THE Algarve frightens the independent traveller.
Package tours and purpose-built tourist towns litter the naturally stunning Portuguese southern coast. Its reputation suggests it only caters for sunstarved pensioners, sex-craved teenagers and golfing bores.
But we had been promised another side of the Algarve - a family holiday just an hour's drive from Faro in a villa in the hills. We would enjoy constant sun, a view, a cook, a maid, a pool and a masseuse.
We sped along a new coastal motorway, turning inland at Portimao. We passed vibrant orange groves and gnarly almond orchards, and wiggled up through the forested valley of Serra de Monchique. Soon we were sitting on the panoramic balcony of Cabana de Rouxinols inhaling the sweet scent of eucalyptus and drinking chilled rose.
Could this really be the Algarve?
WHY THE ALGARVE?
A stone's throw but a world away from the lager-filled beaches, in Serra de Monchique you'll find unspoilt forests of eucalyptus, cork and pine, stunning views, and a stillness punctuating by the odd horse and cart. Take the road from Faro to Portimao and Monchique is just 15 miles north.
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