Albufeira -- Beach Resort Extraordinaire

From senior travel to single travel, nothing draws visitors to Portugal like this 'Las Vegas' style vacation spot in Albufeira. This holiday 'vacation suburbia', spreading east along the coast to Balaia, Olhos d'Agua and Felesia, and west to Sao Rafael, Gale and the golf vacation spot at Salgados, is the most tourist-intensive place in Portugal.

From Hard Times to Good Times

What began over 2,000 years ago as a small, fortified Roman town became, eight centuries later, a prosperous Moorish trading port. After its conquest by the Christian Knights of Santiago in 1250, Albufeira fell upon hard times that lasted for hundreds of years.

The area suffered further, first from a succession of devastating earthquakes -- in 1719, 1722, and worst of all in 1755 when the town was swamped by tidal waves. Unbelievably, it was later burned to the ground during a Portuguese civil war in 1833.

Over 150 years later, Albufeira was "discovered" by European and then international tourists; and tourism is now what Albufeira is all about. Old world charm lingers in the labyrinths of narrow streets lined with whitewashed houses, apartments, cafes and shops which lead down the hillside to a central square. A tunnel at the end of a pedestrian-only mall leads on to the town's main beach. Unabashed sunbathers think it's 'beachy keen' to share popular Fisherman's Beach with sun-hardened men of the sea mending their nets.

Families, Honeymooners, Golfers, Seniors Flip for the 'Las Vegas' of Portugal

"New" Albufeira's thoroughfare, "The Strip", runs from the looming Montechoro Hotel past scores of cafes, restaurants, and bars and down to a busy beach called Praia da Oura. A huge open-air restaurant and bar draws hundreds of people to its live music every night of the summer. Amazingly enough, in this sea of humanity, retired couples enjoy the diversity of Albufeira as much as teens and their families. While it has little to do with the 'real Portugal' (or with the real planet earth for that matter!), families, honeymooners, golfers, and travel adventurers come here in droves and have the time of their lives.

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