Algarve Cycle Tour – Quarteira to Armação de Pêra

After all the excitement of the hotel experience and a fun night out in the town, we didn’t rush to get up this morning.

Downstairs, a fine breakfast awaited us, (which was enjoyed at a slow pace, thanks to some careful planning as to ensure that we didn’t have too far to cycle today).

We ‘walked off’ breakfast outside the hotel, by crossing the promenade and dipping our toes in the sea.

An absolute stunner of a morning and much warmer than previous days already.

We checked out of the hotel just after 11am and made our first stop a few moments later. During the past few days my eyes have been sore, in a way that feels not too dissimilar to being snow blind! I’m hoping the purchase of some new and much darker sunglasses will solve the problem and so far, the new specs seem okay. I think that perhaps the low but very bright sunshine might be a bit much for my non-squinting left eye?

Anyway, being back on the road with fantastically clear (no scratches yet!) and darkened lenses felt great. The first town felt like being in a movie in California. The buildings were all new, the verges well kept, roundabouts were like golf greens and the cycleway was perfectly smooth and felt like someone might have swept it clean overnight. A few cars passed by on the well groomed palm tree lined streets, but otherwise, the town was ours.

A bit later we reached Albufeira, which was equally as interesting, but felt like another and completely world!

I didn’t get to take any photos as the traffic became busier and there was a lot to take in. The perfectly manicured golf courses, expensive looking hair dressers and high end restaurants were replaced with themed pubs and street cafes littered with tattooed and sunburn blokes, sitting topless around tables filled with pints of lager. A very different vibe and clientele!

Most of the ride today was on a road of some kind although once through the town we found some quiet ones that took us back to the coast.

The colour of the sea was vibrant, but we stood well back as the cliff top promenade was losing its fight against gravity…

We had our lunch of avocado, tomatoes and bread rolls down at the Marina de Albufeira. A colourful place packed full of boats but not people.

From Marina de Albufeira, things became a bit more rural. There were still some big houses about, but outside the imposing gates or driveways, there was an unkept feel to the place, with rubble and fly tipping a popular local pastime.

The final few kilometres into our home town for the night was along an incredible boardwalk that ran perpendicular to the coast.

We passed a couple of smaller beach towns, then headed inland to find out accommodation for the night. This time we are staying above the garage of a Ukrainian chap, who is building some apartments in his back yard. He spoke only Portuguese and Ukrainian, yet we still managed to have half an hour of interesting mutual chat! On arrival he insisted we all share a cold beer while he showed us around. It wasn’t exactly what we needed after a long ride, but was good fun! We followed the beer with a coffee, croissant and a lie down while the sun set!