Heading out West

The gentle Algarve coast lends itself to calm holidays in the sun, sipping G&T, not forgetting the lemon, and watching the sun go down on a peaceful seascape. Head out west though and it's a slightly different matter.

The West coast is a wild and woolly place. Wild because of the wind - it blows constantly, straight off the Atlantic and unhindered by any land mass. Consequently, the waves are high, the trees bend in a prevailing wind stream and the locals huddle behind windbreaks.

It's dramatic, beautiful and a bit scary, particularly when the waves lash the coastline, eroding the soft rock and smashing their way under cliffs to cause them to tumble to the beach below. This brings with it the threat of coastal dwellings falling into the sea - something that is becoming more commonplace around the world.

There's not much in the south-west corner of Portugal other than this windy, wave-y, wild environment and, although the sun is warm, the constant airflow can leave you feeling chilled, even on a sunny day.

Our trek out to Aljezur confirmed all of this. The town itself is rather drab and has a run-down feel to it, almost as though its inhabitants had given up. There are many half-completed villas lining the local Urbanizaçäo and little sign that they will ever be finished. Their builders have probably gone into liquidation and so they'll stand as a sorry testament to the property bubble that affected much of Portugal, Spain and beyond.

The only sign of life in Aljezur was the gleaming Intermarche supermarket which dominates the town, rather like a cathedral to consumerism. We bought a couple of good sandwiches here, but then hurried off back to Praia do Monte Clérigo to watch the waves beat the hamlet into submission as we chomped our way through tuna and egg.

Our mission had been to check out a villa to rent in the summer, but ultimately, we came away reluctantly deciding that it was just a bit too lively and a bit too dead for our team of happy campers. Sounds like a contradiction? If you visit this beautifully wild area, you'll know what I mean.