The town is characterized by the Igreja Matriz which sits at top of the town with its twin bell towers, even though only one of them has bells in it. The main church is important more for the look of the twin bell towers, rather than it actually having bells in both of them. Also you can see the church from the road before you enter the town, so you can understand why the look is important.

The city features a great park with a children’s play area, and across the road of the park you can find the large indoor daily Municipal Market where you can find fresh fish, bread, fruit and vegetables. Going up towards the centre you’ll see many narrow streets, very typical of Algarvean towns.

The town centre features the main church that we talked about earlier, as well as a large cobbled square which offers some great panoramic views of the surrounding countryside. You can also find some good traditionally-decorated restaurants here and quite a few small bars with some outdoor terraces just off the church square.

The town also features a very well-known vineyard, Quinta dos Vales, a successful vineyard which produces award-winning wines which is owned by the artist and businessman Karl Heinz Stock – the vineyard is open to the public. You can also see life-size works from the artists here as well.

Just a bit further away you can find a well-known Donkey Sanctuary that offers housing to many unwanted pets.

Consider employing some Algarve car hire services if you want to check the place out.

Step back in time a few hundred years back to sometime between the 12^th and 14^th century and enjoy the particular atmosphere offered by the wandering troubadours, jugglers and barbecues and spit roasts at every couple of meters one from each other.

The Silves Medieval Festival takes place between the 9^th and 15^th of August in 2011 and is amongst the most popular festivals that the Algarve sees during the summer period and everybody can get into the action by hiring period costumes so as to better fit in with the rest of the medieval folk.

Silves Medieval Festival

Most of the activities that take place are free except for the jousting tournament and the wicked Black Knight which your children will surely want to see but there is only one show per night so make sure that you’re there when it happens. Talking of free, while in the Festival ground you will have to exchange your modern day Euros for the medieval currency of Xelbs; this can be done under the main gates and it’s all meant to add to the fun and immersion of the event.

Ideally you will want to grab dinner sometime around 7 PM as it will surely get really crowded after 9, despite the large number of places where you can eat rest assured that they will rapidly fill up at around that hour.

One could hardly find a better setting for such an event in the Algarve than the Moorish city of Silves its preserved old town and the castle play a huge role in taking you back in time.