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.

Most likely the first thing that you’ll notice about this village when you approach it from the East on the N120 will be the long high street which continues over the bridge to the other half of the town.

The village is divided into two by the river, and interestingly enough it didn’t develop this way naturally. It was in fact the idea of a Bishop in the mid-18^th century to move the town across the river in order to stop the malaria that had caused many deaths. However not everyone could afford to move their home and belongings, and as such they stayed in the old part of town.

On the left hand of the bridge you’ll find a small undercover market where you can get fresh fish as well as other produce – as with most other open markets in the Algarve it is only open till about 1PM.

The tourist office might confuse you a bit, it looks like a shop and it is located in the high street, but it will supply you with a free map of the town as well as some literature about the castle.

Going up towards the castle is very worth-while, considering that it offers some great views of the new town, as well as a small museum. Those who love hiking can actually hike up to the castle ruins which have no admission fee. You can also easily drive up to the ruin, and that’s just one point where our Algarve car rental services come into play.

Those of you who are on a budget will not want to miss the Hostel located just before the bridge, very popular with young backpackers.

The old part of the village has a decent number of bars and restaurants, so you shouldn’t neglect it while on your trip there.