"Inside Information from Monchique" Monchique by The_Global_Penguins

I lived in Monchique for sometime at my grandmother's house, well it was in the valley's below about 6km's from Nave (the place where the quarry is).

The best restaurant around in my opinion is "A RAMPA" which is on the road up to Foia on the left. It's quite a way up, after all the main restaurants on that road. There is also a good place in Caldas de Monchique, but not actually in Caldas, it's on the right during the descent towards it, on the main road between Monchique and Portimao. I can't remember what it's called but it looks no more than a hut to the untrained eye. There is also a good barber's on the main street of the town (it's a hilled cobbled street running up from behind the taxi rank).

The dirt-track's in the surrounding valley's are pretty good for exploring, the locals are generally friendly and depending on the season, feb is best, they will greet you with loads and i mean loads! of medronho. Try to explore on your own rather than join one of the mass-tourism jeep safari's that generally don't go off the road, and if they do they don't go very far, as when asking people whether or not the road continues, people tend to lie to them, as they are fed up with the groups of 12 4WDs going up and down the place. Please note that the area has recently been damaged very badly by fires, so give it time.