Property of the month...

Our holiday villa rental of the month is The Penthouse, a luxurious apartment in Mullins, Barbados. To see the property's website click here.

Algarve geography

The Algarve is bordered by the Bay of Cádiz to the south, the Atlantic to the West, the region of the Alentejo to the north and the Spanish province of Huelva to the east. It is a hilly area, with fertile valleys, being in particular split by the Ria Formosa which empties into the sea at Faro.

The coastlines either side of this estuary are quite different in character and appearance, and it is often helpful to talk about the Eastern and Western Algarve as two different places (and the Atlantic coast could also be considered a third kettle of sardines).

The Algarve has two major nature reserves covering much of its territory: the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa, extending from Faro to the Guadiana and Spanish border, and the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e da Costa Vicentina, which does indeed begin in the corner of the Alentejo above the Algarve, but extends down its Atlantic coast and turns around the Cabo de Sao Vicente to Sagres then runs back east towards Lagos.