Albufeira, Algarve
Praia de São Rafael
The rock formations everyone photographs, four kilometres west of town
São Rafael is the one people mean when they say the Algarve looks like the postcards. Sandstone stacks standing out of the shallows, arches worn through the cliff, and caves at the western end you can walk into when the tide is out. It is the most photographed beach on this stretch and it still doesn't feel crowded by Albufeira standards.
It is about four kilometres west of Albufeira old town, which is far enough that almost nobody walks it and close enough that a tuk tuk gets there in ten minutes.
- Parking
- A car park on the cliff above, plus free roadside spaces along the approach. It is the biggest of the three and still goes early in July and August.
- Getting down to the sand
- A road and then steps down from the car park. The beach itself is wheelchair accessible, which is unusual for a cove on this coast — ask Tiago before you rely on it.
- What's there
- Restaurant on the sand, toilets, showers, sunbeds to hire on the left-hand side, kayak and paddleboard rental, and lifeguards through the summer. Blue Flag.
- Without a car
- Not well served. Route 75 from Albufeira bus station passes nearby a handful of times a day; a taxi is ten minutes and most people end up doing that in one direction and struggling in the other.
- When to go
- Late afternoon, when the low sun is behind the stacks. The caves at the western end need a low tide — check before you go, or you'll be looking at water.