Alvor and Algarve, a pleasant surprise!

Hello bloggers! I’m just back from a fun-packed, super exciting and invigorating long weekend in the Algarve region in Portugal and couldn’t wait to share it with you here.

The main point of this trip was attending the opening of MotoGp held in Portimao, however we were so lucky to book accommodation in what we then learnt to be one of the best, if not the best, village of Algarve.

I always thought I would travel to Porto and Lisbon, if in Portugal, but MotoGp brought us to the South and I think we could have not done better for so many reasons. First of all, we were pleasantly surprised to see how lush the region is, so green, so many flowers everywhere and a very hilly landscape. Our short drive to the tracks in Portimao revealed a lush valley with hundreds of storks and their curious nests on top of road lamps, donkeys and horses, and again, lots of beautiful flowers!!

We stayed in Alvor for three nights, and had the pleasure to go our for dinner on two of them. The first night we went to Taverna do Guedes. The restaurant was packed, unsurprisingly, but luckily we managed to get a table (the smallest and cutiest table) waiting ten minutes only. The restaurant is quirky and casual, I loved the atmosphere and the menu was simple and inexpensive. I had the fish of the day with a side of boiled potatoes and broccoli, while B had a tuna steak. As a starter we shared an octopus salad and the home ‘coperto’ made of bread with butter, sardine spread and olives covered in coriander and garlic. Delicious!

On the last night we had a couple of drinks at a lovely pub serving local craft beers, right on the high street, and we then headed back into the interior of the village, to have dinner at Churrasqueira Mercado de Alvor. We had walked past it on our way from our accommodation, and compared to the lovely restaurants by the harbour, it didn’t call my attention that much. But it was the best dinner experience of the trip. The restaurant is unassuming, however the staff is lovely and the atmosphere relaxed. You can see the cook grilling your fish and meat just a couple of meters away. We ordered a plate of sardines, one of mackerel and some potatoes. Everything was delicious and filling, and we paid 22 euros for that and a couple of beers!