Alte

Alte sits in the limestone Barrocal about twenty kilometres from the coast, and it markets itself as the most typical Algarve village, which is a claim every region makes but which here rests on something specific: it has water. Springs feed a stream that runs through and beside the village, with two fontes - the Fonte Grande and the Fonte Pequena - shaded by trees and set up with picnic areas and small waterfalls, and that water is why there is greenery in a landscape that is otherwise dry scrub. The village itself is white with the ornate chimneys the Algarve is known for, a sixteenth-century parish church with Manueline doorway and azulejos, narrow lanes and a poet's house museum. It is quiet, has a handful of restaurants, and gets coach visits on the inland Algarve circuit but nothing on the coastal scale.

What you actually see

• The springs - the Fonte Grande and Fonte Pequena feeding a stream through the village.
• The chimneys - the ornate Algarve chimney forms on the white houses.
• The church - a sixteenth-century building with a Manueline doorway and azulejos.
• The greenery - trees and water in a landscape that is otherwise dry scrub.

When to go

March to June for the countryside at its greenest; September to November also works. Half a day. Summer inland is hot and the stream can run low.

Honest expectations

The stream is thin or dry by late summer, which removes the main feature. Coach groups arrive on the inland circuit at midday. Facilities are limited to a few restaurants. Public transport is minimal - a car is needed.

Nearby

Rocha da Pena and Fonte Benémola are elsewhere in the Barrocal; Salir is east.