Day 9. Algarve – final with the ocean

The closer I got to the Algarve, the more my mood changed. There is more sun, more ocean, rocky shores, small beaches and the very views that sometimes make photographs of Portugal seem too beautiful to be real.

I drove along the coast, turned off several times to beaches and observation decks, and once again disrupted my own schedule. However, by this point, I had already completely realized that the graph exists solely in order to beautifully lie in the notes of the phone.

In the evening, I sat by the ocean and watched the sunset. And for the first time in the whole trip, I didn't want to go anywhere else, although before that I was constantly thinking about the next point.

What I realized after a trip all over Portugal

When I was planning this trip, it seemed to me that the main goal was to see as much as possible. In the end, it turned out a little differently: I saw a lot, but it turned out to be much more important that I learned not to rush between these places.

Portugal is perfect for car travel precisely because it is not only the major cities and famous sights that are interesting here. Sometimes the most beautiful place turns out to be where you weren't going to stay at all, and the most pleasant evening happens in a small town whose name you first saw on a road sign in the morning.

During this trip, I drove thousands of kilometers, made mistakes on the road several times, took too many photos, got tired, got back behind the wheel, and each time I found a new reason to say, "Okay, let's stop here for another five minutes." Of course, those five minutes were almost never five minutes, but they were exactly what made up my journey.

And if you ask me if it was worth driving across Portugal, I won't even think about it. It was worth it. Because Lisbon and Porto can be viewed separately, the Algarve can be seen in a few days, but it's much easier to feel the whole country – from the green north to the ocean south – when you have a car, a free road and at least a small amount of time.

The rocky coast of the Algarve

And now I know one thing for sure: if I ever find myself in Portugal again, I won't say to myself, "Well, we definitely won't stop here." Because after this trip, I know perfectly well how such a phrase ends.