How to Rent the Best Villas in the Algarve, Portugal

Photo credit: Clickstay

If you want your next holiday to be beautiful, authentic and relaxing, renting a villa in Algarve Portugal may well be the exact holiday that you're looking for. In this blog post, I hope (if it hasn't been already) to ignite your wanderlust for Portugal, specifically the Algarve - a place I spent six weeks in. I will also show you how to find the best villas in Algarve to suit your needs - whether they be accessible, financial, adventurous or relaxation orientated.

Portugal Holidays: Why Go To Portugal?

No matter who you are or where you're from (yes, even if you're Portuguese), I can and will recommend a holiday in Portugal to you - why? Because it is one of my favourite places on the planet:

• The Mediterranean climate is perfect, the sun improves your general mental health, and the wet winters means that:
• The country is abundant in fresh produce. Want to eat an orange or a fig or a lemon straight from a tree? Head to Portugal. Eating healthily here is easy, cheap and delicious.
• The ability to grow fresh produce includes grapes which of course means wine - some of the best wines in the world are grown in Portugal - find out more about Portuguese wine
• 832 km of coastline - Portugal is situated on the left side of Europe, right on the Atlantic coast. This means beaches and surf for, well, kilometres and kilometres.

Put simply, the nature in Portugal is perfection, and the lifestyle you could have there is natural and healthy.

Algarve Holidays: Why Choose The Algarve?

I've spent time in Lisbon (the capital), the Azores (a collection of islands in the Atlantic) and the Algarve. Whilst I love all three, I would recommend the Algarve when it comes to villas to rent in Portugal. Why? The Algarve is the southernmost region of Portugal and is thus (in general) the sunniest. The fauna and flora are incredible down there - actually very reminiscent of Australia for me with its orange dirt roads (though unfortunately no kangaroos). It's a completely different world to the jungle terrain of the Azores or the concrete jungle of Lisbon. It is also well-known for its breath-taking Atlantic beaches which, thanks to more people opting for Spain over Portugal (simply because Spain is closer or Spain is the one they've heard of it) tend to be emptier than your average European beach.

Villas In Portugal: Why Rent A Villa?

What advantages are there to renting a villa over staying in a hotel? Renting a villa in Portugal will give you all the home luxuries you're used to (like the use of a full kitchen and a washing machine) and then some. For example, you can choose a villa with your own private pool - how many hotels can offer that? It's also probably a lot cheaper than you expect (see below), specifically if you split the costs between a group of friends and/or family. Put simply, this can be one of the most rewarding ways to connect with your loved ones - all under one (big) roof.

How To Rent The Best Villas In The Algarve Portugal

When I'm looking for villas to rent in Portugal, I turn to Clickstay. Clickstay offers over 75,000 properties in 70 countries including Portugal. They can provide luxury private pool villas, ski chalets, chic city apartments, countryside chateaus and everything in between. Their website is clear and easy to use, take their section on villas in Algarve, for example, where they have over 800 villas, which you can browse by private pools:

By cheapest price:

or by their best pick:

As you can see the prices can be as low as £115 per week, and all of the villas are gorgeous. Clickstay boasts a helpful and available customer services team and much more.

The Algarve, in Portugal, is one of Europe's, if not the world's, best beach destinations. The beaches are stunning and the people are lovely. The Algarve is super easy to get to, not just for Europeans, but also for Americans as it's right on the West side of Europe! 

Visiting the Algarve is a must do for anyone in love with beaches and Europe. But what are the top 5 things to see and do in the Algarve? Read on to find out!! 

1. Praia da Marinha

Photo credit: Wikipedia 

Arguably the Algarve's most iconic beach, this is certainly the one you will see the most when you type 'Algarve Beach' into google. Praia da Marinha literally translates as 'Navy Beach'. 

There are a fair few boats here, and if you get up early enough you can buy freshly caught seafood from them! I guarantee you've never had fresher or more delicious seafood! 

