The guide was elaborated by Algarve Tourism Board.

The guide was elaborated by Algarve Tourism Board.

The guide was elaborated by the Algarve Tourism Board.

Fortunately, the Algarve has much more to offer and that is why we can provide you the experience of discovering the real Algarve. A region wrapped up in great beauty and mistery that so far only a few people have had the opportunity to get to know. That is why you can have the chance to enjoy a wide variety of nature activities throughout the protected areas and classified places in the Algarve, such as walking trails, thematic routes, florawatching and others. Viewing points

Special places offering panoramic views

One of the great delights of the Algarve is the diversity of its landscapes. All along the Costa Vicentina, you can sense the powerful presence of Nature in the sheer, dark-coloured cliffs, falling abruptly to the sea and interrupted by small beaches. The gentle and attractive southern coastline is made up of brightly-coloured cliffs and miles of sandy expanses framed by pine-groves.

Inland, a wide strip of limestone clay agricultural land, the Barrocal region, is considered both the garden and the orchard of the Algarve, a landscape speckled with the brightly-coloured tones of the almond-trees, fig-trees, orange-trees and carob-trees. This is the region of Portugal where the walls of the houses are covered with a white limewash, painted with brightly-coloured borders and surmounted by lacework-patterned chimneys, and where everywhere there are panoramic views all the way down to the sea. Further to the north are the hills and mountains, a succession of gentle, round and progressively higher shapes, with vast spaces between them and a wide-ranging flora.

All of these delights are more easily understood when seen from distances that allow you to obtain the sort of ample vision that helps you to fully appreciate them. In order to obtain this sort of view, the ideal spot is usually one of the many viewing points to be found all around the Algarve. These points have been strategically chosen precisely because they allow you to enjoy such unforgettable panoramic views.

In order to observe Nature in all its glory along the whole of the Costa Vicentina, the best vantage points are the Miradouro da Arrifana, at the top of a cliff, from where you can see the Pedra da Agulha (literally the Needle Stone), a giant rock sticking up from the middle of the sea, and the Miradouro do Castelejo, from where you have a panoramic view over the coastline and the Torre da Aspa, the highest cliff in the Algarve, as well as being able to observe the forested perimeter of the town of Vila do Bispo.

Amongst some of the best viewing points on the southern coast are the Miradouro da Atalaia, in Lagos, from where you have some stunning views over the town of Vila da Luz and the whole of the coastline stretching all the way to Sagres and the headland of Ponta da Piedade; the Fortaleza de Santa Catarina, in Portimão, a fortress that offers a magnificent view over Praia da Rocha, the estuary of the River Arade and Portimão; the Cerro de São Miguel, close to Moncarapacho, is a hill that is 402 metres high and provides the best view over the Ria Formosa; finally the castle of Castro Marim is a wonderful viewing point for looking out over the estuary of the River Guadiana, the town itself, the salt-pans and all of the surrounding countryside.

Moving further inland, other impressive viewing points in the Barrocal region are Rocha da Pena, a protected area and an excellent place for engaging in certain extreme sports, the Miradouro do Malhão, from where you have an excellent view over the surrounding hills and a Buddhist temple, and the Rocha dos Soídos, a natural vantage point, from where you can look out over the undulating hills and the sea on the distant horizon.

Carrying on northwards, the hills of the Serra de Monchique and the Serra do Caldeirão all form a series of giant viewing points, although, amongst them, we nonetheless highlight such places as the mountain of Fóia and the Miradouro da Picota, in the Serra de Monchique, as well as Barranco do Velho and Cerro dos Negros, in the Serra do Caldeirão.

As it is the highest point to the south of the River Tagus, Fóia is a place from where, depending on the climatic conditions, you can obtain magnificent views stretching as far as Albufeira to the south and Vila Nova de Mil Fontes, in the Alentejo, to the north. Another of the highest points in the Serra de Monchique, and consequently a place that offers a marvellous view over the same range of hills, is the Miradouro da Picota.

At the top of the hill known as Barranco do Velho (the Old Man’s Precipice), in the Serra do Caldeirão, there is a chapel whose churchyard amounts to one of the most impressive viewing points in the Algarve, looking out over vast horizons of hills covered with cork-oak trees and arbutus-berry trees.

At an altitude of 402m, Cerro dos Negros offers you a view over the valley of Ribeira de Tôr and Querença, the houses of Salir and the massive rocky outcrop of Rocha da Pena.

Please click here for the Algarve Tourism Board Website for more information.

Along the Ribeira da Menalva watercourse, running across the Fonte da Benémola protected area, the flora is both abundant and diversified, with ash-trees, willows, date-trees and wayfaring trees visible among the canes, brambles and oleanders. On the valley slopes along the river, the vegetation is typically Mediterranean, with carob-trees and mastic-trees, thyme and rosemary, rock-roses, junipers, arbutus-trees and different types of olive-trees. In the schist soils at the western limits of the protected areas, this vegetation gives way to holm-oaks and the occasional cork-tree.

The presence of water here all year round also attracts a wide range of animal species. Along the length of the watercourse, it is possible to spot kingfishers, tits, herons, bee-eaters, blackbirds, nightingales, blackcaps and moorhens, living alongside all the frogs, small fish, newts, salamanders and freshwater tortoises down in the water itself. However, the most important animal in this reserve, the otter, is rarely seen, leaving us with only the odd trace of its existence. Furthermore, living in the small caves along the banks of the river, there are two colonies of bats, who have made their habitats here, enjoying both the beauty of their surroundings and their protected status.

In order to best preserve this area, a special footpath has been established along the length of the watercourse, running some 1,500 metres in length and enabling visitors to experience all the natural wealth of this nature reserve. The actual Fonte da Benémola spring, its weirs and water channels are particular points of interest along the route, with a basket-making workshop also to be found nearby, which is open to visitors.

Please click here for the Algarve Tourism Board Website for more information.