Guide
The Algarve You Don't See from the Coast Road
Écrit par le gestionnaire d'Alentejo Park
·Mis à jour October 2024
Drive twenty kilometres north of the A22 on almost any road and you leave the tourist Algarve completely. The landscape changes from limestone and sand to schist and red clay. The towns lose their English-language menus. The cafés have no Wi-Fi. The prices drop by a third.
The Serra do Caldeirão
The Serra do Caldeirão is the mountain range that runs along the northern edge of the Algarve. It is the most wooded part of the south — mainly cork oak and stone pine, with cistus and wild lavender on the exposed ridges. The villages — Cachopo, Martinlongo, Alcoutim — are among the least-visited places in Portugal. Alcoutim on the Guadiana, directly opposite the Spanish village of Sanlúcar de Guadiana, has a small castle, a good municipal campsite, and one of the best preserved small-town market squares in the region.
The Guadiana gorge
The Guadiana river forms the eastern border between Portugal and Spain. North of Castro Marim, it runs through a gorge of schist cliffs that is spectacular and almost entirely unknown to tourists. A road follows the Portuguese side north from Castro Marim to Alcoutim — a 45-minute drive that feels like a different country.
Food
The food of the Algarve interior is entirely different from the coast. Cataplana (the famous copper casserole dish) is a coast dish; the interior eats wild boar, rabbit, and lamb. The pastries are carob-based rather than egg-custard based. The wine is from the Alentejo, not the Algarve. If you eat at a café in Martinlongo or Cachopo, you will eat whatever is in the kitchen that day, for about €8 per person.
Looking for a place to stop in the eastern Algarve?
Alentejo Park is 5 minutes from the A22 junction at Castro Marim. Twelve pitches, full hookup, free dump station for guests. →