First there’s the sea and the popular beaches and the many tones of the cliffs and rocks. This town has the life a big metropolis, where during the day people sunbath on the white sands and warm waters and during the night the bodies move between restaurants, bars and discotheques that light the streets.

Some kilometers inland and everything changes. Almond trees, fig trees, pine trees and orange trees sprinkle the landscape. The typical chimneys detach from the red roofs and the small villages invite you to know a lifestyle made by Nature and tranquility. Only then your holidays will have the most of Albufeira.

A brief Albufeira history lesson

It is a fact that the Romans have settled in Albufeira. There is not many evidence about this period besides the knowledge that it was a fishing village and that there was some mining activity on the outskirts.

When the Arabs took the village, they named it Abuhera, which means Castle by the Sea. This name remains until the present by the form of Albufeira. This is period of prosperity based on rich agriculture and trades with the North of Africa. It was on this period that the castle was constructed as well as the defense walls surrounding the growing village.

After a first Christian occupancy, around 1190, and with the final conquest of 1249, Albufeira becomes part of the Algarve kingdom.

There was a decline period caused by the decrease of trades with the Mediterranean which remained until the start of the “Descobrimentos”.

The earthquake of 1755 destroyed end impoverished the town, which rises once again on the 19th century when fish industry became the biggest support for its people. After 1960 became an international tourism attraction and the old village expands in to a town.

Read more