Hi again!
Staying in Lagos for 6 nights at the end of the month with two teenage girls. We enjoy outdoor activities and trying new restaurants, exploring small local shops,etc. We plan on doing a short kayak tour and walking some of the Seven Hanging Valleys Trail. Not interested in nightlife or clubs. H
ow different are the Algarve beaches from one another? They all look beautiful and somewhat similar in photos! Is Benagil Cave much different/impressive than the other caves around Lagos? I've seen some great recommendations for day tours to Carvoiero - is Carvoiero worth visiting? I'm just trying to gauge how unique each town and beach are to see if it would be worth booking a guided tour to explore other areas besides Lagos. Thank you!

From my trip report:

Our sojourn in the Algarve started in Tavira in the east, but we were based in Lagos for 5 days. So after a few hours in Tavira we drove directly to Lagos using the toll road; had some difficulty finding it and wandered around the seaside apartment buildings before getting on the road. When renting a car it is essential to rent also a transponder for the toll roads. There are no toll booths, so no opportunity to pay in cash or with credit cards; the system works on overhead “gates” that read the transponder. We were billed by the rental agency at the end of our trip with no extra fee above the rental itself. The non-toll roads are just one town after the other, not particularly attractive and slow going, so it is difficult to avoid the toll road going along the coast and move at a decent speed.

We rented an apartment in Lagos ($643 for 6 nights) that probably was the best in terms of amenities (AC, well-equipped kitchen), room, location. It overlooked the channel leading to the pleasure boat harbor and was 10 minutes from the central market for fresh seafood and vegetables, with a supermarket on the way. We did more cooking in this apartment than any other. In Lisbon we had light meals in the apartment, but did not do any real cooking. For one thing, the local supermarket was not enticing in terms of fresh foods.

For our visit to the Algarve divided the area into sections where we would drive for the day. Olhão took a late morning and afternoon, with a 2 hour boat ride in the lagoon with a stop at a fishing village on one of the islands. The old town has a maze of streets, interesting, but oriented toward the tourist trade. The working harbor is still busy, but with Japanese fishing boats. Apparently they catch tuna, and those that are too small are placed in pens in the lagoon to fatten them and then are shipped to Japan. The claim of our guide—only three customers on the boat—is that the Japanese have a right to catch tuna that locals are not allowed to catch. The town gives a sense of what it used to be, with some of the canning factories still standing near the waterfront, but it has all been cleaned up.

Another day we went to see the Almansil church. This is a must, possibly the epitome of Portuguese tile work. It is difficult to imagine how they managed to fire tiles that would fit the curvatures of arches and vaulting and still have a seamless design. From there we went to Loulé which is one of my preferred town—it has a large market, part of which oriented to the tourist trade but also having the standard market items; it has a small old town that is not over-commercialized; and it has a nearby shrine with an interesting combination of contemporary and old architecture with a panoramic view of Loulé itself. I can’t vouch for the summer season, but when we were there, the town was not overwhelmed by tourists and businesses catering to them.
A third outing was to Monchique, a small mountain town. Pleasant but not the destination given in the guidebooks. The very top of the mountain gives a wonderful view of that part of the Algarve all the way down to the ocean. We drove on to Silves, the guidebook recommended the church, but we arrived too late. The castle walls are impressive, but we did not have the impression that a visit inside the wall would be worthwhile.

Our final outing was to the southwestern most edge of Portugal, where Henry the Navigator established his navigation school. The information about that period is quite limited, but the scenery is most impressive. The two locations—the tip with the lighthouse and the fortress/school area— are more a reminder of the glories of Portugal in times gone by. I would not consider this a primary destination for those with limited time.

We took a lot of boat rides this trip. The first one was on our visit to Olhão. Then we took a morning boat ride to the cliffs and caves near Lagos, and in the afternoon we drove to Carvoeiro and the women took another boat ride to those sea caves while I walked the trail along the cliffs. The afternoon ride is said to be in the most picturesque caves, but I suspect that one tour is sufficient for those not enamored of boat rides for their own sake. More boat rides will crop up later in the narrative.

Good meals that I remember, aside from home cooking: There is a very small café in Monchique run by an Englishman that has salads and sandwiches for a light lunch. We had a good meal in a restaurant specializing in sea food in the old town of Lagos. We came upon it by walking around and looking at the menus. I had a fish that resides in the very deep waters off the Azores. Our final meal was in O Camilo, a restaurant that overlooks the ocean. Again seafood is really its specialty, and I regret not ordering the giant crustacean—half way between a shrimp and a clawless lobster—which would have cost 60€ a kilo, but one would have sufficed as an hors d’oeuvre for the three of us. I offered the suggestion but the others did not take me up on the suggestion. O Camilo is a perfect setting for a final meal in the Algarve.

These are the pictures of the Algarve: https://flic.kr/s/aHsmENSCvb

Thank you for all of the detailed info! The boat tours sound interesting - will check them out!
As well as O Camilo!