The Algarve was probably the part of Portugal I’d plan most differently if I had my time again.

Not because we had a bad time, we didn’t.

But after absolutely loving Porto and Lisbon, I think I arrived in the Algarve expecting more of the same Portugal… just with better beaches.

It turned out to be quite a different experience.

My sister was the make-up artist at a wedding in Vilamoura, we needed to get back towards Faro Airport twice, and wanted to explore a few different parts of the region, so I chose Albufeira as our base.

On a map, it looked sensible. Fairly central. We could head west towards Lagos, east towards Faro and Vilamoura, and use one accommodation base rather than packing up every couple of days.

Good theory.

What I hadn’t really appreciated was how spread out the Algarve is, and how quickly all that driving adds up.

So, if you’re currently staring at Google Maps trying to work out where to stay in the Algarve, here’s what I wish I’d known.

The quick version: what I’d do differently and keep the same

Choose the places I most wanted to see before choosing accommodation.
Spend more time around Lagos, because both the coastline and the town itself were much more our vibe.
Still visit Albufeira, but I wouldn’t necessarily use it as our base again.
Still go to Loulé early, enjoy the quieter morning and stay as the market comes to life.
Keep Quarteira in mind for an easy beach and promenade stop.
Visit Vilamoura Marina in the evening for dinner, drinks and a wander.
Still hire a car, but plan the trip so we weren’t criss-crossing the Algarve quite so much.
Eat exactly the same way again. The fresh fish and seafood made eating well ridiculously easy.

Staying in Albufeira: would I choose it again?

Probably not, but that doesn’t mean I think Albufeira is a bad choice.

It just wasn’t really our choice.

Albufeira gave me a little bit of an Aussie Surfers Paradise vibe. Busy, very holiday-focused, lots of tourists and much more resort-y than the Portugal we’d experienced in Porto and Lisbon.

And if that’s the holiday you want, you might absolutely love it.

For us, it felt a little less like the Portugal we’d connected with earlier in the trip.

The bigger issue wasn’t even Albufeira itself. It was my assumption that staying somewhere geographically central would automatically make getting around easier.

It didn’t, we still drove plenty.

So my biggest piece of advice would be: don’t choose your Algarve base by simply finding the middle of the map.

Work out which places matter most to you first, then stay closer to those.

Lagos was much more our style

If there was one place where I immediately thought, Yep, I could have spent longer here, it was Lagos.

Obviously the coastline is incredible, but I also really liked the town itself.

There was a good vibe, plenty happening without it feeling like a huge resort, and it felt like somewhere I would have enjoyed simply wandering around rather than ticking off attractions and getting back into the car.

Because we were visiting as a day trip, there was always that feeling that we had somewhere else to be.

If I was planning the same trip again, I’d give Lagos much more breathing room.

Would I automatically tell everyone to stay there? No. It depends entirely on what you want from the Algarve.

But for our style of travelling, it suited us much more.

Loulé: one of our nicest slower mornings

Loulé was completely different again.

We arrived early, which ended up being perfect.

We found somewhere for a proper sit-down breakfast and had a wander while the town was still really peaceful. For a little while, it felt like we almost had the place to ourselves.

Then by mid-morning everything started coming to life.

The market filled up, there were huge displays of fresh produce and seafood, and plenty of locals were coming through to actually do their shopping.

That was probably what I liked most about it.

It didn’t feel like we were simply wandering through somewhere set up for visitors. There was everyday life happening around us too.

If you’re going, I’d get there early rather than arriving right in the middle of the busiest part of the day. You get to experience both versions.

Quarteira was an easy, low-effort beach stop

Quarteira wasn’t somewhere we needed an entire sightseeing itinerary for. The beach was right there, it was easy to access and there’s a long promenade that’s lovely for a walk.

It was the kind of place where you could arrive, wander along the waterfront, sit down for lunch or a coffee and spend a few relaxed hours without having to turn it into a major day trip.

Sometimes that is exactly what you want on holiday.

