Praia da Bordeira

• In the town ofVila do BispoVila do Bispo is the modest town at the crossroads of the Algarve's two coasts: south lies Sagres, ten minutes away, and north runs the wild Costa Vicentina. It is the seat of its municipality and feels like it: a working town of whitewashed streets around a parish church whose interior is lined floor to ceiling with azulejos, a market building, cafés serving surfers and farmers in equal measure, and none of the gloss of the resort coast. Its real estate is the coastline it commands. Down dirt-and-tarmac roads through the hills lie Castelejo, Cordoama and Barriga, huge west-coast beaches backed by dark cliffs, often with more space than people; the clifftop at Torre de Aspa, above Cordoama, is one of the highest points on this coast. The plateau around the town is scattered with menhirs, standing stones raised thousands of years before Portugal existed, and the whole shoreline sits inside the Costa Vicentina natural park. Vila do Bispo suits surfers, walkers and anyone using it as a quiet, unpolished base for the far west: wild beaches by day, grilled fish in town by night.

Praia da Bordeira, beside Carrapateira, is one of the Algarve's biggest and wildest beaches, vast sand backed by a huge field of dunes. A small river crosses the beach and pools behind the sand, the dunes run far inland, and the beach itself is broad enough that even a summer crowd disperses into specks. Boardwalks lead in from the viewpoint side, and the headland walk around the Pontal da Carrapateira links it towards Praia do Amado. The open Atlantic here demands respect from swimmers, with currents to match the scenery. It suits walkers, surfers, and anyone who wants scale and emptiness rather than shelter.