Vila do Bispo: Travel and tourism

Despite its grandiose name, Vila do Bispo (Bishop's Town) is now a peaceful town far away from the crowds of central Algarve. It has a rural atmosphere, as the region is rich in cereals and there are still some windmills operating.

The town's Mother Church of Nossa Senhora da Conceição is known for the purity of its lines, an interior decorated with 18th-century painted tiles and a Baroque altarpiece dating from 1715.

The beaches in the area, such as Castelejo, Barriga and Cordama, remain unspoiled by tourism and are all sandy and lie at the foot of steep cliffs.

Cabo de São Vicente is a windswept cape set in the extreme southwest of Europe. The Romans called it Sacred Promontory and in the Middle Ages it was believed to be the end of the world: today, it still appears impressive, with high cliffs facing the Atlantic where the waves have carved deep caves.

The small town of Sagres is surrounded by wonderful and often deserted beaches, although the sea is rougher, colder and more dangerous than further east.

Such is the case of the beaches of Telheiro, Ponta Ruiva, Beliche, Tonel (good for surf) and Martinhal, which has a watersports school for water-ski, surf and windsurf.

According to the legend, the isolated peninsula of Ponta de Sagres is where prince Henry the Navigator built a fortress in the 15th century to send his sailors on the mission of exploring the unknown seas.