Things to do in Albufeira

Albufeira split in two after tourism arrived. The old fishing town kept its cobbled lanes. The new part built a strip of its own a few kilometres east.

Old Town and the beach

• The Old Town. Cobbled lanes and whitewashed houses around Largo Engenheiro Duarte Pacheco; almost nothing here predates the 1755 earthquake, which levelled most of the Algarve.
• What survived and what followed. The 18th-century Sant'Ana church and the Clock Tower date from the rebuilding; most of what looks older is a later, careful copy of the style.
• Praia dos Pescadores. Fishermen's Beach, named for the boats that once launched straight off the sand; a tunnel through the cliff connects it to the Old Town above.
• Praia da Falésia. A long run of red clay cliffs and sand east of town, far enough from the centre to feel like a different beach altogether.

The Strip

• Avenida Sá Carneiro. Known simply as the Strip, about a kilometre of bars and clubs running downhill toward Praia da Oura, roughly two and a half kilometres east of the Old Town.
• Two different nights. The Old Town closes down by midnight; the Strip is only getting started, and the two crowds rarely mix.

Practical

• Weather. August passes 30C at the peak of both heat and crowds; winter days stay mild, around 16C.
• Getting around. The Old Town is walkable; the Strip is a taxi ride or a longer walk, not a stroll after a big dinner.
• Beach access. Cliffside tunnels and lifts connect several beaches to the streets above them; not every beach has one.
• Peak season. Restaurants and beach loungers fill up fast in August; booking a table matters more here than in the quieter Algarve towns.
• Inland. Buggy and quad tours run into the hills behind the town, a half-day break from the beach that most of the coast further west doesn't offer as easily.