"Nice and Quiet" a Carvoeiro Travel Page by Balam

This was a very small intimate fishing village that has lost any resemblance to its modest origins. In 1965 a foreign resident wrote about the place - “the mode of living remains essentially medieval”. Then there came the tourists and the money. Today, the village spreads to the east and west with expensive villas and comfortable holiday apartments. The one and only village street has now become three, each lined with bars, smart restaurants and tourist shops. Happily, there are still examples of the older quaint small houses tucked in between the more recent ones. A 36-Hole Golf & Holiday Complex can be found to the west of the village together with a well run Tennis Centre. To the east and on the outskirts is a further 9-Hole Course. A couple of Lawn Bowling Clubs add to the choice of sport. The area has long been considered a excellent area for tourist to acquire property and also due to the variety and pleasure provided its many small beaches. High cliffs surround most of these, and some of which have eroded to create beckoning dark caves most of which are only accessible at low tide

To the west and near to Carvoeiro is the village of Ferragudo, which still remains as a virtually un-spoilt small fishing village. Lagoa, the nearby area administrative town is also close to the birth place of the 11th Century renown Arab poet "Ibn Ammar". Inland is the typical inland small village of Porches. Another place that is a must to be visited is the inland historic and interesting city of Silves with its remains of its castle as a reminder of its greater past.