Although the city was first mentioned in a document in 1378, it only became an important town during the 19^th century, however it was sufficiently important in the 17^th century to need the building of the fortress of Sao Lorenco in 1679 to protect it from pirate raids. Our short Olhao guide will try to give you a bit of an idea of what to expect from this town of many faces.

We said many faces because depending on where you approach it from, Olhao, Portugal will look different. For instance if you approach it from the side where the fishing port is located, it will look very industrial, and hence not extremely attractive to tourists. However if you’re driving to Olhao along the water front road then you’ll get a different view altogether. You can use Olhao transfers from Faro Airport to get here right from the airport.

The waterfront is extremely important to Olhao, as such there are actually two market building situated side by side which you simply have to visit, even if you’re not interested in purchasing anything, the atmosphere and the vibe of the markets will mesmerize you. If you do want to purchase something well then there will be no shortage of fresh fish and sea food, alongside locally grown fresh fruit and vegetables.

Of course this is the Algarve so you can’t have any large gathering of human beings without the specter of cafes and restaurants being somewhere close-by. The market halls are surrounded by many pavement cafes where you can sit down, relax, have yourself a wonderfully refreshing beverage and enjoy the view of the boats moored along the water. If you’re so inclined you can find a nice jazz cafe from which you can just watch people mill around the place and the boats in the immediate distance.

Much as it is with the rest of the cities and town of the Algarve, Olhao too has an old, historic heart. The Old Town is mad eup of old buildings which used to be merchants’ homes featuring wrought iron balconies as well as carved stonework and tile decorations as is customary around these parts. This offers an interesting contrast to the modern, industrial look of the port area.

The Praca da Restauraca is home to the church of Nossas Senhora do Rosario which was built in 1689 with contributions from the local fishermen, it’s interesting to note that at that time, this was the only stone building in the city. It is still a very graceful building featuring a Baroque facade.

The building located behind the church is the Compromisso Maritimo – the fishermen’s mutual society, founded back in the 18^th century – nowadays is also the home of the local Olhao city museum.

There’s yet another church located at the back of the Compromisso Maritimo, this time it’s a 17^th century one, the Nossa Senhora da Soledade. The entire area around these buildings feature narrow, cobbled streets and a wide variety of shops and of course the ever-present pavement cafes which are perfectly located to get a nice break from the sightseeing.

While we are talking here about a fishing town, Olhao doesn’t actually have a beach because it is located on the Ria Formosa system of lagoons, however the ferry services can take you to wherever you’ll want to reach nearby. Another option would be to employ some Olhao car hire services and just drive for yourself to wherever you want to go in case you want to visit near by cities like Faro or Tavira.

There are obviously many things to see and do here, and let’s not forget that you will be on the Algarve coast, the weather will most likely be wonderful and the people welcoming, also the surrounding countryside can offer a lot of interesting places to see and adventure in.

The history of this once tiny hamlet isn’t very well known till around the middle of the 13^th century when the Moors conquered it and placed it under the control of the larger nearby Silves. The hamlet later become an official town, only for it to be mostly destroyed during the earthquake of 1755. however the settlement continued on, becoming an administrative town in the area which lived off agriculture, in the past. This is a very short Lagoa guide, meant to give you a better idea of the place’s history as well as present.

One of the main attractions of modern-day Lagoa comes from the start of the 19^th century when the parish church was inaugurated, however there’s an older church, the Igreja de Misericordia which dates to the middle of the 18^th century. The parish church features a very pleasant Baroque facade which is enhanced during the months of May and June when the surrounding jacaranda trees blossom. There also a war memorial erected nearby which pays tribute to the Lagoan soldiers who fell during the African colonial wars.

One other interesting building in the city is the Convento do Sao Jose which was built in 1713 and managed to survive the 1755 earthquake. Nowadays the building is used as a place to exhibit various art collections as well as house a small theater for cultural events. The building has an intriguing little feature in the style of a turn-box door, which was used to pass unwanted babies to the nuns in the convent. The mother would place the baby and any other small possessions on a shelf in the box and talk through a small aperture with the nun on the other side. The revolving door meant that the baby would reach the nuns without the mother having to show her face. Just a little piece of the curious history around this building and town.

During the month of August, the town plays host to a major commercial and rural produce fair named Fatacil. The fair exhibits products from all across the country, not just the region. This turns into a more major event because it offered something of an excuse for national bands and singers to do what they do best.

We mentioned earlier something about wine. During the months of September and October, the country lanes are packed to bursting with trucks and carts which shuttle freshly-picked grapes to the various wine-makers from the fields. The majority of the wine produced here is red and high in alcohol content, usually aged in a solera under a film of flor yeast which imparts a nutty character to the wine, making it taste something like a fine sherry.

The surroundings of the town are very interesting to explore as well, for instance the nearby town of Estombar is an even older settlement. This is where the famous 11^th century Arab poet “Ibn Ammar” lived and is a place of many legends related to subterranean passages stretching for up to twelve kilometers.

The nearby beach of Carvoeiro is located just a few kilometers south of Lagoa and its claim to fame being that it is amongst the most photographed and painted scenes in the entire region of the Algarve. This place too, used to be a simple and small fishing village, but thanks to investment from tourism development in recent years, it has grown into a fully-fledged holiday resort. It now features two golf courses, a tennis complex and even a riding centre nearby. Also close-by is Porches, a small town well-known for its very high-quality potteries and other hand-painted ceramics.

It should be noted that both these destinations can be relatively easily accessed from Lagoa with the help of some Lagoa car hire services. Also a near by is Portimao and Lagos that are very interesting to visit as they have many options for the shopping and for the night life.

Whether you’re planning to spend your entire trip here, or you’re just interested in visiting the place, our Lagoa transfers from Faro Airport can be employed to bring you here and back again, whether it’s to the airport or some other of our available locations, nothing could be easier.