Albufeira | Portugal

Albufeira is quite the new Ibiza. Every cafe is also a dance bar and karaoke bar. However, Albufeira is worth a while to visit just for its beach and old town.

Market

Albufeira’s market takes place every second Tuesday of the month, in our case on the 18th of July.  The market itself reminded me like the markets I’ve already done in Egypt, Turkey or Tunisia (but without the pulling and yelling). In other words, they are selling clothes, sunglasses, purses, shoes, etc. Real nice if you want to do something in the morning and to relax afterward at the pool.

Tip: The busses in the Algarve are very expensive (one ticket will cost you 30€). It’s recommended to take a Tuk Tuk or a taxi to get to the old town (center), the strip or to the market. The taxi cost us €7 for the 3 of us. The Tuk Tuk was a bit more expensive.

Note: Taxi cabs only stop on legit taxi parking. So, waving your hand in the middle of the street won’t help because they will not stop.

New town and old town

The new town of Albufeira (the Strip) is a street with restaurants, bars, shops and discotheques. In my opinion, only one restaurant was ‘pure’ Portuguese, most were American steak houses or Italian restaurants. This street is highly recommended for younger people who want to party.

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The old town in Albufeira can be reached by car, Taxi or Tuk Tuk.  Always ask to be dropped off at the Pau da Bandeira Viewpoint. It’s the best spot to have a view over Albufeira Town and its Praia (means beach). From there on, you can take the escalators (fancy!) downwards to go to the old town. In my opinion, you can leave the word ‘old’ out and call it just the town of Albufeira. The old town is filled with shops, bars, restaurants and of course tourists.

There is a square where you can enjoy some acts or live music in the evening. If you are standing on the square, you can also see the old walls of the old town merging into the houses. Albufeira also has 2 churches with one of them having a bell tower that still rings in the evening.

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Life of a Passion