Portugal Trip 12: Vila Real de Santo António (1)

Thursday 17th April 2025

We have headed south again today, reaching the Algarve, the southern coast of Portugal. We are staying in the small town of Vila Real de Santo António, which is right in the bottom right-hand corner of the country.

Spain is in sight from our pitch across the river Gaudiana. We are staying on a commercial site which is very popular, costing just 5 € per night plus tourist tax of 50 cents per person. You can catch a ferry to Spain, from the waterfront nearby.

Fishing is definitely a theme in the town. Along the front, the cobbles are made up into various sea-related designs and the surface water grates all have fish in the castings:

As the coming weekend is the Easter holiday break, we have decided to pause our touring for a few days, so we will explore this area further and in a little more detail. The photographs on this blog post are taken just around the town centre and marina.

The town has an interesting history. It was constructed in 1774 to resettle the plague-ravaged fishermen from Aveiro and also to claim the fishing waters of the eastern Algarve from Spain. It was built in just two years and as a result, most of the buildings are similar in style.

Walking along the waterfront there is the marina:

…and in front of the marina, are these sculptures:

That is it for now. See u later, TTFN.