Albufeira

Albufeira is in the Faro region and for those who know it, you’ll also know it’s famous for it’s bar strip, but in reality it is a city that has much more than that to offer.

The beaches, for example, are the first of many things worth visiting for other than the bars. You can relax and go for a swim in the stunning ocean or spend the whole summer here, finding and enjoying a new beach every day.

Albufeira is a place you get to know really quickly, you’ll get your bearings really easily, so I’m going to tell you where you’ll find all the best bars and beaches.

The Avenida dos Descobrimentos runs through the whole city, and because of its many roundabouts (all of which are somewhat peculiar in their own way) it’s really helpful in terms of working out where you are, and where other things are too. After spending the last 9 summers here, and the fact I have an awful sense of direction, you can trust me when I say it really does help, hahaha.

If you’re driving here, you should get off at the first Albufeira exit you see; but be careful, as if you are using Sat-Nav, it will tell you to take the second one. Depending on where you are coming from, one will be closer than the other, of course, but I just wanted to warn you so that what I’ve already said doesn’t confuse you.

Rotunda dos Descobrimentos

If you take the exit I advised, the first one, then you’ll reach the Rotunda dos Descobrimentos, passing a petrol station on the left. Stop and have a look at the roundabout as it’s quite interesting, there are two globes meant to symbolise the Portuguese conquest of South America using its caravels (small ships built by the Portuguese).

If you take the first exit on the right, you’ll arrive at Rotunda dos Golfinhos from which you can get to the beaches etc. But if you’re looking for clubs you’ll need to take the left exit towards the Rotunda dos Relogios, but I’ll talk about nightlife later on.

Rotunda dos Golfinhos

Take the right exit of the Decobrimentos roundabout and you’ll arrive here at the dolphin roundabout or ‘Rotunda dos Golfinhos’ in Portuguese. Once here you can take the right exit which will take you towards Guía where you’ll find a really nice shopping centre.

Algar Shopping

• It has loads of Spanish shops like Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius, Pull & Bear and Oysho.
• Other shops include shoe shops, surf shops like Ericeira, as well as a Natura and Quicksilver shop.
• There is also a really good food court with Brazilian, Italian, Chinese, Moroccan and Indian restaurants, as well as food from loads of other countries.
• You also have your typical McDonald’s, KFC and Pans & Company too.
• They have converted the top floor into an outdoor ‘summer shopping centre’.
• There is a cinema showing all the latest films with Portuguese subtitles. The only films they didn’t seem to have were the latest children’s ones.

I’m not going to explain how to get to this shopping centre right now as although it’s not that far, it’s really confusing as there are loads of different streets/roads. But, if you really want to know just send me a message and I’d be more than happy to explain it to you.

Old Town

But going back to the dolphin roundabout, if you take the left exit then you’ll eventually reach Albufeira’s Old Town, where you’ll find the city’s cemetery and the local Parish. It also has some of the best views of the city, with the sea on one side and the harbour on the other.

Rotunda da Lua

If you go straight over Retonda dos Golfinhos you will get here. It’s not as unique as the others, with some sort of weird half moon thing in the middle, I’m not sure.

Going straight over this roundabout will take you to the Supermercado Oceano and some beaches. The right exit only leads to some houses whilst the left takes you towards the Albufeira harbour and its famous brightly coloured houses.

Albufeira Harbour

The harbour is beautiful, and a great place to go for a walk, looking at all the boats from all over the world that are harboured there.

Along the seafront you’ll find small little clothes shops, lots of bars and ice cream shops. Also, depending when you are there, there are bouncy castles for the kids and you can rent all sorts of bikes and little cars.

Towards the final stretch of the seafront there is a place where you can get information about hiring boats. There are touristy options, tours etc., or you can even hire your own boat for a private party or something similar. There’s also a little fenced off football pitch you can use.

Another thing for tourists to note is that there are plenty of fairly cheap apartments you can rent, as a lot of people prefer to be further away from the city and rent more of a beach chalet type of thing.

The Beaches

To get to the beaches you need to take the left exit again, however this time you need to take the sort of dirt track towards the right, rather than continuing towards the harbour like you did before.

You’ll know you’re on the right road when you see a fairly posh restaurant/bar/club sponsored by Alfa Romero called ‘Wish’. Keep going until you see quite a steep road on the left, go up it and you’ll end up above everything parallel to the beaches.

From here you’ll see directions to the famous Praia Sao Rafael. 600 metres of fine sand and one of the most popular for foreign tourists. There are loads of amazing restaurants with delicious food and places to hire parasols and sun loungers. It’s surrounded by tall limestone cliffs and the water is completely clear, making it the perfect beach for snorkelling. However, just be careful, the water is freezing cold.

To the left of Sao Rafael is the very small, and quite rocky, Praia dos Arrifes. It’s so rocky that it’s actually fairly difficult to go in the sea when it’s low tide, but it’s worth it when you can as you can swim all the way to another beach towards the right which is otherwise difficult to get to on foot. It also has a really nice bar, which makes one hell of a sangria.

Walking down Sao Rafael you’ll notice other stunning beaches like Castelo and Evaristo, both of which are very small but have fine white sand and crystal clear water. Definitely worth visiting. There are others too like Coelha which is slightly bigger than the previous two, but when the tide is high there is very little space to sit down. Further up you’ll find some bigger ones like Praia da Galé, which has three great little bars that serve amazing fish and seafood. You’ll eventually come across it if you keep walking straight. The reason I’m not giving more detailed directions is because they are all well signposted along the way, you won’t have any trouble finding them, so don’t worry. Praia dos Salgados and Praia do Farol are similar to Galé too.

