The Algarve was invented in Praia da Rocha and that is the landscape that most of us associate with the region. The high cliffs and ocean-battered obelisks stand out from the south-facing beach, cosseting the sand from the northerly breezes all year round.
Here it is warm. Always warm. In summer it bakes. The well-to-do Portuguese who came to stay in the two local hotels at the turn of the 20th-century loved it. The holiday-makers of the 1960s loved it too.
The legacy of those less enlightened times is a line of white pastiche high-rise, trowelled on to the cliff-top without a care in the world for aesthetics.
The box apartments on the cliff-tops, some as high as the cliffs themselves, have lost their visual charm. Praia doesn't.
The punters don't care. They keep coming. The 19 hotels in the resort are filled for the peak season and the coachloads from Faro Airport come trundling through each week.
Thanks to the ongoing tourism boom - 12 million visitors in all last year and 450,000 from the island of Ireland - Praia is no longer the only show in town. Since the early 1990s the action has moved east and west.
It has moved east to the modern purpose-built resort of Vilamoura and out beyond Faro, where the beaches are interspersed with mud flats and sandbanks and the resorts are fewer in number and relatively low key.
But mainly it has moved west, conquering the fishing villages and lobster havens one by one to the most westerly point on the mainland, Cape St Vincent.
There are some places where excess has been avoided. The narrow streets of the old village of Alvor, a fishing village generally less commercialised than many other resorts in the region, are lined with traditional fishermen's cottages alongside a multitude of bars and restaurants.
Better still, if you hire and drive to the cape you can find huge deserted beaches without a high-rise in sight, Cordoama, Beliche and the spectacular Amado Costa De St Vincent. And resort excursions can take you inland to the Monchique Mountains, Silves Castle and 12th-century cathedral plus high mountain pass
Historical Lagos
Around the town of Lagos you get a feel for history, the golden age before the 1755 earthquake when Portugal was centre of an empire. Lagos was the former centre of the slave trade, where Henry the Navigator's mariners set sail for West Africa on their voyages of discovery.
The main sight is a 17th-century fort (now a museum), offering superb views of the town's natural harbour. The pedestrianised town centre is well provided with shops and restaurants and there are boat trips to nearby grottos and beaches.
Rows of yachts, not slave ships, now fill the Lagos harbour behind the palm-lined seafront. And just when you expect it least, you meet a Kerryman at the helm.
Derry Jones came to the Algarve because of the sun. His company Southwest Charters have put a huge investment into the largest speedboats on the continent and will bring you chasing dolphins for €30.
He attributes the charm of the Algarve to the collision of culture you still find in the personality of the landscape, and the personality of the people.
Spaniards, passing fishermen, and even Kerrymen have stopped by. You find the evidence in the music, the sad Fado songs that are not unlike sean-nós, and the food.
Watersports are one of the main attractions around here. Swimming, snorkelling, water-skiing, sailing and windsurfing are all widely available. For information on diving, contact the Portuguese Federation for Underwater Activities on www.fpas.pt.
Golfers paradise
The Algarve is also home to numerous world-class golf courses. Farmers tired of scratching a living out of sheep and olives have sold out to multi-million euro golf courses and half a dozen new ones are opening each year. The suite of courses around Vilamoura are famous but here too you notice a westward lunge.
Álamo Golf Club has opened a new 18-hole course to augment its existing 18 holes. It is beautifully located and blends in nicely with the local environment; hilly, with narrow tight fairways that make it difficult to negotiate. More for the accurate golfer than the long hitter.
Balmeras Golf Club is very beautifully situated overlooking the Atlantic, with very mature fairways and almost links-like conditions, particularly for the first nine holes. It is long off the back stakes and offers up quite a challenge.
Everywhere there is a resort, there are a dozen golf courses feeding off it.
The Balaia golf village in Albufeira has an expansive course and great catering. Vilamoura, a farm turned billion-dollar complex, has six of the best courses on the mainland, and an amazing set of Roman remains.
* Faro Airport is the major charter gateway into the Algrave. In high season there are 35 chartered fights from Ireland from all the main tour operators including Budget, Falcon, Panorama, Sunworld and 28 scheduled flights, including Aer Lingus and Ryanair from Dublin and Flybe from Belfast.
* Hotel Pestana Alvor Praia is a five-star resort with an enormous outdoor pool and great sea views. The beach has its own unique characteristic, small beer huts on the sand which bring a poolside bar experience to the edge of the ocean. +351-282400900, www.pestana.com or email alvorpraia@pestana.com
* Southwest Charters, run by Tralee-born Derry Jones, organise dolphin watching, sightseeing trips and yacht trips from the Marina of Lagos, stopping briefly at key points of interest along the coast. Prices €30 for a great trip. www.southwestcharters.com or email info@southwestcharters.com
* The Algarve Casino in Praia is an upmarket offering with good beachfront location and wide range of facilities, but rather staid decor. Avoid the show, an endless series of lip-synchs and costume changes, but visit the small blackjack room to see some uniquely Portuguese gambling games, not found outside the country.
