We continued our driving tour of the Algarve Coast by exploring the rock formations in Lagos. Lagos is super touristy and busy so we are so happy we decided to stay at the small fishing village of Salema. There are hundreds of boat tours that leave from this area to explore the rock formations and caves. The cliffs of the Ponta da Piedade is a dramatic limestone feature along the coast with sea pillars, rock arches and hidden grottos that have been chiselled-out by rough winter storms. We viewed this by land vs. sea and the views were still stunning!
My daughter Ashleigh had mentioned that we should try to visit the famous Bengali Cave so we decided to take a two hour tour out of the town of Portimão in an inflatable speed boat tour which did not disappoint as we traveled along beautiful cliffs and hidden beaches.
We had read in the NYT about a restaurant Casa do Polvo, in Santa Luzia that only served Octopus so we headed west for the 1.5 hour drive. Douglas had the grilled octopus and I had the octopus risotto with a lovely bottle of white Vinho Verde- or green wine. This is a young wine made within 6 months of the harvest which has a light effervescence which is caused by malolactic fermentation (release of carbon dioxide)
Our last full day in southern Portugal started off with a beautiful sunrise in our cute apartment.
For lunch we explored a neighboring beach in Burgau, which is like a 1960’s old fashioned resort and ate at the popular Beach Bar with more grilled octypus and fresh seafood.
After a long day, Douglas explored Salema a bit more.
The next morning we stopped at Praia da Dona Ana, the # 1 beach in Lagos, then hopped in our cute little smart car and headed back to Lisbon to join our official tour. We enjoyed the laid back lifestyle, good vibes , fresh seafood, and beautiful beaches along the Algarve coast.
