos Portugal

We had brunch in a small cafe in the center of Lagos with water views and side views of a number of interesting items, including the modern piece of artwork.  Quite charming.  We then decided to head back to Lisbon via some of the smaller, ‘less traveled’ roads.  We had a few surprises in store for us including the small replica of Lisbon’s Vasco de Gama bridge which links Lisbon to the southern routes…

Algarve southern coast bridge