A slow drive through Portugal on the roads less travelled

By the time we had packed up and left Punta Umbría it had turned 1 o’clock.  So, we took a slow drive west into Portugal and 40miles (64kms) later we were just over the border into Portugal at a little village called Castro Marim. We even gained an hour, as we crossed over a time zone – same as the UK!

We plan to stay off toll roads whilst in Portugal and use more scenic, country roads, but Portugal are quite crafty in that they don’t have toll booths.  So, you need to make sure once you enter the country you stop to either buy a ticket that lasts so many days/weeks/months or submit your credit card details and then every time you use toll roads the amount will be deducted from your card.  Apparently, a lot of tourists get caught out with this and end up paying a hefty fine when leaving the country – so beware!

The Aire at Castro Marim (N37.22037 W7.44463) takes about 20 motorhomes and is free but you need to buy tokens for water.  We were fully topped up, so we were okay.

The Aire was busy and all the motorhomes were on top of one another, so we drove just around the corner and parked up in the shadow of the castle. 

It’s only a short walk up to the 13^th century castle and costs €1.10 to get in.  There is a small museum housing some torture instruments and although mostly replicas were pretty gruesome and didn’t appeal to either of us.  The castle is massive but part from the museum there isn’t a lot to see.  You can walk around the walls and get some good views of the bridge spaning the Rio Guadiana that we had just driven across, linking Spain and Portugal.

And views of a smaller castle at the other end of the village.

but to me the most appealing part was the lovely wild flowers, especially the poppies, growing all over the grounds of the castle.

Leaving Castro Marim we headed 27 miles further along the Algarve to a little fishing village, Fuseta.

Mel and I were here last February when we drove along the Algarve, and spotted a lovely fish restaurant where they barbecue all the fish outside.  We had already eaten so we never went in; however, a few weeks later Mel and Adam tried it out when they dropped me off at the airport at Faro when I flew out to America to see my sister.  They both haven’t stopped raving about how good it was ever since, so, it was inevitable that Mel and I would return and have lunch here.  Normally, we would opt for sardines on a barbecue but it is a bit early for them yet, so we chose a Turbot – and boy was it good!

Our barbecued Turbot!

So many fresh fish to choose from

Now the roads in Portugal are pretty bad and the N222, the road we took from Castro Marim to Fuseta, has many potholes.  In a motorhome you need to make sure everything is packed away tightly or strapped down, to stop it rattling or breaking.  However, the bumps poor Sonny (the motorhome) endured on this road had everything in his cupboards jumping about and even rearranging itself!!

The Algarve is very popular with motorhomes and they seem to outnumber the cars.  For those who aren’t aware, motorhomers like to let on to one another by raising their hand – a bit like an Indian saying ‘How’!  Not sure why or where it originated from, but to be honest after you have done it a dozen times in the space of 2 minutes it gets beyond a joke.  So, we decided to head along the Algarve no more and head inland.  Leaving Fuseta we headed back a few kilometres towards Tavira before taking a lovely scenic road (N397) that cut through the hills. 

It is definitely a ‘road less travelled’, we didn’t see one motorhome and only a handful of vehicles the whole of the route.  It was a very pretty route, along a road with no markings but not a pothole in sight! About 20 miles later we arrived at a little hamlet called Bentos, which only has 5 houses – with no shops, cafés and no phone/WiFi signal.

We parked up at a little picnic spot on the Rive Odeleite (N37.33680 W7.69033).  The picnic area was built in 2005 with EU funding and has water and an area to barbecue.

However, like most things that have been constructed in Portugal (and Spain) over the last 10/13 years they haven’t been completed. There are electric boxes that have never been connected and sewerage pipes and water in place ready for a toilet being built but not completed, but at least that provided a facility for us to dump our grey waste.

It was so peaceful, all you could see/hear were a few birds, mostly swifts nesting under the bridge, and some frogs/toads in the river.

Over the course of the 2 days we stayed here I think we met all the villagers as they came down to the river – 2 farmers, a bee keeper, a goat herder and a shepherd.  We just communicated with waves and smiles as they went passed the motorhome – a very friendly bunch.

We have never seen a breed like this with their big horns

Our 2 days here were spent relaxing, collecting oranges to squeeze for orange juice, paddling in the river and skimming stones – never let it be said we don’t know how to have fun!

The oranges were lovely and sweet and juicy!

Mel enjoying a paddle in the river, the water was so warm.

When we stay on a ‘free’ place provided by the town we like to give something back by buying something but here there was nothing to buy and not only that we took some of their oranges for free as well, we felt quite guilty - for a short while anyway!

The Aire was so quiet and relaxing, and I think we could have stayed longer as we were well stocked up on fresh provisions,but we made a decision to head a little further north to Alcoutim, a short distance of 25 miles (40kms). Temperatures were reaching 26°C, so we didn’t want to go far.   The route took us cross country on winding, unmarked roads (the M506/M508) – roads on the SatNav but not on our paper map!  It was a beautiful drive, and we didn’t see one car or motorhome.

The Aire at Alcoutim (N37.46807 W7.47100) looks like it was started a few years ago but never completed, so it is basically a car park but it is nice and peaceful.  There was another one the other end of town, but it was busy and noisy, so we preferred to come here, where we were joined by a French motorhomer.

The little town sits on the river Guadiana, and a couple of hundred metres across the other side sits Sanlúcar de Guadiana, in Spain - a short ferry ride away. So close, yet strange to think that it is on a different time zone to Portugal.  The white statue depicts a smuggler.  Smuggling was a way of life for many years for the people of Alcoutim, with a lot of trading with the people of Sanlúcar.

The old Muslim origin castle dominates the town.  It’s not as big as the one at Castro Marim but has a museum with archeologic finds over the centuries and lovely views across the town, river and Sanlúcar (Spain).

Tiled paintings depicting the daily activities of village life

The village has about 5/6 bars, cafes, and restaurants and one little grocery shop, which was closed.  Given that shops don’t open on Sundays in Portugal, we needed to restock.  So, we took the ferry across to Sanlúcar as Google told us there was a mini supermarket that would be open.

The ferry across the river Guadiana

However, when we got there it was closed despite the times on the door saying it should be open – ahhhh!  We had a quick walk around the town.  It’s smaller than Alcoutim, but nothing was open.  It was like a ghost town and we only saw 2 people.

View across to Alcoutim from Sanlúcar de Guadina

 So, 20 minutes later it was back on the ferry to the otherside, enjoying a nice cold glass of white wine overlooking the river.  We had enough food to last us, but decided we were going to eat our for the next couple of days - that's what I call a good result!

Sally x