Caldas de Monchique

Caldas de Monchique is a hollow in the Serra de Monchique where thermal water rises at around thirty-two degrees, used in Roman times and continuously since - João II came here in 1495 hoping the waters would help his illness and died at Alvor a few weeks later. The nineteenth century built it into a proper spa: a small hamlet of pastel buildings around a shaded square under enormous plane and eucalyptus trees, with a bottling plant, a bathhouse, hotels and a casino, all in a valley cool enough to be a relief from the Algarve coast below. The whole hamlet is effectively run as a single resort operation now, with treatments and pools ticketed, though the square, the trees and the streams are open to walk through. Monchique town above has the Fóia summit, the highest point in the Algarve, and the region's medronho spirit is distilled around here.

What you actually see

• The springs - thermal water at around thirty-two degrees, used since Roman times.
• The hamlet - pastel buildings around a shaded square under huge trees.
• The royal visit - João II's stay in 1495, weeks before his death.
• The setting - a cool wooded hollow above the Algarve heat.

When to go

March to June and September to November. Half a day. The hamlet is small and the spa needs booking for treatments.

Honest expectations

The whole hamlet is a single commercial resort - it is not a village with independent life. Treatments and pools are ticketed and not cheap. The 2018 fires burned much of the Monchique range and the damage is visible. The road up is winding.

Nearby

Monchique town and Fóia are above; Portimão and the coast are below.