Algarve gems
Hidden spots shared by the community, waterfalls, viewpoints, secret beaches and local secrets. Found one? Add it.
WildlifeNewLudo Trail Flamingo Lagoons
Faro
Flat lagoon-side tracks between Faro airport and Quinta do Lago where flamingos feed in old salt pans. The Ludo estate is the Ria Formosa at its most generous: former salinas and freshwater ponds threaded by sandy service tracks that anyone can walk or cycle. Flamingos are the headline act and are present most of the year, joined by spoonbills, black-winged stilts and, in the pines, chameleons you will almost certainly not spot. The route connects to the São Lourenço birdwatching trail, so you can make a morning of it, and the airport runway makes a surreal backdrop for photographs. Start from the dirt road off the Praia de Faro bridge or from the Quinta do Lago side, go early for the light, and bring binoculars.
Hidden beachNewIlha Deserta's Empty Far End
Faro
The southernmost tip of mainland Portugal: an uninhabited barrier island of white sand and shell banks, a short boat ride from Faro. Ilha Deserta, officially Ilha da Barreta, has no town, no cars and a single restaurant by the jetty. Most visitors settle within sight of it, which is why we send people the other way: follow the boardwalk or the tideline south-west towards Cabo de Santa Maria and within fifteen minutes you have kilometres of beach to yourself, with shell drifts underfoot and the whole Ria Formosa at your back. Boats run from Faro's old town pier year round, more often in summer. There is no shade beyond the restaurant, so take an umbrella, water and a hat, and note the time of the last boat back.