Costa Vicentina

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Portugal

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Overview

Spectacular beaches along the Algarve’s western coast are backed by beautiful wild vegetation and are wonderfully undeveloped thanks to building restrictions imposed to protect the Parque Natural do Sudoeste Alentejano e Costa Vicentina. The reserve contains at least 48 plant species found only in Portugal, and around a dozen or so found only within the park. The region is also home to otters, foxes and wildcats, and some 200 bird species, including ospreys, enjoy the coastal wetlands, salt marshes and cliffs. Although the seas can be dangerous, the area has a growing reputation for some of Europe’s finest surf.

Attractions

Must-see attractions

Cabo de São Vicente

Sagres

Europe’s southwesternmost point is a barren headland 6km northwest of Sagres' town centre that was the last piece of home that Portuguese sailors once saw…
Fortaleza de Sagres

Sagres

Blank, hulking and forbidding, Sagres’ fortress offers breathtaking views over the sheer cliffs, and all along the coast to Cabo de São Vicente. Legend…
Museu Municipal

Aljezur

This small but likeable museum has three rooms. Downstairs is an archaeological collection displaying everything from Stone Age axes to a 16th-century…
Fortaleza do Beliche

Sagres

Built in 1632 on the site of an older fortress, Fortaleza do Beliche is 4.8km northwest of the town centre, and 1.2km southeast of the lighthouse at Cabo…
Museu do Mar e da Terra da Carrapateira

Carrapateira

The Carrapateira Land & Sea Museum is a must for visitors – surfers or otherwise. Up a steep hill 200m east of the town square, its contemporary design…
Museu de Arte Sacra

Aljezur

Built in the 16th century and damaged in the 1755 earthquake, the modest Igreja da Misericórdia church was reconstructed in the 18th century. Its small…
Ruinas da Fortaleza de Arrifana

Aljezur

A boardwalk leads through the remaining gate of this 1635-built fortress. Largely wiped out by the tsunami following the 1755 earthquake, the fortress was…
Praia de Vale Figueira

Carrapateira

One of the more remote west-coast beaches, this wide, magnificent stretch of sand has an ethereal beauty, backed by stratified cliffs hazy in the ocean…