Experience the best of Lagoa

Lagoa lies east of Portimão and south of Silves in the central Algarve, with a town of whitewashed houses a short way inland and a coast of golden limestone cliffs. The coast holds some of the Algarve's best-known scenery: Benagil Cave, a sea cave with a round opening in its roof, can be seen by boat or kayak, and Praia da Marinha is a beach in a cove below rock arches and stacks.

Carvoeiro, a former fishing village with a small beach in a cove, has cafés and a walkway to the rock formations of Algar Seco. Ferragudo, across the Arade estuary, keeps white houses and a fortress at the river mouth, and the long beach of Armação de Pêra lies just along the coast. Silves, with its red sandstone Moorish castle, is inland, and the cork-oak hills of the Serra de Monchique rise to the north.

Grilled sardines, octopus and fish baked in salt come from the harbour, with cataplana, a seafood stew cooked in a copper pot, and sweets of fig, almond and carob. Lagoa has its own wine region, with a cooperative winery in the town. The sunshine is dependable from spring to autumn, and almond blossom whitens the hills in February.