I just got back from the most magical trip to the algar region of Portugal which is down in the South Coast it's famous for its beautiful beaches and Coastal Cliff views which are just breathtaking I'm sure you've probably all seen the most famous photo of the algar region the point of Mercy rock formations in logo so it's definitely a mustsee spot on any Algarve itinerary and most people when planning an algar itinerary opt to rent a car but I'm not a huge fan of renting a car if I don't absolutely have to so I'm here to give you a 5day algar Portugal itinerary without renting a car which makes things a lot cheaper so Days 1 through 3 are going to be spent in logos so if you haven't seen last week's video of The Ultimate Guide to logos Portugal make sure to check that out because I go into detail about the weather planning your visit average costs where to book your hotel and so much more it's really helpful as you're going through the planning stages of your trip and before I dive into this day byday itinerary let me just preface this section by saying logos is the epitome of completely relaxing and not having a bunch of things to do that's the draw and the beauty of it some places you need to have an itinerary and make sure you don't miss something like if you have 3 days in London you want to make sure you're taking advantage of every single second and sing as much as you possibly can cuz there's just so much to see in London but in logos it's all about relaxing it's all about enjoying the views the weather now let's break down what to do day by day with this in mind on day one you'll be focusing on the downtown walk around explore the souvenir shops restaurants while you're here make sure to check out these spots on the map pora de Portugal [Music] Street Gil Ein Plaza my personal favorite because of this sunning green til building Louis de camos [Music] Plaza and the Waterfront Infante Dom Enrique Plaza this is really an area where you can just get lost on the all the little Alleyways in the best ways and discover so many cute hidden gems I absolutely loved walking around the downtown here also be sure to check out the marado which is open between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. every day except Sunday I had read a ton of blogs recommending to eat at the rooftop restaurant there and I got to be honest I was not impressed it was my least favorite meal during my 3 days in logo so I'd say not to waste your time eating there as there are tons of better food options in the down town but it is worth checking out the marato and right next to the Marcato is a small bakery I'd definitely pop in there and grab a pastel deala my favorite Portuguese snack for only 150 next you'll head to lago's Fortress which is completely free to enter they just ask you what country you're from so they can put it in their records it's pretty small but there is a room on the ground floor filled with the most gorgeous tiles I absolutely loved it and I thought it was really cool to get on top of the Fortress and walk around and see all the ocean views right across the road is the logos castle and City walls there isn't too much to do here but it definitely is a cool photo up and then right across from there is student beach with this stunning Arch Bridge built into the rock it is a pretty small Beach so I can imagine in the summer it gets extremely crowded we were there at the end of April and there really wasn't anyone in logos at all all the beaches were pretty empty so I thought it was perfect but if you can find a spot during whatever time you are visiting definitely plop down on the beach and enjoy the views for a little bit for dinner I highly recommend eating at Mar which overlooks student Beach I'm not a huge foodie but this definitely was one of the best meals I've ever had in my entire life we got the Portuguese steak shrimp skewers and sweet and sour sauce and salmon over an asparagus risotto and it was just phenomenal not to mention the views you have while you're eating so you're getting to see student Beach from a different Viewpoint it was just so magical I highly recommend it to finish off your first day in algar Portugal to start off day two in losos you'll head to the marina for breakfast or brunch however early you're starting your day to get here walk along the water right next to the downtown where the marado is and there are some little pop-up canopies selling some souvenirs all along the water so walk through this little market if if you can call it that along the river and slowly make your way to this bridge then you're going to go ahead and cross it and you'll see a row of restaurants lining the marina so walk up and down them and see what menu looks the best to you when you're finished stay at the marina and book a boat tour each company pretty much offers the exact same tours there's the 4-Hour Grotto and Cave tour with lunch 2hour Grotto tour one 1 hour and 15 minute grot tour there are some kayak tours and dolphin watching tours I don't recommend doing the 4-Hour tour because on day four