The town of Monte Gordo, as opposed to most other destinations in the Algarve is actually a pretty large and spacious one; many of its wide streets having been exclusively dedicated to pedestrians.

The place used to be a rather thriving fishing village benefiting from a very wide variety of fish species thanks to the warmer waters of the Mediterranean.

The town is located just a few kilometers from Vila Real de Santo Antonio, being situated practically on the border of Spain, but the two towns are two quite different entities.

Monte Gordo saw a major change in the late 1990s when the Casino Hotel opened. This change came in the form of high-rise apartment buildings, thankfully however, the miles-long stretches of wide golden beaches have remained unspoiled by building sites, there is nothing to ruin the coastline view of the town. Monte Gordo is quite a popular destination for summer visitors thanks to the warmer Mediterranean waters.

The beach decking features access for disabled people in several locations and there is also a rather small but attractive park where one can find plenty of seating in the shade when needing to escape the hot summer Algarve sun.

Even though the place is known by tourists it doesn’t mean that it’s that tourist-focused, the place featuring several good Portuguese restaurants where you’ll find some traditional cuisine. This is an important distinction to make especially when comparing to very popular destinations such as Albufeira which has many bars and restaurants catering to English tourists for instance.

There are lots of pay-to-park facilities located close to the beach and along the promenade, the promenade is also where a monthly antique market is held on the fourth Saturday.

One other great advantage of Monte Gordo is that you can hop into Spain to enjoy some tapas in Ayamonte.