{"id":22382,"date":"2019-04-22T16:13:38","date_gmt":"2019-04-22T15:13:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/portugalafora.com\/?p=22382"},"modified":"2024-08-19T15:16:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T14:16:12","slug":"conhecendo-o-algarve-o-sotavento","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/conhecendo-o-algarve-o-sotavento\/","title":{"rendered":"Getting to know the Algarve: Sotavento"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Sotavento is the easternmost part of the Algarve and, possibly, a little less known than the Barlavento Algarve. The cities of Castro Marim, Faro, Loul\u00e9, Olh\u00e3o, S\u00e3o Br\u00e1s de Alportel, Tavira and Vila Real de Santo Ant\u00f3nio are part of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let's start in the municipality of Loul\u00e9, more precisely in Vilamoura, which is one of the most popular coastal cities in the Algarve. This city, curiously, does not have a large stretch of accessible beach because it is sandwiched between the Ribeira de Quarteira that comes from the northwest, a marina \u2013 which is the highlight of Vilamoura \u2013 and the beach itself, which is small and is adjacent to another marina, already in Quarteira.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Map of Vilamoura, Source: Google Maps<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Vilamoura Marina, Credit: Vilamoura marina website<\/em> <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The city of Quarteira is located next to Vilamoura but is a world apart: much more residential, with many buildings and completely urban. Avenida Infante Sagres is interesting to walk around and the city has an extensive seafront, but it is a residential center and is not a resort<\/em> itself, although there are many hotels in the city. But it has more of a \u201cflavor\u201d of a city than a beach town. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Golf Courses<\/h3>\n\n\n
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D. Pedro Golf Vilamoura<\/div>
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Quinta do Lago golf<\/div>
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golf vale do lobo<\/div>
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The next stretch is synonymous with luxury and exclusivity: Vale do Lobo and Quinta do Lago. It is here that we find some of the most exclusive properties in the Algarve, some of the most luxurious hotels and many golf courses amidst rich and abundant vegetation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Golf Course in Quinta do Lago<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

While Vale do Lobo beach is close to urbanizations and easy to access, the further east we go, that is, towards Quinta do Lago, the more difficult it becomes because access to the beach is via a bridge over the Ria Formosa . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We are at the gates of the Algarve capital, but Quinta do Lago is a completely different world. A huge complex full of golf courses, 5-star hotels and luxury properties. Praia do Anc\u00e3o and Praia da Quinta do Lago are the two best-known beaches in this area, but in fact if we continue along this extensive beach we arrive at Praia de Faro, a spit of sand that is nestled between the Ria and the sea, whose Access is via a narrow one-way bridge between the end of Faro airport and the beach. In summer it can be quite chaotic, but the beauty of the beach is worth the effort if you plan to stay there all day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Faro Beach<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Ria Formosa Natural Park <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Map of the Ria Formosa protected area, Source: Ria Formosa Natural Park website<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Ria Formosa is a natural reserve that runs from Praia de Faro to Cacela Velha and is approximately 60km long. It was created in 1987 with the intention of protecting the ecosystem of this area and is made up of many channels, islets, salt marshes and ponds and is protected because there are sand dunes along its length that form islands that protect it from the waves of the open sea. . The waters of the Ria Formosa are rich in bivalves, such as clams, cockles or oysters and the entire protected area attracts many species of birds, but also snakes, frogs and chameleons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Aerial view of Ria Formosa<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Seen from above, right in front of Faro, the Ria Formosa has a brownish and swampy appearance, almost hostile, but this tangle of channels and islands presents a real spectacle to those arriving and departing by plane from Faro airport.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Ria Formosa canals<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

And in the next article I will continue talking about the eastern Algarve, this time between Faro and Vila Real de Santo Ant\u00f3nio, a calmer area of the Algarve that you should visit when visiting Portugal!<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

O Sotavento \u00e9 a parte mais oriental do Algarve e, possivelmente, um pouco menos conhecida que o Barlavento algarvio. Fazem […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":22297,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[929,931,932,927],"class_list":["post-22382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-algarve","tag-golfe","tag-quinta-do-lago","tag-ria-formosa","tag-vilamoura"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/16"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22382"}],"version-history":[{"count":20,"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22412,"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22382\/revisions\/22412"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/portugalafora.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}