Monte Gordo, Algarve, Portugal

Spain & Portugal 2002
Algarve

In april & may of 2002, Eric and I drove down to Portugal and Spain for a two-week vacation. We spent the first week at the beach near Monte Gordo, in the Portuguese Algarve, at just a few kilometers from the Spanish Border. In the second week, we visited Granada (with the famous Alhambra palace) and Barcelona, in Spain.

You can find some practical info on this trip in general on this trip's home page. Other links for this trip:

Monte Gordo & around (Portuguese Algarve)

Granada

Barcelona

Monte Gordo, Portuguese Algarve

We spent one week relaxing at the beach near Monte Gordo. We stayed at Praia Verde, about twenty minutes' walk down the beach from downtown Monte Gordo. The beach around here is beautiful, and was not at all crowded, despite the fact that it was a Portuguese holiday at the time.

Monte Gordo lies just a few kilometres from the Guadiana river, which forms the border with Spain. It's not a particularly pretty town, but has all facilities, and a variety of restaurants. I wouldn't suggest coming to this area for the towns, the surroundings, or anything of historical value. The beach is excellent, though, and it's a short drive to the Spanish town of Sevilla.

A little to the west, along the coast, lies the town of Tavira. This is a pleasant little town, definitely worth a visit if you're around. We boarded a boat to go diving off the Portuguese coast. The diving was good, there was plenty of coral to be seen, and we saw a big group of dolphins, which swam alongside our boat and jumped out of the water. There may have been about forty of them!