6 Best Sights in Tavira, The Algarve

Directly offshore and extending west for some 11 km (7 miles) is the Ilha de Tavira, a long sandbar with several pleasant beaches. Ferries costing €2.20 round-trip run to the island every half hour in July and August and every hour May through June and September through mid-October. The island has been awarded a Blue Flag, indicating quality and cleanliness. Several good restaurants and bars are also on the island. Amenities: food and drink; lifeguards; showers; toilets; water sports. Best for: partiers; nudists; sunrise; sunset.

From the battlemented walls of the ruined 13th-century castle you can look down over Tavira's many church spires and across the river delta to the sea.

Widely considered one of the most remarkable examples of the Renaissance movement in the Algarve, this structure has a portal that dates to 1541.

About 12 km (7 miles) east of Tavira, Praia da Manta Rota is a small community with a few bars, restaurants, and hotels. But locals swear it has the best beach in the Algarve. Its warm waters and white sands are a magnet for sun worshippers. One particularly nice strand is the offshore sandbar at the village of Cacela Velha. From Manta Rota to Faro the underwater drop-offs are often steep and you can quickly find yourself in deep water. Amenities: lifeguards. Best for: walking.

One of the town's two major churches, Santa Maria was built on the site of a Moorish mosque in the 13th century. Although it was almost entirely destroyed by the 1755 earthquake, the church retains its original Gothic doorway.

This old water tower was converted into a camera obscura of the Leonardo da Vinci fashion in 1931. An oversize photographic camera here takes images of the panoramic views it commands of the town. The visit makes a fascinating exploration into the world of photography and a cool, shady afternoon retreat from the sweltering afternoon sunshine.