Olhao, Portugal - May 2008
Rosie

The main fishing port of the Algarve, Olhao is a bustling little town of interesting architecture and pretty, cobbled back streets.
It got it’s township status in the 17th century after 17 local fishermen successfully crossed the Atlantic Ocean in 1808 in the fishing boat “Bom Sucesso” (Good Success) without charts. They made this perilous voyage in order to inform the exiled king of Portugal, Dom João IV, that he could return to his country as the invading French armies had been defeated.
In 1882 the first canning factory was established here for tuna and Sardines. This was the first in Portugal and it wasn’t long before canning became the leading industry of the Algarve.-

Head down to the water front in Olhao and you will find the main harbour for the local fishing boats, an interesting place to visit even if you’re not a fish lover.
Keep on walking along the front towards the town proper and you will come across the ferry terminal for the islands of Armona and Farol. From here you will be able to see the indoor markets, two large red brick buildings with turrets at each corner that are open every morning selling meat, vegetables and an interesting array of locally caught fish.

On the road side of the market there are also public toilets where, it seems, to pay is optional.
On Saturday mornings the indoor market is joined with an outdoor farmers market and the whole place becomes alive with stalls selling locally grown vegetables, dried beans and pulses and home made cakes. You might even find the occasional stall selling live chickens and bantams plus a few small caged birds for pets.

A little further along the front is a small concrete park which boasts a free wi-fi zone, unfortunately it is only practical to use this facility in the evening after the sun goes down unless you have a sun screen on your lap top.
This park is also the centre for local festivities on the national holidays.

Along the way you will pass many seafood restaurants and cafes not forgetting a good kebab shop where, for euros 3.50, you can tuck into a spiced chicken (I think it was chicken) pita, stuffed with fresh salad and a range of sauces from garlic mayo to a piquant mild chilli mayo.

In the narrow back streets there are many small shops, so far we have found two places for surfing the internet, one being a municipal run place on Travessa do Gailbeu, where you can get 30 minutes surf time for free. The draw back here is that they are quite rigid. You cannot connect a memory stick directly to the computer. It is connected to the main computer and they will transfer the details that you want- which means that you can’t save anything either. Their opening hours are Mon-Fri 10:00 - 13:00 and 15:00 - 18:00, Sat 10:00 - 15:00.

Just around the corner though on Rua Comerico we found a little Indian shop selling computer accessories and three computers upstairs. They were very accommodating and basically just left us alone to do what we wanted, even allowing us to connect up our own laptop which the municipal one wouldn’t do. We’ve never seen anyone else use the place and they’ve never yet charged us their full rate of 1.50 euro an hour. Again they are closed for lunch from 13:00 - 15:00.
When you come out of the Computer shop turn right and a few doors down you will find a doorway to an interesting little cafe called Cafe Aromas. I mention this because it has an interesting almost cave like interior, pleasant staff and is nicely shaded from the heat of the day.

There is a supermarket, Pingo Doce, just off the back streets opposite the ferry terminal. It has a good selection of produce but if you want something a little more upmarket (the Portuguese version of Sainsburys) walk inland, around the edge of the fishing port and you will see a sign for Intermarche on the left. Also if you keep on walking past the fishing port towards the petrol station you will find a cheap supermarket, Mini Price, just behind, about a 10-15 minute walk from the ferry terminal. This walk will also take you past some pretty remarkable graffiti.

All in all Olhao is a pleasant place for a visit, I cannot comment on the night life as our last ferry back to Armona leaves at 7.30pm and the Rio taxis are expensive if there is just the two of you but the main drawback I would say for most holiday makers is the lack of a beach - but hey, just a 10 minute ferry ride away and you have all the sand you could want.