Ferragudo

Surprisingly, FERRAGUDO, facing Portimão across the estuary, has made relatively few concessions to tourism. It is centred on a strip of palm-fringed gardens that spread up to the cobbled main square, Praça Rainha Dona Leonor, which itself is dotted with cafés. The town faces the Rio Arade estuary, which is lined with fish restaurants and backed by a waterfront promenade. The old town spreads uphill behind here, a warren of atmospheric cobbled backstreets gathered around the town church; from its terrace there are great views. The estuary has a town beach, which gets progressively more appealing as it approaches the impressive Castelo de São João do Arade, one of the only forts in Portugal that lies right on the coast. The fort, a partner to that in Praia da Rocha, was built in the sixteenth century to defend Portimão against attack.