Albufeira

The Algarve's largest and loudest tourist resort, with a dual identity of old town charm and modern strip nightlife.

Albufeira is the Algarve's largest tourist resort and its most divisive. The old town, tumbling down a hillside to a beach enclosed by cliffs, retains some charm, with narrow streets, whitewashed buildings, and a handful of restaurants that predate the tourist boom. But it is the Strip (Rua Diogo Cao and its surroundings) that defines modern Albufeira: a kilometre of bars, clubs, English-language restaurants, and souvenir shops that caters overwhelmingly to British and Irish package holiday visitors. The nightlife is the loudest and latest in the Algarve. Beyond the Strip, Albufeira municipality includes some excellent beaches, notably Praia da Falesia (a long stretch beneath red-orange cliffs), Praia da Oura, and Praia de Sao Rafael. The Albufeira Marina and the adjacent resort development of Pine Cliffs provide an upmarket counterpoint to the town centre. For residents, Albufeira offers good supermarkets, medical facilities, and transport connections, but the town's identity is overwhelmingly defined by seasonal tourism. Outside the summer months, much of the resort infrastructure closes and the town takes on a quieter, more local character. Albufeira divides opinion sharply: those who enjoy its energy and convenience, and those who consider it everything that went wrong with Algarve tourism.