Olhos d'Agua Holidays

Visiting here is like taking a couple of paces back in time. The Algarve’s known for its bustling beach resorts and bigger-is-better golf courses, but Olhos d’Agua’s just not part of that crew. Instead, you’ll find a snoozy settlement with a cute sandy beach. Fishermen still tinker with their nets at one end of the waterfront, and family-run restaurants and cafés cluster together in the background.

If you’ve got a bit of a grasp of Portuguese, you might know that ‘agua’ translates as water. There’s a reason this place has this in its name. At low tide, underground freshwater springs bubble up through the sun-drenched shoreline. These ‘olheiros’, as locals have dubbed them, are easiest to spot among the rocks at the eastern end of the waterfront.

Comparing Olhos d’Agua and Albufeira is like trying to judge Countryfile in the same beat as Love Island – it’s just not a thing. The latter of the two’s just a short drive along the coastline from its quieter counterpart, and delivers one of the most up-tempo atmospheres around. Bars clamber over one another to get close to the beach, and the old town’s chock-full of nifty boutiques and craft shops. Come sundown, the nightlife’s got enough about it to drag people in from miles around.