Small things worth knowing before your first Algarve holiday

1. Need cash? Look for Multibanco

You'll see ATMs everywhere, particularly in tourist areas. They're not all the same.

My rule is simple: I use Multibanco ATMs and avoid Euronet.

Depending on your own bank and card, fees and exchange-rate charges can still apply, so always read what the screen is telling you before accepting a transaction.

But don't assume the conveniently placed ATM in front of you is your best option.

2. The closest supermarket isn't necessarily the one I'd choose

If you're staying around Porches, Lagoa or Carvoeiro, you have plenty of supermarkets. Which one I'd send you to depends on what you need.

Aldi is close and affordable. Continente may be more convenient depending on where you are, but I generally find it more expensive. Lidl is another nearby everyday option.

Then there's Apolónia. I love walking around Apolónia, but it's a very different shop: lots of imported products, plenty of things you won't find elsewhere and prices to match.

If you're self-catering and want meat from a butcher counter rather than pre-packed trays, that's another distinction worth knowing. Apolónia and Auchan are two places where I know you can find one.

And a personal warning rather than a Portuguese fact: if you're dreaming about a wonderfully matured, tender steak, adjust your expectations. My experience buying beef here has not been particularly successful.

Chicken, on the other hand? Eat the chicken.

And the eggs.

3. Yes, you can drink the tap water

The tap water is safe to drink.

Whether you'll like drinking it is another question. Some people don't like the taste.

That's why at La Casita we leave drinking water ready when guests arrive. After travelling, the last thing you need is to discover you're thirsty and don't like what's coming out of the tap.

If you buy bottled water, there's also something new to know in 2026: Portugal now has a deposit-return system for eligible plastic bottles and cans. You pay a small deposit when buying them and get it back when you return the empty container.

4. Twenty minutes on Google Maps doesn't mean you'll be on the beach in twenty minutes

Distances in this part of the Algarve are wonderfully manageable.

Parking isn't always.

Praia da Marinha is a perfect example. Get there early and life is considerably easier. Arrive once everybody else has decided it's beach time and finding somewhere to leave the car can become part of the excursion.

Benagil has the same problem.

Nossa Senhora da Rocha has a small beach and limited parking, so both fill.

Portimão and Ferragudo can require some patience too.

So when somebody asks me how long somewhere takes from La Casita, driving time is only half the answer.

Sometimes the more useful question is:

What time are you planning to go?

5. A restaurant being open doesn't necessarily mean the kitchen is

This catches people out.

One of my favourite examples is Earth in Carvoeiro. It's a lovely place for coffee and a substantial breakfast or lunch. It stays open into the afternoon, but the kitchen closes earlier.

So if Google tells you somewhere closes at 16:30, don't automatically assume you can walk in at 16:00 and order lunch.

The same principle applies more broadly: if eating somewhere matters to your plans, check the kitchen hours and reserve when appropriate.

I particularly wouldn't leave a restaurant you really want to try to chance during the busy season.

6. “Typical” and “I'd recommend it” aren't the same thing

Ask what you should eat in Portugal and somebody will eventually mention cataplana.

It is typical.

I don't particularly like it.

I'd much sooner send you towards good grilled fish, chicken or something with prawns.

And if you care about coffee, I won't tell you that every Portuguese café serves wonderful coffee just because we're in Portugal. I'll send you to Earth in Carvoeiro or Kanuck in Armação de Pêra because those are places where I like the coffee.

The same applies to restaurants.

I don't have a list of “the 25 best restaurants in the Algarve.” I have places I return to and things I'd specifically tell you to eat there.

That's a different kind of recommendation.

7. The Algarve isn't one temperature

This sounds obvious until you start planning days as though “sunny Algarve” settles the matter.

July and August can be very hot. That's not when I'd send you out in the middle of the day to do an exposed coastal hike.

On a really hot day, I might send you west towards Lagos, where you have the sea, beaches, breeze and plenty of places to wander or sit in the shade. Monchique can also offer some relief.

Spring and autumn change what I'd recommend. March, April and May are much better suited to walking. Hiking becomes attractive again around October.

And rain doesn't necessarily mean the day is lost. Algarve weather can change again remarkably quickly.

One more thing: this is the Atlantic.

Don't look at an Algarve photograph, see blue water and assume the sea will feel like bathwater. I find it cold outside roughly mid-July to mid-September.

You may be considerably braver than I am.

8. Don't decide that famous automatically means better

Praia da Marinha deserves its reputation.

Benagil is worth seeing.

But Benagil itself is also much smaller than the promotional photographs might lead you to expect.

And if Marinha is already packed, I might tell you to go to Albandeira instead.

I don't particularly love Albufeira as a destination because it's extremely touristy. Yet I would absolutely make an exception for Praia da Falésia.

The point isn't to avoid famous places and hunt obsessively for “hidden gems.”

It's to know why you're going somewhere and whether it makes sense for the day you want.

9. You don't need to arrive with seven perfectly planned days

One of our guests did.

She had booked her days before arriving. We talked about what she wanted to do, I challenged a couple of her plans and suggested some alternatives.

Two of the places she ended up loving were Nossa Senhora da Rocha and Meu Limão in Lagos. Afterwards she sent me a photograph of the shells she'd left at Nossa Senhora. That photograph eventually became the basis for an illustration we now give other La Casita guests.

So yes, plan.

Book the things that need booking. Know the places you really don't want to miss.

But leave a little room.

Weather changes. You discover you're tired. A beach is packed. Somebody tells you about somewhere you'd never heard of. You like a place enough to stay for another three hours.

I'd rather start with:

What would make you say this Algarve holiday was worth your time and money?

Sea? Walking? Food? Towns? Seeing as much as possible? Doing as little as possible?

Once you know that, deciding what to do becomes much easier.

One last thing

These are the kinds of things I tell guests at La Casita — not because I know everything about the Algarve. I don't.

There are places I've been many times, places I've researched because guests asked about them, and still plenty I haven't explored myself.

So this collection will change as I learn more.

And if something here saves you €5 at an ATM, gets you to Marinha before the parking fills, or stops you arriving at a restaurant ten minutes after its kitchen closes, it has done its job — whether you ever stay at La Casita or not.