Being situated north of Aljezur and just before you come to the Alentejo, you can reach Odeceixe via the EN120. The main road towards the town is set on a sharp bend that will give you a view of the town and you’ll be able to see its still-working windmill on top of the hill. You can actually drive up to the top of the windmill and while on that road you will see one of the town’s churches. The windmill is an important characteristic of the town, being featured on the Odeceixe coat of arms.

The town has lots of things to offer its visitors, from the traditional cobbled streets of the region to a small square at the centre of it featuring a stone water fountain adding to the overall charm of the place. The square has a bunch of public benches surrounded by planters filled with flowers, so they make for a very relaxing resting spot. A bit unexpectedly for such a rather small town, there are somewhere around a dozen or so restaurants and bars featuring inside seating as well as having small terraces set upon the cobbled pavements.

The buildings are a blend of styles and building periods, with the occasional merchant’s house featuring tiled fronts and cast iron and stone balconies.

Those who self-cater will find plenty of shops for their grocery shopping as well as lots of gift shops offering hand-made items to take back to those waiting for you at home.

With such a large number of bars and restaurants, one can expect the nightlife to be rather solid, with the bars holding all sorts of music events during the nights, live and otherwise.

At a short distance from the centre, you’ll find the golden sand beach, easily accesible by foot or with a rental car.

The online travel site TripAdvisor – one of the most visited travel websites – has rated the Falesia beach in Albufeira as being the best beach in Portugal and the 18^th in a top 25 of European beaches.

Another Algarve beach that has been awarded as being the 22^nd in the top 25 is the Ponta da Piedare in Lagos, whilst Cascais beach in Lisbon is the second best Portuguese beach and 21^st on the European list.

When it comes to the Top 10 Portugal Beaches, as expected the Algarve beaches occupy most of the positions, with the Falesia in Albufeira taking the top spot – as we mentioned earlier, Olhos d’Agua being ranked fourth and five other following them, all of which are to be found in the Western Algarve. They are as follows:

Ponta da Piedade in Lagos

Praia da Rocha in Portimao

Praia Dona Ana in lagos

Praia da Luz in Burgau

Praia de Odeceixe in Aljezur

Albufeira was voted one of the top European beach destinations in 2012 as well, thanks to the great beauty of its beaches and the diversity which placed the entire municipality as 6^th in the Top 10 of Travellers’ Choice Awards.

We should also note that Albufeira was also given top marks for its good environmental practices and 20 blue flag beaches in the district.

So there you have it, in case you needed an extra boost to decide whether or not you’ll go to the Algarve for your next holiday, the visiting masses have decided and they’ve decided that the Algarve beaches are definitely worth your time.

And in case you want to see as many of them as possible, don’t forget to employ some Algarve car rental services while on your trip, they will serve you well.

The aforementioned parishes, are more like very small towns, with very small populations, the parishes are Aljezur, Bordeira, Odoceixe and Rogil.

Due to the size of Aljezur city Portugal, this nice hillside town has not been tremendously affected by the mass tourism developments specific to most of the western coast of the Algarve.

The main economic activity of the town has been agriculture, for hundreds of years this has been, and still is, the main activity of the town, however Aljezur has started to benefit from the social and economic renewal that the region has seen in recent years.

The town was damaged in the 1755 earthquake and this meant that a new settlement was built across from old Aljezur, called Igreja Nova.

This short Aljezur city guide is meant to offer you a quick idea of what you can find in Aljezur and the surrounding areas, and let’ start with the main beach in the area, the Praia da Arrifana. This is a long and white sandy beach sheltered by a cove on the west coast of the Parque Natural da Costa Vicentina.

Praia do Amado on the other hand is popular both with tourists as well as surfers. The almost clockwork consistency of the NW waves make Amado beach the ideal spot for surfing enthusiasts. Fans of ocean fishing can get a kick out of the place as well, seeing how the middle of the beach is dominated by the Pedra do Cavaleiro, or Knight’s Rock, which is great to fish from when conditions are right. The ‘amado’ part of the name, means ‘beloved’ in Portuguese, so it’s easy to understand why the place is popular since it says it pretty much in its name.

The Praia do Amado is located at about a thirty-five minute drive west of Lagos, when heading along the N125 towards the town of Villa do Bispo and then north on the N268 toward the village of Carrapateira. Of course these directions only make any sense if you’ve employed some Aljezur car hire services while on your trip to the Algarve. If you do have a car at your disposal and like to drive around the wonderful scenery of the Algarve, you may also want to know about the alternative and quicker route which implies taking the N120 north of Lagos and taking a left turn to pass through the village of Monte Ruivo.

Obviously for those who are not interested in that sort of adventure, they can always employ some Aljezur transfers from Faro Airport to take them straight there and back again when they require it.

The Praia da Amoreira is locate at the mouth of the Riveira de Aljezur, a natural estuary that is a true beauty of nature. The beach isn’t far off, featuring beautiful white sand. This beach is a great place to visit if you have children in your group, because the river offers a safer bathing environment for children as well as being a great location for exploring and kayaking.

This beach is located at about an hour drive northwest of Lagos, on the N120, but it’s just past Aljezur itself, so if you’re there already, it should be considerably easier to get there. If you are coming here from Lagos however, you can also take the N268, pass through Carrapateira and Bordeira and then turn left onto the N120 heading towards Aljezur.

While the town of Aljezur is a really small one indeed, you can easily see that its surroundings offer plenty of attractions and distractions, especially targeted towards those who are looking for a more quiet and traditional type of holiday, the type of holiday when you just lounge on the beach and splash in the ocean for hours upon hours after which you head to a local taverna and have a nice traditional meal.