THE AREA

The Area

Olhão – the area – what to do and see 


Located on the edge of the Ria Formosa, in the unspoilt Eastern Algarve, Olhão is a beautiful old fishing town that still has the sea at its heart. It has an active fleet – the region’s largest – and you’ll find its fresh bounty in the town’s market and its restaurants. 


Those markets are very special indeed and they’re one of the fabulous things that drew us to this amazing town – and they’re just a five-minute walk from our house. Two red-brick buildings, topped with verdigris domes, house one market for fruit, vegetables and meat, and another for fish and seafood. On Saturdays, the place buzzes as farming families set up stalls along the waterfront, selling citrus fruits, pomegranates, almonds, tomatoes, figs, piri piri peppers and the other glories of the Algarve’s fields depending on the season.  


And all along the ria side of the market buildings are cafés and restaurants with stunning views and glorious sunsets. It’s here you’ll find a boat called the Bom Sucesso, a replica
caique, a small vessel which, in 1808, took 17 men all the way to Rio de Janeiro to tell 

the exiled Portuguese king that Napoleon’s army had left the area. The Olhanense, as the townspeople here are known, led an uprising which spread to the nearby towns of Faro, Lagos and Loulé, forcing the French to leave. Olhão was rewarded with a royal charter and locals still cherish their defiant spirit that led to such a victory.


The town has a labyrinth of Cubist houses on the cobbled streets near the market and as you move further north the style changes to something a little more grand. You’ll not find the high rises and overdevelopment that you do elsewhere in the Algarve. It’s an easy place, with a very distinct heart and our guests like to just wander, stumbling across sculptures and murals that are all part of the civic art here. If you do the same, you’ll discover Floripes in Praça Patrão Joaquim Lopes – she’s a voluptuous woman in a flowing dress whose legend we will leave for you to read elsewhere. And near the supermarket, Pingo Doce, along the walls of old cannery buildings, you’ll see vast depictions of the fish preserving industry that once thrived in the town. If you’re not a freewheeler, we can tell you how to find these art works and more besides. 


Once you see the light in Olhão, you’ll understand why it draws painters here – along with all kinds of creatives. It’s still a traditional working town – we love that – but it’s also arty. There’s a cultural centre, República 14, which is just across the road from us, with yoga, pilates and qi gong classes as well as art exhibitions, concerts and outdoors movies and it has a café and bar. Olhão also has an auditorium and a museum. 


The Ria Formosa natural park and the barrier islands

The Ria Formosa is simply glorious. It’s a natural park blessed with some of the world’s most stunning beaches. There are salt marshes and sandbanks hosting wonderful birdlife as well as sweet clams and oysters. Five beautiful barrier islands grace the park and protect the mainland from the full force of the Atlantic. Each has its own distinct character and charm.


The nearest to Olhão is Ilha da Armona, just a 15-minute ferry hop away. It has no cars, just a path that cuts down the middle of the island from the small ferry pier (there are good beaches here if you don’t fancy the walk) right down to the expansive, breathtaking and completely unspoilt Atlantic and estuary beaches on the other side. You’ll wander past quirky little houses and wonderful gardens with amazing floral displays and charcoal grills smoking away ready to be laid with sardines and other fish for lunch. There’s a freedom here where children can run up and down or set up a little shop selling painted seashells by the side of the passadeira [pavement] and the feel is of holidays before the advent of mass tourism. 


At low tide, down on the Atlantic side of Armona, a vast sandbar reveals itself and you can chase tiny butterfly clams, called conquilhas, just below the surface. You’ll notice the locals walking back from the beach with buckets and bottles filled with these fresh ingredients for lunch or supper. It’s great fun to try.


There are a number of restaurants, shops and cafés on Armona but we often take a picnic, stopping to buy cold drinks from the little supermarket halfway down the island. The beach bar, Camaleão, is a great place to park yourself and enjoy a caipirinha, beer or soft drink (they serve food to). 


A little further away from Olhão are Culatra and Farol, which people think of as two islands, but they’re really two small communities on one big island linked not by road but beach. Culatra has its own fishing fleet, a school, a church and two bakeries. Farol, meaning lighthouse, has a lighthouse and funky beach bar, MarAmais, on the Atlantic side. Again there are no cars, but there are good restaurants and cafés and the walk along the beach between the two is fantastic [you can take the ferry to Farol and walk to Culatra and ride back from there, or vice versa].


You catch the island ferries from a small pier 150 metres or so from the market, to the left if you’re facing the water. A water taxi is a fun way to return from the islands, freeing you from the ferry schedule and giving you a James Bond-feeling as you zip across the waves back to town. 


The Ria Formosa is also a great place for activities such as canoeing, wind and kite surfing and boat tours. 


Take the train

Casa Rosa is just a five-minute walk from Olhão station where you can jump on the Linha do Algarve, the state-run train line that takes in the towns of Faro, Olhão and Tavira and ends at Vila Real de Santo António. It’s a cheap, if infrequent, service that allows you to cover some of the loveliest places in the region without hiring a car or overnighting. We love Faro, often overlooked as just the airport location. It has a great old town, a beautiful gem of a theatre – Theatre Lethes – and a lovely marina. 


Restaurants, cafés, bars and ice cream

You’ll have some of the finest grilled fish of your life in Olhão. Fat, juicy sardines in season, beautiful flaky, white-fleshed dourada (sea bream) and robalo (sea bass) all year round, as well as incredible clams and razor clams, prawns and oysters. We love how none of this costs a fortune and most is served simply so that the produce shines through. We are happy to recommend our favourite places or book you a table. 


You might want to try the Grupo Naval de Olhão, known as the GNO, with a terrace overlooking fishing boats and yachts and the ria. You definitely should book and if you’re a fan of seafood you can pre-order a ‘mariscada’, a massive platter featuring crab, prawns, oysters, clams and more for 75 euros, it’s supposed to be for two but would feed three to four. The cataplana – a copper dish shaped like a bivalve and used to cook seafood – here is also fantastic. 


Chá, Chá, Chá, run by the British journalist Kevin Gould, is always fun and the menu takes what he fancies from the market that morning and plays with a repertoire he has learned over many years as a food writer, mixing it with Portuguese recipes. We love that the kitchen and staff are all women – except Kevin, of course. And that he opened a food kitchen called Love for All Olhão, to help pay back to the local community. Next door, you’ll find our friend Nelson who makes the best gelato in the region from his little shop São Gelados (basically Saint Ice Cream) where you’ll find making gelatos and sorbets using Algarve fruits in season, as well as traditional flavours. We adore the chocolate.


Just across the street from us and a little bit up you’ll find Tacho à Mesa which does an incredibly good value dish of the day (prato do dia in Portuguese) at 8.50. And a few doors from there is one of our favourites, Sushi Moments, where the sushi and sashimi is stunningly fresh and very good value. 


For drinks, the rooftop bar on top of our across-the-street neighbour the Pure Formosa hotel has great views but for those fiery sunsets you can’t beat Olhão waterfront. We like cocktails at Zona and wine at Cantaloupe, which is also a jazz bar. There’s not really any pubs in the town, but gnarly, lovely old family bar Casa Sete Estrelas is as close as you’ll find. 



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