Navigating Albufeira on foot

My favourite route to ... everywhere

One of the big decisions we faced when deciding to spend the winter in Albufeira was whether or not to bring our car to Portugal. We had three options:

• Catch the ferry to Santander and drive through Spain and Portugal. A friend did something similar (when heading to Spain) a few years ago and I remember being surprised at how the costs escalated when you took the ferry, fuel and road tolls into account. And we'd have those same costs again when we return to the UK in three months time. This option also meant a lot of driving (over 1,000 kilometres in Spain/Portugal alone), meaning the overall journey would probably take three days each way. 
• Fly to Faro and hire a car for the duration of our stay. This would once have been our default choice, but that was in the days when we thought a holiday wasn't a holiday without a hire car at our disposal. We've since discovered how much more interesting it can be to travel around on public transport!
• Fly to Faro and not hire a car. This was definitely the cheapest option, but could be a bit of a gamble as, airport transfers aside, we'd be relying on buses and our feet to get us everywhere.

In the end, like most decisions, it came down to money. We really couldn't justify spending so much to bring our car to the Algarve, knowing that it would remain stationary outside our villa from Monday to Friday. The hire car option was ruled out for the same reason ... if we found we needed a car for any particular trip, we could hire one then. For the most part, we were confident we could rely on public transport and our feet to get around.

Everyone remembers the dolphin roundabout

Fortunately, once you've got the basic geography of Albufeira in your head, it's quite easy to find your way around the city. We've been told that everyone here navigates and gives directions from the various landmark roundabouts, so it's essential to locate the key ones early on. 

We're living within a few minutes' walk of the gravity-defying dolphin roundabout (rotunda dos golfinhos). From here you can head downhill and right towards Old Town and the beach. Carry on uphill past the discoveries roundabout (rotunda dos descobrimentos) and you'll soon reach Lidl and Aldi (a right turning at the roundabout also takes you back to Old Town). 

Ahead for the supermarkets, right to the beach

If you stick to the main road, not long after the German supermarkets you'll reach the turning (on the left) for the Mercado Municipal dos Caliços and the bus station. The two-weekly open air market is held along this road, just past the bus station.

Carry on straight ahead and you'll soon spot the Golden Arches heralding the presence of a McDonald's takeaway. On my first walkabout, I thought I'd reached the Strip at this point; however, there are two more roundabouts before you reach Albufeira's infamous street.

One roundabout that would be hard to miss!

Just past Albufeira shopping (set slightly back from the main road on your right) is the rotunda do relógio, a fun affair featuring two large watches.

If you decide to venture onwards to the Strip, then you need to be looking out for the rotunda das minhocas (worms roundabout). It's pretty difficult to miss: two giant-sized worms - one red, one green - upright and entwined, sporting yellow sunglasses. By now, you are right in the centre of where it's all happening ... well, during the summer months anyway. The bars, restaurants and gift shops start well before you turn right onto the Strip itself. 

When you spot these dudes, you're nearing the Strip

There is another roundabout that I've passed on my walkabouts, just up the hill from the Albufeira Hotel: it looks like a fisherman sitting in a small boat with a large wave about to engulf him. 

Together Albufeira's quirky roundabouts have helped me quickly form a basic map of this hilly city in my head. It doesn't mean I don't wander off route occasionally ... in the sunshine, it's impossible to resist the lure of the beach, even if it means adding another few kilometres to my shopping trip.

Not so vital for navigation but another great roundabout

Walking everywhere isn't for everyone, of course, and shopping takes far more time without a car than it did at home. That said, discovering Albufeira on foot is fun and means I'm getting to discover those narrow cobbled streets and the hidden steps that link them far more quickly than if we had a car at our disposal.