you're actually going to be moving from losos to Caro and doing a cave tour there so you don't want to do the caves twice I personally think the grot tour is a must that's why you're in Al gar to check out these incredible rock formations the 2-hour tour is 2950 and the 1 hour and 15minute tour is $22.50 we opted to go with a company called Boma into the shorter tour and it was so incredible one of the highlights from this trip for sure first off we ended up getting a private tour because no one else signed up which was an amazing surprise and another surprise was that I just figured we'd be boating along the coast just to kind of see the rock formations from the water I didn't realize the boat would actually be going under the Arches and into the caves and stuff so it was super cool and huge props to the boat drivers navigating those choppy waves in and out of those small spaces after the boat tour drops you back off in the marina walk to pinh how beach now this beach access was closed when we were there in late April 202 before and there was a huge sign saying that you would get fined if you went down onto the beach it didn't say when it would reopen again but even if it is closed it's still a beautiful beach to see from up above on the boardwalk that looks over the cliffs and if it happens to be open when you go of course pop down and take a stroll on the sand once you're ready continue along the boardwalk to Donna Ana Beach there's an amazing Viewpoint that allows you to see Donna Anna on one side and all the layers of rocks and cliffs extending into the distance on the other side makes for a stunning video as you can see on the screen so it take some photos and videos up there first and then head down to the sand and plop down on Donna Ana Beach to relax there is a restaurant on the sand here which is pretty cool serving some seafood options Burgers snacks and drinks so just keep that in mind for dinner or once you're ready head back up to the boardwalk to the downtown to grab dinner day three is your last day in logos and it will be your chillest day start off breakfast in downtown a little side note that I didn't mention before the Portuguese culture is a very late culture we were walking around the downtown at 9:30 a.m. and we were literally the only people there like most of the shops were closed so keep that in mind when venturing out for breakfast around 10:30 in the morning is probably the earliest I would do that I'd recommend a place called Nina it was super cute to sit out in the cobblestone street and get the brunch platter for €1 15 which had a little bit of everything as you can see here in this photo once you're full you're going to do the full Boardwalk cliffwalk from Donna Anna to Pon de pade or point of Mercy in English this was another major highlight of the trip for me the walk is absolutely sunning with so many little Viewpoint platforms here so really take your time there is no rush go out on every platform take your photos sit on a bench soak in the views before moving on to the next one the full walk is only 3 kilm so it really doesn't take that long and since it's all just a boardwalk it's not you know Cliffs or rock you can wear your sandals and it's not strenuous at all it starts at Donna Ana which is the beach you went to on day two too next you'll pass Camel Beach which is also closed just like Pinal Beach so hopefully that will be open for you when you get to losos but again it is still really nice to see from above it's called Camel Beach because one of the rock formations looks like a camel and the end point is the point of Mercy which is the iconic photo of the tip of this little Peninsula is thing that is logos so you'll just see these stunning Cliff edges jetting out all around you with massive rocks floating in the ocean it's just genuinely so breathtaking and in this area alone there are several different viewing platforms so again go to all of them you are able to get off the boardwalk and go a little bit closer to the edge you'll see tons of people doing it but of course be careful don't do anything Reckless for a photo or video it's not worth it my favorite spot of the trail was the second to last viewing platform in the point of Mercy area which is the only one that allows you to actually take the stairs down all the way to the water there is no beach here but as you're walking down you get this stunning view of all these crazy cool rock form surrounding you with arches points holes in the rocks and form a little semicircle kind of like a lagoon type Cove thing around you and it was absolutely stunning my favorite Viewpoint of the trip once you complete the trail the rest of the day is yours to plop down on a new beach if camel or Pinal is open for you or back to your favorite Beach you've already been to or feel free to do some souvenir shopping or another boat tour like a dolphin watching Excursion it's really up to you and what you want your last day and list to be on day four you'll wake up and head to Cara which is is about a 30 minute drive towards farro which is