Olhão is the Algarve's main fishing port. It looks pretty tatty from the main road, but it is much more interesting once you’ve got into it and reached the waterfront. Follow the signs to the port if you want to see a colourful array of working boats.

The municipal market (mercado) has an exceptional variety of seafood for sale throughout the year. It is situated in a pair of weird-looking brick red buildings on the waterfront boulevard where you will see Olhão life at its busiest and sweatiest - particularly on Saturday mornings. There are ferries here to the sand-spit islands of Armona and Culatra. Both have chalet accommodation – and are absolutely wonderful: nature at its wildest. No cars, no bars – and definitely no Karaoke! A perfect place also for wind and kite surfing enthusiasts.

Signposted on the EN125 just outside Olhão, Quinta do Marim is the state-run field-study centre of the Ria Formosa Natural Park, an extensive wetland area of sandy islands, salt-pans and marshes important to migrating as well as wintering and breeding birds.

As you would expect, Olhão has many very good yet inexpensive seafood restaurants.

The borough spans only 130.9 kms and numbers under 41,000 inhabitants. There are five freguesias (parishes): Fuseta, Moncarapacho, Quelfes, Olhão and Pechão. Fuseta is very popular with holidaymakers – and like Olhão on a smaller scale. Moncarapacho is a few kilometres inland, in the heart of a well-watered and fertile area producing citrus and other fruits. There is a cultural gem here: the Santo Cristo Church and a small two-storey museum next door. The tiles covering most of the church are 17th century. They are unusual in that they are geometrically patterned in the Arab style rather than depicting biblical scenes, and they have bright yellow colouration in addition to the normal blue and white. The most interesting of three 17th century carved wooden figures is a rare example of a sitting Christ. Next door is a treasure trove of artefacts ranging from the Stone Age through Roman, Visigoth and Moorish times to a remarkable display of 18th century nativity figurines. Everything in the museum was collected by a local priest.