But Praia da Marinha isn't just iconic and full of fresh seafood, it's also one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. And not just by our standards. It was voted in the top 10(!) of beautiful beaches in Europe and in the top 100 in the entire world.

2. Ria Formosa

Photo credit: Wikipedia 

Ria Formosa is a set of little islands, not necessary unique in Europe, but certainly the only one we've ever been to. There are two main reasons to come here:

Firstly, if you love bird watching, this is the place for you. It's a stopping place for hundreds and hundreds of different types of birds during migration! 

The second reason to come here, is for the cute little bars, cafes and restaurants which run along the river line.

Personally, we recommend you combine the two, grab yourself a few Pastel de Natas and some cold beers, and sit back and watch the birds flock in! It's simply magical!

3. Praia da Rocha 

Copyright Travellingweasels.com

Though it's less iconic than Praia da Marinha, Praia da Rocha is nevertheless our favourite beach in the Algarve, why? Because we snapped our most successful Instagram photo here of course! 

If you're struggling to choose between Praia da Marinha and Praia da Rocha, don't worry, they're very near each other and can both be easily ticked off your bucket list in one day (as long as you promise to spend a leisurely and long amount of time at them another time)! 

Praia da Rocha literally translates to 'Rock Beach' and there really are some remarkable rocks there! Perfect for making some more unusual beach holiday snaps (for Instagram)!

4. Church of Sao Lourenco 

Photo credit: wikipedia

With Portugal being a predominately Roman Catholic country, it naturally has an abundance of beautiful churches and cathedrals, and the Algarve is no exception. By far our favourite is the Church of Sao Lourenco. 

The Church of Sao Lourenco may have an ordinary, (arguably boring) looking exterior, but don't let that deter you. The inside is simply magnificent! Photos just don't do it justice. This one has to be seen to be believed. 

5. Ilha da Barretta

Photo credit: wikipedia

Ilha da Barretta is awesome (known as Barreta Island in English - not to be confused with the rubbish film). Now we absolutely love the Algarve, but even we'll admit it can get a little touristy and crowded at times - Barreta Island is the perfect antidote to that. It's one of the most deserted places in the Algarve. There's a public ferry that runs here so it's very accessible, but still relatively 'undiscovered'.    

Other useful information:

Where to stay: Those of you who are already familiar with our travel blog will know that we love to House Sit. The good news is that there are always lots and lots of new Algarve House Sits advertised on our preferred House Sitting website: Trusted House Sitters.

The bad news is that if you are new to House Sitting, you might not be able to get an Algarve House Sit. House Sitting is competitive and *understandably* everyone wants to House Sit in the Algarve so competition is even higher than usual!

Don't despair though, another great option as to where to stay in the Algarve is to stay in a hotel. We highly recommend Expedia for a good place to stay in the Algarve. They are the world's largest travel company, they have a great choice and they have no change or cancel fees!

Thank you for reading our top 5 things to see and do in the Algarve! Have you been yourself? Is there anything we've missed off? Be sure to leave us a comment below!

If you haven't already, make sure to like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and like our Instagram photos! 

This post was written in association with Expedia, as always all opinions are our own. 

Wrap Up: How To Rent The Best Villas In The Algarve

All in all, I highly recommend renting a villa in Portugal, specifically the Algarve, if you would like a relaxing, rejuvenating and enjoyable break with your closest friends and family. Renting villas in Algarve is quick and easy with Clickstay and their abundance of choice. What do you think? Would you like a villa holiday in Algarve? Let me know! Also, here is a video we made about our travels to the Azores in Portugal -- maybe you'll find a villa there! Enjoy :)

P.S.: If you're interested in a way of travelling and getting accommodation cheaply, you might wanna check out house sitting. Trustedhousesitters.com was kind enough to provide us and our readers with a 10% discount, feel free to click on the link to use it :)

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ABOUTME

We overland. We eat plants and fungi. We live outside as much as possible. We are all connected. A female travel blogger overlanding and writing about ecotourism, ethical and sustainable travel, socially conscious travel and housesitting. An online travel magazine since 2015.