Praia de Benagil

• In the town ofPraia da MarinhaPraia da Marinha is not a town but a beach, and one that has done more for the Algarve's image than most towns ever will. It sits below the cliffs of the Caramujeira plateau in the municipality of Lagoa, between Benagil and Carvoeiro, and it is probably the most photographed beach in Portugal: golden cliffs, sea stacks and a double arch that, seen from the clifftop, forms the shape of a letter M. It appears regularly in lists of Europe's best beaches, and the view from the top has sold the region on countless covers and campaigns. Access is part of the experience: a clifftop car park, then a long staircase down to the sand. The water is exceptionally clear, and the rocks at either end make this one of the Algarve's best snorkelling beaches. The Percurso dos Sete Vales Suspensos, the Seven Hanging Valleys trail, runs along the clifftop above, linking Marinha with Benagil and its sea cave and continuing west towards Carvoeiro. The beach is small and fills early on summer mornings, so come early, late or out of season. Marinha suits one thing perfectly: the day the Algarve looks exactly like the photographs.

Praia de Benagil is a small cove below a fishing hamlet near Carvoeiro, best known for the vast domed sea cave a short way along the cliffs. The Algar de Benagil, a cathedral-sized chamber with a round opening in its roof and its own patch of sand inside, can only be entered from the water, and boats have long run out to it from this beach. The cove itself is a working spot, fishing boats sharing the sand with visitors, framed by ochre cliffs. It is small, and most people come for the cave rather than the beach. It suits boat-trippers above all, plus anyone who wants to see where the Algarve's most famous cave trip begins.