Alvor holidays walk a tightrope between traditional and 21st-century, with cobbled lanes leading down to a smart harbour and a crowd-pleasing beach.
Authentic Algarve
Alvor may only be a small fishing village, but it can run with the Algarve’s big boys. There are two waterfront scenes here – one by the sea, the other by the river. Both are packed with cafés, bars and shops. On top of that, it’s got great family-friendly credentials, with a Jurassic Park-style minigolf course and a playground where Alvor’s castle once stood.
Get back to nature
This place has a boardwalk to rival all boardwalks. Length-wise, it racks up almost two miles. Walk right to the end and you can get a good look at migrating birds, like Sardinian warblers, bee-eaters and crested larks. Alternatively, you can hit the waters on a dolphin-spotting boat trip. Along the way, they usually drop anchor at caves, a sand bank and Lagos, too.