TOURS AND TRAILS | CENTRAL
tours beyond the central Algarve This is the Algarve over which the sun makes its great journey across the sky. We rise with the sun where it is a red ball somewhere over Andalusia, and we end with it as it disappears into the infinity of the ocean. Between the rising and setting, we will go on an adventure to the west, following the tourist routes on the land. We will venture onto routes where the hill breezes in the Serra make the cistus, heather and strawberry trees dance, and we will dance with them as we wind our way along the roads of this other Algarve, from Castro Marim to São Brás. We will be amazed by the unusual precipices right next to the roads, which disappear into the blue distance. We will yield to the delights of the Mediterranean landscape between Loulé, Paderne and Silves, an Algarve of whitewashed houses and ornate chimneys, through which the sun shines with difficulty, and castles which bear witness to the beginning of the adventure. We will go back down to the coastal strip, but be still high up, with the cliffs at our feet and toy houses the size of your hand in the village of Carvoeiro. We will be dazzled by the fine, white sand and might even have a dip before returning through the Barrocal and soaking in the cosmopolitan life of the biggest city. We shall get lost in the labyrinth of Olhão and wander through the channels and islands of the Ria Formosa, with its palette of blues in which we can discover a bird from Africa. Finally, we shall visit the thousand churches in Tavira, go up and down the rocky slopes of this city on the Gilão River, before returning home to rest our gaze once again on the eastern side of paradise, from the other side of the Guadiana. Vila Real de Santo António Lighthouse (St)
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