Top choice in The Algarve
This baroque masterpiece was built on the site of a ruined chapel after locals, while digging a well, implored Saint Lawrence for help and then struck water. Constructed by brothers Antão and Manuel Borges, it's smothered in azulejos (hand-painted tiles) – even the ceiling – depicting the saint's life and death. In the 1755 earthquake, only five tiles fell from the roof.
It's 9km south of Loulé; buses (€2.35, 15 minutes, up to two per hour) stop 2.5km west in Almancil's centre.
22.92 MILES
One of the Algarve's – and Portugal's – most emblematic sights, this huge natural seaside cave has a hole in its ceiling through which streaming sunlit…
6.26 MILES
The centrepiece of the Cidade Velha, the sé was completed in 1251 but heavily damaged in the 1755 earthquake. What you see now is a variety of Renaissance…
Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo & Capela dos Ossos
5.92 MILES
One of the Algarve's most dazzling churches, this twin-towered baroque masterpiece was completed in 1719 under João V. After the 1755 earthquake, its…
24.86 MILES
This russet-coloured, Lego-like castle – originally occupied in the Visigothic period – has great views over the town and surrounding countryside. What…
24.87 MILES
Just below the castle is the sé, built in 1189 on the site of an earlier mosque, then rebuilt after the 1249 Reconquista and subsequently restored several…
29.22 MILES
Housed in a 19th-century fish cannery, the ultramodern, award-winning Museu de Portimão is the city's number-one draw. The museum focuses on three areas:…
8.36 MILES
Encased in azulejos, this beautifully maintained museum occupies a former cork magnate’s mansion, which retains its original kitchen. It displays an ever…
21.56 MILES
This huge white-sand beach at the island's eastern end, opposite Tavira, has operators for water sports (such as windsurfing and kitesurfing), beach bars…
4.04 MILES
Loulé's restored castle is the setting for its municipal museum. The archaeology section's homo erectus kicks things off, and via dusty collections of…
2. Nossa Senhora da Conceição
4.05 MILES
Situated opposite Loulé's castle, the mid-17th century chapel of Nossa Senhora da Conceição possesses three impressive elements: a heavily gilded baroque…
5.16 MILES
On the Ilha de Faro, 9km west of the centre, the town's beach has sweeping sand, windsurfing and kitesurfing operators, and a handful of cafes. It's…
5.86 MILES
Situated 900m west of Estói, these Roman villa ruins are so large and grand they were originally thought to have been a town. The villa, inhabited from…
5. Igreja de Nossa Senhora do Carmo & Capela dos Ossos
5.92 MILES
One of the Algarve's most dazzling churches, this twin-towered baroque masterpiece was completed in 1719 under João V. After the 1755 earthquake, its…
5.99 MILES
While the exterior of this 16th-century church is unassuming, the tri-nave interior has magnificent 18th-century azulejos and intricately carved woodwork,…
7. Centro Histórico Judaico de Faro
6.02 MILES
The last vestiges of the first post-Inquisition Jewish presence in Portugal are found at this small Jewish cemetery. In use between 1838 and 1932, and…
6.18 MILES
The 16th-century Igreja da Misericórdia, opposite the Arco da Vila, was originally built in Manueline (Portuguese late Gothic) style but is now nearly all…