Portugal’s official tourism information also describes Quarteira Beach as sitting directly alongside the seafront avenue and promenade, which was very much how we experienced it: straightforward, accessible and easy to enjoy without much planning. Visit Portugal

I’d do Vilamoura Marina in the evening

Vilamoura had a noticeably different feel again. Much more polished. More resort-like. A little dressier (kinda).

Dinner, a walk around the marina, a drink and some people-watching worked really well.

It’s also exactly what the area is designed for, the marina is a major dining and entertainment hub, particularly later in the day.

I probably wouldn’t build an entire Algarve itinerary around Vilamoura personally, but I’d happily go back there for an evening.

Would I still hire a car in the Algarve?

Yes. Even though it freaked me out driving on the other side of the road, the car wasn’t the mistake.

Thinking that staying in the middle would mean we barely had to drive was the mistake.

Having a car meant we could visit Lagos, Loulé, Quarteira and Vilamoura on our own schedule and gave us much more flexibility.

I’d absolutely do that part again.

I’d just map out my must-see places first, look at the actual driving involved, and then choose accommodation accordingly.

There’s a big difference between looking at a map and thinking that doesn’t look far… and doing the drive for the third time that day.

And then there was the food…

This is what I’m about, so obviously I noticed the food.

And honestly, Portugal made eating well incredibly easy for me.

Fresh fish and seafood appeared everywhere throughout this part of the trip, and getting a decent serve of protein rarely felt like something I had to engineer.

That stood out even more once we got to Italy later in the trip, where my personal experience became significantly more bread-and-pasta-heavy.

Not complaining, obviously.

But it was an interesting contrast.

In the Algarve, I could order beautiful fresh fish or seafood, add whatever sides I felt like, eat the bread on the table, have wine, order dessert if I wanted it… and move on.

There was no “I’m on holiday so everything is off the rails” mentality, but there also wasn’t a list of foods I wasn’t allowed to have.

That’s pretty much what flexible eating looks like for me in real life.

Protein where it makes sense. Eat the local food. Enjoy the bloody holiday.

I didn’t track every meal. I didn’t avoid bread or dessert. And I wasn’t doing workouts to “earn” what I ate.

I was simply walking a lot because we were travelling, eating according to what was available and keeping some of the basic habits that are so ingrained for me now that they don’t require much thought.

If food is something you find stressful when you travel, I’ve written more about my approach in How to Stay on Track While Travelling (Without Stress or Restriction).

Would I go back to the Algarve?

This is probably where my answer is a little different from the usual travel recap.

I’m really glad we went. But I wouldn’t rush back.

There were parts I really enjoyed. Lagos in particular, our morning in Loulé, the seafood, the coastline and having those few slower beach moments.

But if I was booking another Portugal trip tomorrow, I’d be more excited to return to Porto or Lisbon, or explore a completely different part of the country.

And I think that’s worth saying.

Not every beautiful destination has to become your new favourite place.

Sometimes you visit somewhere, really enjoy the experience, learn how you’d do it differently… and feel perfectly happy moving on to somewhere new next time.

That was the Algarve for me.

Planning your own trip?

If you’re choosing where to stay in the Algarve, my biggest tip is simple:

Decide what you actually want your days to look like before you choose your base.

Beach every day? Nightlife? Small towns? Lagos and the western coastline? Easy access to Faro? A mix?

Your answer might lead you somewhere completely different to us.

And that’s probably the lesson I took from this part of Portugal more than anything else.

If food is something you find stressful when you travel

I've written more about my approach in how to stay on track while travelling without stress or restriction. It covers flexible eating, eating out, travel days and keeping some basic structure without turning a holiday into a diet.

Want flexible eating to feel this natural at home too?

The free macros and metabolic assessment is the best place to start. Fill it out and I'll personally send your calorie and macro targets within 24 hours.

Or if you want practical high-protein meals that make eating well easy at home the way seafood made it easy in Portugal, the free recipe book has 40+ ideas to work from.

Come find me on Instagram or inside the FLEX Nutrition Simplified Facebook community for the day-to-day conversation.

Read next:

What I’d do differently in the Algarve, Portugal: Where to stay, food & honest travel tips