One week and up to 70,000 steps as we visit some of the beautiful beaches, cliffs and seaside towns the Algarve has to offer.  As much as I love the historical castles and palaces, the actual beauty of nature takes my breath away.  Add onto that man’s engineering skills and you marvel at the beautiful little towns built right on cliffs and it amazes me that they have been there for 100’s of years.

Our trek down to the Algarve from Sintra started with a stop at Azenhas do Mar on the coast.  I found this little find on someone’s instagram post.  I must admit all the blogs and social media sites definitely help make travelling so much easier.

Azenhas is the perfect little whitewashed town perched on a cliff, today the waves and wind were blowing hard enough to at times form a mist of water over the town.  You truly feel like time stands still when you visit so many of these wonderful sites.

Next stop was Praia da Falesia, the #1 beach in the Algarve. Huge red cliffs tumbling down to the beautiful sandy beach that goes for miles. Some areas where erosion had carved out rivulets in the cliffs, it reminded us of the Grand Canyon and Sedona. If you were up to walking the whole beach it is 6 Kms long and runs from Vilamoura in the east to Olhos de Aqua in the west. This little town is built on the cliff and runs down to the water with restaurants nestled amongst the cliffs with stairs down to the water. There are lovely rock formations in the water with caves and openings to marvel at.

Our first game of European golf was at Vale do Lobo, a beautiful resort with greens that were squishy soft like walking on cotton balls. 3 holes right down by the ocean. Priceless.