But my favourite beach doesn’t have a name nor any signs to tell you where it is or a sure way to get down to it. I call it La Playa del Pozo because of it’s weird shape but some more local people call it La Playa de la Olla. It’s a fairly unknown beach and really small, completely hidden away by the cliffs and just looks like a hole in the cliffs where the sea passes through. But, if the tide is low some small boats can in fact reach it. The water is really cold but the beach is so stunning it doesn’t matter. I won’t tell you how to find it so that you can have your own adventure and uncover the mystery for yourself.

There’s not much else in this part of Albufeira, there are some nice restaurants and things like that, but if you are looking for clubs and places to go out, we need to go back to the Retunda dos Relogios that I mentioned earlier, remember?

Retunda dos Relogios

Between taking the left exit at the Descobrimentos roundabout and arriving here, one of the more famous roundabouts, you’ll pass some traffic lights and if you turn right at those, it will take you another old part of the city.

A Baixa

Despite being an old part of the city, it is very much one of the better places to go out, although not the best, and you’ll usually find a lot of English people here. Whether you go there in the morning or at night, it’s a very pleasant place to be and has loads of little shops and stalls selling necklaces and bracelets etc.

There are also loads of restaurants here, a prime spot for tourists. Some of them have stunning views of the Praia dos Pescadores, one of the most famous beaches in Albufeira, but itself isn’t the most beautiful. You’ll also find Albufeira’s only ‘Smart Shop’ here, haha.

The best places to go out are:

• Twist,
• Bank,
• Picadile,
• Bubu,
• Rock City.

There are of course other places you can go too.

Rua da Oura

To find the best places to go out, we need to go back to the Rotunda dos Relogios and push further on. You’ll pass a McDonald’s and the Pingo Doce supermarket, which has good Portuguese food and is fairly cheap, on your left; and on your right there’ll be a small shopping centre called Modelo.

Before getting to the next roundabout you’ll see a road on your right that is home to a really good Chinese restaurant. Passing this, and the roundabout, you’ll reach another of the unique roundabouts, Retunda das Minhocas, stop and have a look but go straight over if you’re looking for the clubs.

After passing over, you’ll eventually see a taxi rank, a great place to park up if you want to get out and walk the rest of the way. But if you don’t want to do so, drive straight past and turn into the next road and you’ll finally be in the Rua da Oura. If you want to get here using your Sat-Nav, the actual name of the road is Avenida Senhora Carneiro, but if you’re asking people then be sure to refer to it as Oura as this is in fact the name of the beach at the end of the road and so everyone knows it by this name instead.

On your right you’ll see the Café del Mar, one of the oldest clubs on this road, which is where older people usually go but has the odd younger group too. Just next to this is 2 Seconds, which I don’t know much about as it only opened last summer and I still haven’t been there yet. If you keep going up the road, you’ll find a sweet shop called Candyland. It looks really cool but be careful if you are buying anything from there as the Pick 'n' Mix is really expensive.

Further up there is Liza’s Pizzas, a restaurant that serves pizzas and pasta dishes that always smell so good, attracting a lot of tourists. It’s right next to the entrance of a shopping centre that has a mini supermarket, a used book shop, a newsagents and an amazing tattoo parlour called Imperium Tattoo where I got my own done last summer.

I don’t think it’s open in Winter, but opens for Christmas and New Year etc, and then for the rest of the year between March and November. Loads of really nice guys work there, the nicest being the Brazilian owner who speaks Spanish and English too. The prices are cheaper than other places in Albufeira as before I decided I went and asked around, but it was Imperium that I trusted the most for a whole number of reasons, but mainly because of how clean and careful they were.

Moving further down the road you’ll see an amazing Italian Ice Cream place that has loads of delicious flavours and the best crepes. If you keep going you’ll eventually reach a crossroads and if you go right you’ll find Liberto’s Bar. Going straight over, after a while you’ll see Hotel Aldeia on the right and the following bars (in this order) on the left.

• El Patcha!,
• Garage Disco Bar,
• Café Mambo,
• Savannah,
• Renno's Bar,
• Heaven Disco Club,
• Matt’s Bar,
• And finally Wild & Co.

There are also two more opposite these bars on the right hand side of the road. La Bamba and Lick it. At the end of the road there’s a sort of a crane thing that you can go up for a panoramic view of the city.

If you keep going straight on you’ll finally reach A Praia da Oura but taking a right then the next left will take you to Kiss Club, the only place open until six or seven in the morning.

Another good club in Albuferia is Capítulo V, but it’s best to get there fairly sober if you want to have any chance of getting in. To get there, just follow the signs to Praia da Oura as the club is walking distance from the beach, something that makes it so appealing and unique for the people who go there. I don’t like it much because of the music they play, it’s all pretty much electronic music and they even close off the outside part to the beach at 5am, meaning you don’t even get to see the sun come up.

Any Questions?

I think I’ve told you a fair bit about Albufeira but if you still have any questions or doubts about hotels or anything like that, that I haven’t mentioned, just leave a comment and I’ll reply as soon as possible.

Thanks for reading guys, take care.

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