.png)
4 hours ago
1
Standing on the sun-warmed sand, we watch swell lines rolling towards the shore. Surfers dot the water, eyes trained to the horizon, waiting for their next ride. My eight-year-old daughter glances up at the unrelenting blue sky. “Are you sure this is winter?” she asks.
We’ve just arrived in Praia da Luz, a small beach town and surf spot in the western Algarve, where our family of four are spending February half-term with friends. It’s 18C (64F), sunny and windless. Locals are dressed in long trousers and light coats, while we have giddily stripped to our T-shirts, knowing that at home it will be months before we feel warmth like this.
Impressed by the quality and choice of available accommodation when we booked at the last minute, we have rented a villa a 10-minute walk from the beach. It sleeps all nine of us (four adults and five kids), is set in large grounds with an outdoor pool, tennis court and a small orange grove and cost £200 a night.
On our first full day, we wake to sunshine. The children, who range in age from eight to 13, race off to pick fresh oranges for breakfast, and return with juices dripping down their chins to declare them the “best oranges we’ve ever tasted”.
Later, we stroll down to the local beach, Praia da Luz, a long golden sandy beach backed by sea cliffs. As families who surf, we have brought our own boards, but there are also places to rent equipment and take lessons. One popular outfit is Salty Wave Surf School, which operates out of Lagos, and offers board hire and coaching for all levels. Out of season, the beaches aren’t lifeguarded, so we are vigilant as we look for rips and currents, but from Easter lifeguards will be on patrol. The youngest of the children play on the shoreline, and the rest of us take turns surfing in clean, shoulder-high waves. I enjoy the easy, forgiving beach break, while the more experienced surfers head to the eastern end of the bay to surf the reef.
After a long morning in the water, we are ready for lunch and choose Lazuli, a beachfront restaurant with outdoor seating. We order cheese and ham toasties for the children, and a jug of fresh white sangria for the adults, and relax in the sun, listening to a young musician play guitar.
The following day, the wind turns on shore, the sky becomes hazy, and the surf is blown out. My son and I decide to hike along the cliff top to Lagos. We begin our walk along the cobbled beach front of Luz, then cut up steeply along a red dirt trail towards the Rocha Negra headland. Reaching the top, we are rewarded with a postcard view of Luz, with its cluster of white houses gathered by the coast.
The two-hour hike hugs the cliff top all the way into the city of Lagos, offering sweeping views over the wild beaches below. We only see two other walkers, who we wish “Boa tarde” (good afternoon), eager to use the slivers of Portuguese we’ve been practising.
When we reach Lagos, we reward ourselves with ice-creams, and then mill along the edge of the fort, admiring a distant rainbow. In the height of summer, I’m told, the city is busy with a party feel, but in February there is only a gentle bustle. Wandering into the old town, we discover narrow, cobbled lanes and an array of attractive shops. I could happily while away an hour or two but, like most 10-year-olds, my son is a reluctant shopper.
I’d promised that he could choose our dinner spot in Lagos, and he opts for an Italian eatery, Pepperino, where the chef skilfully spins pizza bases and slots them into the wood-fired oven. The staff are attentive and warm, the pizzas are delicious, and we leave happy and well fed.
The next day, our family visits Burgau, a sleepy fishing village a 10-minute drive west. We have a hire car, but it’s easy to grab Ubers in this part of the Algarve. A golden-sand cove is sheltered by high cliffs and, in the right conditions, waves roll into the bay. After a morning surf, we dry off and wander barefoot into A Prateleira, a tiny, local-run cafe with views over the bay, and tuck into the local delicacy – pastel de nata custard tarts.
The benefits of visiting the Algarve in low season include the lack of crowds, the quiet beaches, affordable prices and the ease of getting a table anywhere you choose. The downside is that the evenings are longer and cooler, so most nights we choose to cook at our villa. With an outdoor kitchen and barbecue, it is a sociable way to spend the evening, listening to music and having a drink, while the children (and, on one occasion, the adults) swim in the floodlit pool.
We are gifted sunshine and smooth peeling waves for our final days. We make camp on Praia da Luz and take it in turns to surf and make ice-cream runs to the kiosk on the beachfront. A local tells us that in summer this beach is packed with umbrellas and crowds, and we feel grateful to be here out of season.
As the sun goes down on our final evening, our two families are the last to leave the beach. We play ball games on the shoreline, and the children run barefoot in and out of the waves. As the sun dips behind the town, we gather up boards and wetsuits, books and towels, and make our final walk back to the villa.
With climate change bringing such hot, dry summers to much of southern Europe, it is a joy to visit Portugal when the landscape is verdant and fresh, and the hillsides flecked with bright yellow wildflowers. For families like ours, who love the outdoors and prefer to avoid crowds, Portugal is a brilliant off-season destination for discovering quiet beaches, scenic walks and wonderful waves.
Lucy Clarke is the bestselling author of nine novels. Her latest thriller, The Surf House, is out now.
