The Algarve has more hotels, holiday apartments and villas for rent than the rest of Portugal put together. The main attractions are its excellent climate, the warmer waters off the south coast, and of late, the low-cost airways flying to Faro airport from all over Europe.

The Algarve offers a fabulous range of sporting facilities with numerous world-class golf courses, tennis clubs, riding centres and a wealth of water sports to choose from.

Holidaymakers, looking for less energetic forms of relaxation, are drawn by the Algarve's fabulous coastline. The Central and Eastern Algarve enjoys mile upon mile of some of the best golden sandy beaches to be found in Europe, stretching for as far as the eye can see.

However, the Western Algarve is characterised by small sandy bays and sandstone cliffs punctuated by magical caves and grottoes. It is also less developed than the Central Algarve, but the completion of motorway is helping to open up the region.

The majority of foreign tourists visit the Central Algarve. Its proximity to the airport and famous luxury resorts and golf courses of Vale do lobo and Quinta do Lago has helped to maintain the Central Algarve's popularity over the years.

The Eastern Algarve is more popular with the Portuguese holidaymakers, but with a few notable exceptions, remains largely undeveloped, although this is changing as more people look to escape the crowds.