A local guide
Things to do in Aljezur, from people who live here.
Aljezur is a small hill town on the west coast of the Algarve, inside the Costa Vicentina nature park. The old town sits under a Moorish castle; the new town, the market hall and the supermarkets are across the river. Five beaches lie within fifteen minutes by car, the Rota Vicentina passes through, and almost everything else worth doing is within a half-hour drive.
What follows is what we would do with you. Nobody pays to be on this page and nobody ever will. If something drops off, it is because we stopped going.
Beaches
Amoreira, Monte Clérigo, Arrifana, Odeceixe and Bordeira, with drive times and parking.
Eating
Restaurants, the market hall, the fish counter and where to get a proper coffee.
Surfing
Which spot works in which swell, where to hire a board, and when the water is warm.
In the town
What is worth your time here.
Castelo de Aljezur
- 10 min walk uphill
- Free
- Best at dusk
A tenth-century Moorish ruin on the hill above the old town, taken in 1249. Two towers and a cistern are left, and the view runs the whole length of the valley to the sea. It is ten minutes uphill from our front door, and most evenings there is nobody else there.
Go an hour before sunset and walk down through the old town afterwards.
The Saturday market, then the square
- New town
- Sat morning
- Bring cash
- Then coffee
The market is held in the big hall above the new town, across the river. Sweet potatoes that Aljezur is known for, vegetables, peanuts from Rogil, honey, medronho, plants. Afterwards everyone comes back down for coffee on the square, and half the town is there between ten and noon.
This is the single best way to understand the place. No plan needed, just turn up.
Museu Municipal de Aljezur
- 9 min walk
- About 30 min
- Good in rain
Behind a blue and white façade dated 1883, a small museum that is genuinely interesting on how people lived on this coast long before anyone came for the surf. Aljezur has more history than its size suggests, and this is where you find it. Half an hour well spent when the weather closes in.
The circuit out of the back door
- From the house
- 5 km · 1.5 h
- No car
Straight out and down the hillside on the footpaths into the valley behind our hill, round through the trees, up to the castle and home. Forty minutes if you push, an hour and a half if you stop. It is full of birds, there is no road through it, and we rarely meet anyone.
Walking the shelter dogs
- 10 min drive
- Mornings
- We call ahead
The local animal shelter is always short of people to walk the dogs. Take one out for the morning. The dog gets a hill and you get a walk with better company. Tell us the evening before and we will ring them for you.
Within an hour
Days out from Aljezur.
Monchique: the spa and the cork oak roads
- 50 min drive
- Cooler in August
- Book the spa
Up into the hills when the coast is fogged in, which happens more often than the brochures admit. Thermal water, the only real spa in the Algarve, and bicycles for hire to ride the cork oak roads. The water on your kitchen table comes from here.
Odeceixe
- 20 min drive
- River and sea
- Alentejo border
Where the river meets the ocean and the Algarve becomes the Alentejo. Swim in the river when the surf is too big, eat in the village, and walk the cliff path north for an hour.
Sunrise paddle in Lagos
- 45 min drive
- Leave at 05:30
- Flat water
Paddle out along the cliffs while the light is still low and the sea is glass. Back in time for lunch, having had the best morning of the week.
The lake behind Bordeira
- 25 min drive
- Fresh water
- Warm by June
Inland, still and warm by early summer. This is the answer when the Atlantic is too cold or too rough for small children. Almost nobody knows about it, and there is nothing there, so take everything you need.
Your own beach cleanup
- Any beach
- About an hour
- Bags from us
There is no organised cleanup to sign up for. Take a bag and a pair of gloves from the cupboard by the door, walk the tide line at Amoreira or Carriagem, and fill it. An hour and one bag between two people makes a visible difference on a small beach, and the bin at the car park takes it.
Our girls count what they find and are competitive about it, which is the only reason it works with children.
One day
Ar e Mar, the association.
Coastal and marine protection, reforestation, and beach cleanups run properly rather than one family at a time. It does not exist yet. It is where we would like this to go, and we will say so here when it is real.
