Praia da Senhora da Rocha

• In the town ofArmação de PêraArmação de Pêra sits on the central Algarve coast between Albufeira and Carvoeiro, and its name tells its story: the armação was the great tuna net that fishermen from the inland village of Pêra once set off this shore. The fishing quarter survives at the eastern end of town, where wooden boats are still drawn up on the sand and the day's catch goes straight to the grills. The beach is the main event, one of the longest town beaches in the Algarve, running past the small old fortress on the seafront, with its chapel, then east towards Praia Grande and the Lagoa dos Salgados, a lagoon where flamingos and other waterbirds pull in birdwatchers all year. The town is honest about what it is: apartment blocks from an earlier era of tourism line the front, with a long promenade, cafés and seafood restaurants at street level. Head west and the sand gives way to ochre cliffs and cove beaches around the clifftop chapel of Nossa Senhora da Rocha. Armação de Pêra suits beach-first holidays: Portuguese families in August, long-stay northerners in winter, and anyone who rates sand and grilled sardines above polish.

Praia da Senhora da Rocha, at Porches, sits below the white chapel of Nossa Senhora da Rocha, perched on the narrow headland above the cove. The chapel, a fishermen's sanctuary of ancient origin, stands right at the tip of the promontory, and a tunnel cut through the base of the headland links this cove with Praia Nova on the far side. Fishing boats still use the beach, which is sheltered by the enclosing cliffs and shelves gently into calm water. The clifftop gives one of the better short walks on this coast, out to the chapel and back. It suits families, and anyone who likes a beach with a landmark attached.