Self-Guided Tours in Algarve

The Algarve is Portugal's southern coast, a roughly 150-kilometre stretch from the Spanish border to Cape St Vincent, and the self-drive routes that start in Faro use it as a launchpad rather than a destination. West of Faro, Silves keeps its Moorish-era castle and cobbled centre; further along, the Monchique hills rise behind the coast with room for hiking and canoeing that the flat beach towns lack. Inland and north, the Algarve gives way to the Alentejo's wheat plains around Evora and Beja, and one route continues further, crossing into Spain to reach Merida and Seville. The region's fishing harbour towns, Olhao among them, add a working-coast counterpoint to the resort strip most visitors see first.

Several self-drive packages cover this ground at different lengths, and the difference is mostly distance rather than method. Two run about a week: one climbs into Monchique before curving north to Grandola and Evora, the other keeps nearer the coast through Silves and Beja before it too reaches Evora. An eleven-day route pushes furthest east, crossing near Elvas to reach Merida and Seville. A fifteen-day version covers the most towns overall, adding Olhao to the Silves-Beja-Evora line. Every route pairs a hire car with booked hotels each night rather than a fixed coach schedule, so the pace is set by the driver.

Practical. The Algarve runs hot and dry most of the year, with summer afternoons regularly past 30C along the coast and slightly cooler in the Monchique hills; winter stays mild, rarely under 12C, which is why the self-drive season runs from early spring into late autumn. Several motorway stretches charge tolls electronically with no barrier at all, so sorting a transponder with the rental desk in Faro saves a fine down the road. The route into Spain crosses a border with no checkpoint, though clocks jump an hour forward on the Spanish side. Silves and Evora draw the heaviest day-trip traffic in July and August.