Recommendations

Game meat and a wine list well beyond the usual. This is the place for a meal that is the evening itself, not a stop between two things.

The other game restaurant around here, and another serious wine list. You go for the cooking and stay for the bottle.

Fresh fish and seafood every day, with music and the sunset up on the rooftop. You eat facing the sea without leaving the area.

A table right on the beach in the old town. The Albufeira classic for fish, and still where you take someone on their first visit.

Another one by the sea, a few steps away. A good alternative when the beachfront places are full and you would rather not go far.

Everyday Portuguese food at the price paid by people who eat there out of habit. It fills up at lunch with locals — quick, authentic, and with no frills.

Same idea: dish of the day, no ceremony, no waiting. Where you eat well when lunch is not meant to be an event.

The third of the same kind: traditional, generous, honestly priced. A local crowd, which is usually the best sign there is.

Crepes, waffles and artisan gelato made in house, with plenty of local ingredients, and Algarve orange juice. With seating and a small terrace right on Rua 5 de Outubro: the sweet stop before the beach, or the reward on the way back.

A beach club and a Thai kitchen in the same place. The one for a beach day with a proper table, when it is not another grilled fish.

One of the best places around here for cocktails. The stop to start the evening with something properly made, instead of another terrace.

By day, meals and the match on the screens; by night, live music, karaoke and quiz nights, all with a terrace on Largo Engenheiro Duarte Pacheco, the old town's main square. The right place for the first drink of an evening in the centre.

Low light, a cosy pub feel and big screens for sport, on Avenida 25 de Abril. With a terrace, pizzas and burgers, it works as well for the match as for stretching the night out in the old town.

Open until late, for the last drink of the night.

On the old town's bar street, Rua Cândido dos Reis, a big terrace under the neon signs. Live music, screens for sport, pool and darts, for a night out with a game or two thrown in.

Three bars in one on Avenida Sá Carneiro: American bar, Irish pub and sports bar. By day it is the games; by night, live music, flair bartenders juggling the bottles and a vintage interior that sets it apart on the Strip.

Part of Albufeira's nights since 1985: it began as a piano bar and became the town's first disco bar. Today you dance in the open air, between the terrace and the sky lounge, with DJs, under the sky rather than in a basement.

Bold colours, lights and a DJ moving from Latin rhythms to the hits everyone knows by heart, in the middle of the Strip. A bar made for dancing, with the party running well into the night.

It runs down from the old town towards the sea and ends in a tunnel through the cliff, with Peneco beach on the other side. A short walk that finishes on the sand, with Maresia and Crepe da Baixa along the way.

Brightly coloured buildings around the water, west of the old town, with restaurants and terraces beside the boats. Many of our boat trips leave from here, but the marina is worth a visit in its own right, even without going aboard.

A 12th-century castle raised in Moorish times near Paderne, the traditional village inland from Albufeira, with the old arched bridge below. Only a short way from the coast, and already another Algarve: fields, silence and old stone.

Inside, it opens only on certain Wednesdays, on a schedule the town council sets each year; on other days you see it from the outside.

Fresh fish on the stalls, local fruit and vegetables and regional produce, in the town's municipal market. It is where people here really do their shopping, and where the stalls tell you what is in season.

The fish and fruit stalls are open from the morning until early afternoon. From October to May it is closed on Mondays.

Small, at the entrance to Olhos de Água, with fresh fish, fruit and vegetables and a craft shop. If you are staying on this side of Albufeira, it is the unhurried morning shop.

The fish and fruit stalls are open from the morning until early afternoon. Outside summer it is closed on Mondays.

Maresia is the Portuguese word for the scent of the sea, and the sea runs through everything here: bikinis and beach essentials, plus jewellery and collections inspired by it. On Rua 5 de Outubro, on the way to the tunnel.

A classic by the marina, built on fresh fish and seafood. One of those places everyone in Lagos knows how to point you to, and it still earns the reputation.

Right by Dona Ana and Camilo beaches, serving seafood with the sea in front of you. The walk up there is worth it at the end of the day.

Inventive pregos and local comfort food, in a lively room. The right stop when you are hungry and do not want a two-hour dinner.

A small family-run house in the old town, built around traditional petiscos. Few tables and always full, which usually says it all.

One of the strong names in the historic centre, with regional cooking and old-school hospitality. Where you take someone you want to impress without leaving what is ours.

Reworked Portuguese recipes on a terrace with a view, inside a house that is also a shop and a concept. It is worth it for the whole thing, not just the table.

Above Porto de Mós beach, with the catch of the day and coastal cooking. The choice for dinner for two without anyone having to say so.

An old local house with no pretension at all: grilled fish and classic dishes, in portions that leave nobody halfway.

Home-style Portuguese cooking, generous and straightforward, served by people who like to see a full table. It lives up to the name.

A tavern in the historic centre, with traditional petiscos and regional wines. The place to start the evening slowly, with a board and a glass.

A rooftop above Dona Ana beach, on top of the Carvi Beach Hotel, with regional cooking. You go for the place: it is one of the views people remember after they get home.