If you’re looking to escape the biting winter frost without losing all your Christmas spirit, the Algarve may just be the place for you. Boasting over 300 days of sunshine a year, the region is likely to provide at least a couple of sunny days over the festive season. However, with a nip in the air, you’ll still know it’s the season to be jolly, making Southern Portugal the perfect place to explore Christmas markets, delight in local festivities, and go for pleasant walks along the beach while you’re here.
Interested in finding out what else the Algarve has to offer at Christmas? Then read on!
Christmas in the Algarve: What to Expect
Though the Algarve is known as a summer beach destination, those who visit in winter are often pleasantly surprised by how much the region has to offer outside of peak season, with excellent sporting facilities, gorgeous nature walks, and picturesque mountain villages waiting to be explored. In fact, by all accounts, with maximum daytime temperatures of between 16 and 18 degrees in December, southern Portugal’s mild winter weather makes it an excellent location for some winter sun.
While winter in the Algarve is usually quiet, tourism picks up a bit around Christmas and New Year, especially in the larger towns. This means Christmas lights and markets, visits to Father Christmas, and, actually, any other Christmas events you may expect back home, as the high numbers of British and Irish expats have brought many traditions with them. There’s even a pantomime held in Lagoa… but what about local traditions?
Christmas Traditions in the Algarve
As is common throughout Portugal, Christmas in the Algarve is celebrated on the 24th of December, when families gather to eat their traditional salted cod and wait until midnight to open their presents from Father Christmas. Christmas Day itself is more comparable to British Boxing Day, spent recovering from the night before, so businesses often close and the streets will be quiet.
If you want to get involved yourself and are interested in sampling some of the traditional local cuisine, here are some of the top Christmas delicacies to look out for:
- Octopus
- Azevias: sweet pastries with a sweet potato and cinnamon filling sprinkled with sugar
- Bolo rei: a brioche-type cake topped with candied fruits
- Rabanadas: Portuguese French toast
- Filhós: fried sweet dough coated with sugar and cinnamon.
Beyond the food, one major tradition worth investigating in the Algarve is the nativity scenes set up in shopping centres and town squares, the largest of which is in Vila Real de Santo Antônio. Made up of 5,700 pieces, some of which are motorised, the set, which is hooked up to water and electricity, is spread over 240 square metres. Other nativities worth a visit, where real-life actors dress up and act out the birth of Jesus, can be found in several places, including Odeleite, Lagoa, and Portimão.
Christmas Markets in the Algarve
Then there are the Christmas Markets – the perfect way to spend a day or three exploring local handicrafts, drinking mulled wine, and getting into the Christmas spirit. You’ll find Christmas markets dotted across the Algarve, but the most notable are:
- Portimão Christmas Market and ice rink, featuring biscuit decorating and present wrapping workshops.
- Carvoeiro Christmas market, held on the square practically on the beach, where Christmas meets seaside.
- The Vila Vita Biergarten Christmas market, a traditional German Christmas market held in Porches, complete with German food, beer, and stalls.
- Lagoa Christmas market and Living Nativity, including cinema sessions, live music and theatre for kids, as well as a market with over 60 stalls.
- Monchique Christmas market, including a children’s carousel, ice rink, and market selling traditional crafts and regional foods, not to mention local medronho liqueur.
- Loulé Christmas Market, with its actors, rides, and stalls filling the city’s old town and lights twinkling over the castle.
- Vale de Lobo Christmas market, an indoor market held in one of the Algarve’s most prestigious luxury resorts.
You’ll be spoiled for choice of food, entertainment, and Christmassy activities, so make sure you book your trip to the Algarve for Christmas soon!
