Praia da Bordeira is well-known for its winds and waves and that’s why it is so popular with wind and surf sports enthusiasts. So much so that not many actually go into the little village itself really, especially since the main road that goes into the village is rather new and people have not grown yet accustomed to it. The road is however, wide and planted with rows of palms and flowerbeds.

The small church cannot be missed and it is said that it has been standing since before the major earthquake that shook the entire region centuries ago. The inside of the church is quite stunning featuring a heavily carved and gilded wooden centre piece, the church being dedicated to the patron, our Lady of Incarnation.

The village of Bordeira is located in a basin that is surrounded by green countryside that is protected by the government.

As opposed to most other small villages in the region, which are whitewashed, Bordeira has many buildings that are painted with vibrant colours which accent the building’s features. The many small and stone cobbled roads are planted with orange and lemon trees thus giving the place a very traditional village feel, some of the houses sitting staggered high above one another.

The village is quite small so there’s just a café/bar and another restaurant used by the locals, as well as a shop. The village is a thriving little community with not many ruins because even what was once the communal bake oven/house has been converted into living accommodation.

Getting to Bordeira can be made that much easier with some Algarve car hire services.

Monchique is located in the western Algarve and a great place to visit if you want to take a break from the beaches. With a car rental you can easily drive on the main road up to Monchique and you can just feel the adventure ahead thanks to the eucalyptus trees and yellow flowering mimosas lining the road.

You’ll find a bunch of local pottery shops, cafes and local restaurants lining the road, all of which more than willing to accept your patronage. Actually one of the most popular pastimes is to take a seat at one such restaurant and dig into some chicken piri-piri.

Once you reach the centre of Monchique you’ll find a revamped square with a restored nora – well – which features tin buckets meant to fill up a water tank, now functioning as a water feature. In the past, the nora was donkey-driven to pull up water from the well for as long as 10 hours a day.

As you might’ve noticed already all over the Algarve, the town square is a great place to find a couple of restaurants.

Walking around the place you’ll find bronze lifelike figures of adults and children as well as a working public laundry – the very manual, very labour-intensive type of public laundry – still used by the locals to was and scrub their clothes.

The main church features some wonderfully elaborate Manueline carvings on the exterior door and also in a religious vein, looking up into the hillside you can see the ruin of a 17^th century Franciscan monastery.

For the more alcohol-inclined visitor, you should try the local clear spirit called ‘Medronho’, similar to schnapps it is made by distilling the red strawberry-like fruit of the arbtutus tree/bush, it’s a strong and very acquired taste.

Being situated north of Aljezur and just before you come to the Alentejo, you can reach Odeceixe via the EN120. The main road towards the town is set on a sharp bend that will give you a view of the town and you’ll be able to see its still-working windmill on top of the hill. You can actually drive up to the top of the windmill and while on that road you will see one of the town’s churches. The windmill is an important characteristic of the town, being featured on the Odeceixe coat of arms.

The town has lots of things to offer its visitors, from the traditional cobbled streets of the region to a small square at the centre of it featuring a stone water fountain adding to the overall charm of the place. The square has a bunch of public benches surrounded by planters filled with flowers, so they make for a very relaxing resting spot. A bit unexpectedly for such a rather small town, there are somewhere around a dozen or so restaurants and bars featuring inside seating as well as having small terraces set upon the cobbled pavements.

The buildings are a blend of styles and building periods, with the occasional merchant’s house featuring tiled fronts and cast iron and stone balconies.

Those who self-cater will find plenty of shops for their grocery shopping as well as lots of gift shops offering hand-made items to take back to those waiting for you at home.

With such a large number of bars and restaurants, one can expect the nightlife to be rather solid, with the bars holding all sorts of music events during the nights, live and otherwise.

At a short distance from the centre, you’ll find the golden sand beach, easily accesible by foot or with a rental car.

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 annual festival is in its third year and takes place in the town of Sagres, in the Western Algarve and it acts as one more incentive to visit the Algarve coast, which already sports plenty of attractive features for tourists, from the year-round warm temperatures, the great beaches and beautiful scenery.

The Festival takes place here because thanks to the geographical position of the Sagres peninsula, it becomes part of the main migratory corridor in Portugal starting with mid-August till November, period in which it’s possible to see thousands of birds crossing the sky, over 190 different species.

This region is ideal for bird watching however there are a number of other fantastic bird watching locations beyond Sagres, as follows:

The Castro Marim Natural Reserve

Located on the western coast is a wetland of international importance, hence why it is protected by law. The landscape is dominated by salt marches and there are several species of aquatic birds that can be seen here including the Greater Flamingo Phoenicopterus ruber, Little Stint Calidris minuta and the Spotted Redshank Tringa Erythropus.

The Ria Formosa Natural Park

This place consists of a long stretch of coastal dunes, barrier islands, peninsulas, canals, mudflats, and all manner of all sorts of quasy-aquatic and not so aquatic features – the latter category being woods and pine forests.

The very diverse geography means that the bird fauna will be equally varied so you can expect to see Eurasian Wigeon Anas Penelope, Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola and Red Knot Calidris canutus.

These are just two of the places where bird watching can also be done in, rest assured that there are many more, and you can visit as many of them as you wish with the help of some Algarve car hire services.