The central Algarve coast is a wall of golden sandstone cliffs with beaches at the bottom of them. The rock is soft, the sea has cut it into stacks, arches and collapsed caves, and the good beaches sit in coves below a drop of twenty to forty metres.
Which produces a specific practical question that Algarve marketing never addresses directly: how do you get down?
The answers are a cliff lift, a staircase, a ramp, or a drive. Several hotels have their own lift cut through the rock. Others have a wooden staircase of a hundred-plus steps. Some are on the clifftop with no direct access at all, and the beach in the photographs is a ten-minute drive away.
Ask before booking. It matters more here than almost anywhere.
The three Algarves
The central coast, from Albufeira through Carvoeiro to Lagos, is the cliff country and where most of the resorts are.
The eastern Algarve, from Faro to the Spanish border, is different geology entirely: the Ria Formosa lagoon, sandbar islands reached by ferry, flat beaches and far less development.
The western Algarve, beyond Lagos to Sagres and up the Atlantic coast, is wild, windy, surf country and mostly protected national park.
The golf triangle around Quinta do Lago and Vilamoura is its own thing: manicured resort estates with courses, inland from the beach.
Sagres, at the southwestern tip, is where the land ends and Henry the Navigator ran his school of navigation in the fifteenth century.
The twelve below are grouped by that.
The central cliffs
Between Albufeira and Lagos. The cove beaches and the drop.
Vila Vita Parc occupies 22 hectares of clifftop gardens at Porches with a lift down to its own beach, ten restaurants including a starred one, and several pools. It is the best resort in Portugal.
Vila Vita Parc
Porches, central Algarve · 5★ · $$$$
Twenty-two hectares with a lift down to a private beach
Check availabilityVila Joya sits above Praia da Galé in a small villa property with a two-star restaurant that is the reason people book, and a staircase to the beach below.
Vila Joya
Praia da Galé · 5★ · $$$$
A two-star kitchen above the beach with a staircase down
Check availabilityQuinta da Bela Vista occupies a restored belle époque villa above Praia da Rocha with a spa, a pool and steps down to one of the Algarve's biggest beaches.
Quinta da Bela Vista
Praia da Rocha · 5★ · $$$$
A restored belle époque villa above a big beach
Check availabilityPine Cliffs Suites sits on a clifftop estate at Albufeira with a golf course, several pools, a village of restaurants and a lift and staircase to the beach below.
Pine Cliffs Suites
Albufeira clifftop · 5★ · $$$$
Golf, a restaurant village and a lift to the sand
Check availabilityTivoli Alvor Algarve - All Inclusive Resort occupies a position above Carvoeiro with several pools, a spa and a lift down the cliff to the sand.
Tivoli Alvor Algarve - All Inclusive Resort
Carvoeiro · 5★ · $$$
A cliff lift down to the beach with several pools
Check availabilityCascade Wellness Resort Lagos Algarve by Domes sits above Lagos with a spa, a wellness programme and a clifftop position looking west.
Cascade Wellness Resort Lagos Algarve by Domes
Lagos · 5★ · $$$
Clifftop wellness programme looking west
Check availabilityThe golf triangle
Quinta do Lago and Vilamoura, inland from the beach.
NH Lagos Algarve Resort occupies a position at Quinta do Lago beside the Ria Formosa with a spa, a pool and access to three courses. The beach is across a wooden bridge over the lagoon.
NH Lagos Algarve Resort
Quinta do Lago · 5★ · $$$$
Beside the lagoon with three courses and a bridge to the beach
Check availabilityConrad Algarve sits at Almancil with a large spa, a Michelin-starred restaurant and the most polished service in the region.
Conrad Algarve
Almancil · 5★ · $$$$
A large spa and a starred restaurant in the golf triangle
Check availabilityAnantara Vilamoura Algarve Resort occupies a beachfront position at Vilamoura with a spa, several pools and full family facilities.
The eastern Algarve
Beyond Faro. Lagoon, sandbars and flat beaches.
Quinta Verde Albufeira sits at Castro Marim near the Spanish border in a low property behind a pine-backed beach, with a pool and a deliberately quiet operation.
Quinta Verde Albufeira
Castro Marim, east · 4★ · $$$
A pine-backed beach near the Spanish border
Check availabilityThe west and Sagres
The Atlantic end, wild and windy.
Memmo Baleeira - Design Hotels occupies a position above the harbour at Sagres with a pool, simple contemporary rooms and the surf beaches and the cape nearby.
Memmo Baleeira - Design Hotels
Sagres · 4★ · $$
Above the harbour at the Atlantic end, near the surf
Check availabilityVidamar Resort Algarve sits on the beach at Albufeira with several pools, a spa and full facilities at a lower rate than the clifftop resorts.
What we have left off
The apartment and villa complexes across the central Algarve are excluded, and between Albufeira and Vilamoura they represent a very large share of the beds and the British and Irish package market that built them. They are apartments rather than hotels.
What to do
Walk the Seven Hanging Valleys trail, six kilometres of clifftop path between Praia da Marinha and Praia de Vale Centeanes, which is the best walk in southern Portugal.
Take a boat into the Benagil sea cave, which has a hole in its roof and a beach inside it. Access has been restricted to reduce crowding, so check the current arrangements; kayak and boat tours are the usual routes.
Go to the Ria Formosa in the east and take a ferry to Culatra or Farol, sandbar islands with fishing villages and empty beaches.
Drive to Cabo de São Vicente at Sagres, the southwesternmost point of mainland Europe, for the cliffs and the wind.
Eat cataplana, grilled sardines in summer, and the percebes if you find them.
Practical notes
Faro airport serves the whole region with heavy northern European traffic. Lisbon is two and a half hours by road.
May, June, September and October are ideal. July and August are hot and at capacity with Portuguese and northern European holidaymakers. Winter is mild, quiet and increasingly popular for golf and walking.
The Atlantic is cold. Sea temperatures on the central coast reach the low twenties in late summer and are bracing the rest of the year.
Explore 4 & 5 Star The Algarve Hotels
Questions people actually ask
How do you get down to the beach?
Lift, staircase, ramp or a drive, depending on the hotel. Ask specifically; the answer varies and it decides the holiday.
Central or eastern Algarve?
Central for the cliffs and the coves, eastern for lagoon islands and quiet. They are entirely different coasts.
Is the sea warm?
It is Atlantic. Low twenties at best in late summer and cool otherwise.
How many nights?
Seven. Five on one coast with a day west to Sagres.