Praia da Rocha in Portimao has pledged to offer over 1300 parking places for the locals as well as – and especially – the millions of tourists that flood the resort annually.

The administration has signed contracts with the local major landowners, especially with Grupo Espirito Santo, which will allow a free parking lot with almost 1000 parking places just 500 meters from the beach.

In the central area of Praia da Rocha, CMP will introduce taxed parking with the aim of increasing the spots to be vacated and occupied by others in the town. The administration also considered the implementation of a residency card, which would allow stationing in an area for a given amount of time, but no clear resolution was reached.

The new subterranean parking lot which has been in construction and is nearly ready to welcome cars will provide over 280 parking spots right in the center of Praia da Rocha. The parking places here respond to the various needs of various drivers: they are both commercial and regular spots, for large or small vehicles, meat for tourists, residents, commercial entities and workers alike, catering for the necessities of all.

One thing is certain: this summer, it is Easy Parking in Praia da Rocha. One last thing to consider: if you’re travelling to the Algarve, you are going to need a car to park in the first place, so you might be just in time to employ the services of a local car hire company or at least get a transfer.

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 majority of the town is made up of late 19^th and early 20^th century buildings, when we’re talking about the older part of town, while the rest of Portimao is made up of modern apartment blocks in a variety of colors, hues and shades. It is interesting to note however that most settlements in the region have much longer histories, Portimao is a rather young place that managed to develop despite being surrounded by older towns. You can quickly get here by using some Portimao transfers from Faro Airport.

Because of its age, Portimao offers a special type of holiday experience, a more modern take on it. The shopping opportunities abound, especially in the centre, which is jam-packed with shops offering everything from clothes, gifts, souvenirs and electrical goods to general household items and whatever else you might expect to find in any town on the globe.

Of course entertainment is never far from the spectrum of shopping so there are also a lot of bars, restaurants and cafes where you can have yourself a sit and a rest while enjoying a snack or a nice refreshing beverage, be it hot or cold. The town is not exactly a resort town, so it can get rather busy in the center and the residential areas, however if you’re interested in seeing the more relaxed side of Portimao all you have to do is to head down to the river front.

Alongside the river front you’ll find the ‘Manuel Bivar’ gardens as well as some very famous regional fish restaurants situated near the end of the waterfront – all you have to do to get there is to follow the wonderful smell of barbecuing sardines.

Those who have employed some Portimao car hire services will quickly notice that the roads in and around Portimao can be a bit confusing, and more than just a bit congested because on some of the narrow streets you’ll find cars parked on both sides of the road. This happens even though car parking spots exist all around the town and there’s a very large free car park on the waterfront.

Portimao - Praia da rocha

While in Portimao you will simply have to visit the Portimao Marina, the colors that you’ll see there are quite unexpected to say the least. This is possibly the only place where you can see ochre and terracotta together; you can find the marina at the eastern end of the Praia da Rocha, this is also where you’ll find the Tivoli Arade and Nikki beach resorts.

As far as Portimao activities go, there are a plethora of things that one can get involved with, for instance boat trips. Not only boat trips but actually pirate ship trips which take you visiting the caves in old boats.

There are a couple of museums and art galleries to keep the culture vultures occupied and interested and a port built in the 17 century to protect the mouth of the river Arade. Located at the end of Tomas Cabreira avenue, this makes a great observation point to see across Ferragudo, Praia da Rocha and the marina.

Other activities that you can partake in are visiting the Zoo Lagos, located on the outskirts of Lagos however, so you’ll need a ride there, or go to the the Zoomarine at Guia, a vehicle of sorts will also be ideal for this destination.

This has only been a very short and quick description of what you should expect from Portimao, once there you’ll obviously find more things to see and do, even if it’s just strolling around the place taking in the atmosphere, rest assured that you won’t get bored, how could you with the beach in such close proximity.

What started as a quiet and very elegant resort back in the 1930s only started to develop at a major rate once cheaper flights started to be offered in the 1970s, which in turn spurred on a boom in apartments being built, and steadily and surely Praia da Rocha became the region’s second-largest resort town.

There are basically two types of travelers in the world: those who haven’t been to the Algarve yet, and those who return there year after year, but what exactly makes the latter do this?

It may have to do with the fact that the Algarve sees only about seventeen days of rainfall each year, or more specifically to Praia da Rocha, maybe it’s the two kilometer beach that is home to both wonderfully soft sands as well as rock formations, after all Praia da Rocha means “rock beach”.

Portimao guide - Praia da Rocha

Almost as the beach is vast, the main town avenue runs along the top of it and is chock full of restaurants, cafes and shops and you can bet that during the night it simply comes to life thanks to the plethora of bars and clubs that one can choose from.

At the avenue’s end you will find the Fortress of Santa Catarina de Ribamar, this fortress was part of neighboring Portimao’s defences meant to protect the city from corsair and pirate raids during the 17th and 18th centuries.

In terms of accommodations, Praia da Rocha offers mostly hotels and many-many apartment-blocks – because of the earlier mentioned building boom of the ’70s – however you won’t feel crammed in because the buildings are well spaced and they are well positioned in regards to access to the local amenities.

Praia da Rocha is the ideal destination for those who want a quintessential Algarve experience, not a traditional one. It’s a great place if you’re interested in sunbathing, great restaurants and many places to party during the night. The only place that it doesn’t shine as strong is in the shopping category, but you can always rent a car and head into Portimao to visit the main shopping centre there.