where the airport is we took an Uber and it was only €20 and that's what I'd recommend doing as it's not very expensive once you arrive you probably won't be able to check in yet but you can at least drop off your bags and head out for the day you'll notice right away a huge difference between logos and Caro logos is very much like a touristy Backpacker type Vibe with historical charm whereas Caro is very much a resort City it's smaller it's nicer and it's very focused on families and older people in my opinion it's definitely not a party area which was fine with me but if that's your thing just keep that in mind we decided to stay in a resort while we were here and it was so nice check out the tour of that in this video here but what I will say is that I'd recommend you stay as close to Caro downtown as possible because there is literally nothing outside of the downtown in regards to restaurants or shops like it's just Resort after Resort after Resort so I wished we had stayed a little closer to town as our resort was about a 20-minute walk but anyways check out the downtown get your bearings walk around and find a place to eat this place isn't technically in the downtown but it is on the main road a few minutes outside of the Town it was actually on our way from our resort to the town it was called Earth the food was really good it had ocean views and it had a super cute shop with Portugal made items like olive oils sea salts cork items honey and so much more so I definitely recommend checking that out once you're done eating I'd head to Caro Beach right in front of the sand are a few tour stalls where you can book your cave boat tour there's a 1hour tour that goes to 10 caves including the famous benagil cave or there's a 1 and 1/2 hour tour that does all of the same plus marinha Beach so we opted for that second option which was €35 per person which I personally thought was a little steep since the tour in logos was only €22 per person for nearly the same amount of time but I do think regardless you have to do it because seeing all the different caves this area is famous for is absolutely amazing and pretty much the reason why you're there and of course as I mentioned one of the last caves youve is it is the benagil cave which is one of the most iconic sites to see in all of the ALG gar the only bummer is that the picture that you always see of this cave is from the Viewpoint of the sand looking out towards the water so you see both of the Arches and the hole from up above but from the boat's Viewpoint you don't get to see that you just get to see the hole from up above and the sand in front of you which is still cool but not as cool as the photos you always see and I do recommend doing the longer tour to see marinha Beach because it really was so beautiful and had a large Rock in front of it that looked like an elephant drinking water the boat tour will end back at Cara Beach so hang out there for a while to end your day and day five your last day in algar Portugal you'll start the day in downtown Caro for breakfast then you'll head up the hill overlooking Caro Beach to get great views of the beach and buildings it really is such a nice photo out from right here then you can continue on from here and you'll start the seven hanging valleys trail from Caro downtown to marinha this one is a lot longer and more difficult than the boardwalk cliffwalk you did in logos from Caro Beach to algar SEO It's relatively the same a very easy Boardwalk with some cool opportunities to get off the path and kind of explore the rock caves and crevices from algar SEO it gets a bit more difficult as there's no more boardwalk and just a dirt Rocky path so I'd recommend wearing proper shoes not sandals for this hike and of course you can do this walk for as long as you want some highlights along the way are the Valley dayon tiis Beach then ail cave from above and Marin HHA Beach we opted to just stop at valy De santiana Beach which was the close speech to our Resort anyways and it was so sunning we relaxed here for the day which was a really great way to end the trip there's also a restaurant on the sand here that seres some seafood options and snacks and of course the views are incredible so depending on what time your flight is you'll need to work that into your schedule on this day it's still an hour from here to the airport if you take an Uber so make sure to take that into account and it will cost you about €40 the only other adjustment I'd make to this itinerary depending on your interest as if you really really wanted to see the traditional benagil cave view that you would see in all of the photos I would still do the cave boat tour on day four because I think it's awesome to see all of the different caves but I would also add on a sunrise kayak tour to benagil cave on day five so you can kayak up to the island inside of the cave get out on the sand turn around and actually see that view so if you haven't already make sure to check out The Ultimate Guide to losos Portugal to help you plan your trip as best as you can [Music] oh