Accessibility guide to the Algarve
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Some general points first. The Portuguese have a much more informal approach to managing disability & conforming to regulations relating to disability. You will not find “disabled friendly” restaurants, for instance. What you will find are people very willing to enable a wheelchair user to be able to access the premises. This will often mean that a few waiters will just lift wheelchair & user & transport them to where they wish to go. Similarly for shops, beaches etc.
Where infrastructure has been altered it is often not thought through very well. A few years ago it is unlikely that the local authorities in Portugal could even spell “disabled access”. To their credit they have committed considerable effort & expense towards improving the situation however the best that can be said currently is that the efforts are patchy, rarely “joined up” & leave a lot of scope for improvement! All this means that you will not find perfection, & some degree of compromise will be necessary wherever you go.
To be candid we are also learning all the time. We have (as you will see) made great strides at the villa to improve disabled access & will continue to do so. We are now starting to compile briefing notes to advise our guests what they might expect in the resorts nearby. This is going to take time & so these pages are just a start. We hope that our disabled guests will help us by feeding back both good & bad in their experiences so that we can progressively fill out these pages in the same way as we have the main briefing notes. An email or some photos of what you’ve learned will always be very welcome.
Listed below are the places we have visited with our disability “hats” on & what we learned there. They are listed east to west across the Western Algarve.
Where infrastructure has been altered it is often not thought through very well. A few years ago it is unlikely that the local authorities in Portugal could even spell “disabled access”. To their credit they have committed considerable effort & expense towards improving the situation however the best that can be said currently is that the efforts are patchy, rarely “joined up” & leave a lot of scope for improvement! All this means that you will not find perfection, & some degree of compromise will be necessary wherever you go.
To be candid we are also learning all the time. We have (as you will see) made great strides at the villa to improve disabled access & will continue to do so. We are now starting to compile briefing notes to advise our guests what they might expect in the resorts nearby. This is going to take time & so these pages are just a start. We hope that our disabled guests will help us by feeding back both good & bad in their experiences so that we can progressively fill out these pages in the same way as we have the main briefing notes. An email or some photos of what you’ve learned will always be very welcome.
Listed below are the places we have visited with our disability “hats” on & what we learned there. They are listed east to west across the Western Algarve.
These famous cliffs appear on the front of virtually every guidebook of the Algarve. (Directions – drive east along EN125 past Lagoa. At International School – green lawns & palms on LHS, turn right signed Caramujeira, Marinha Benegil. Follow signs to Marinha until you reach a car park. The cliffs themselves are not “accessible” but there is a wonderful picnic area at the top of the cliffs(see pic) which is easy to reach by wheelchair. Note – there are no facilities here at all (loos, cafes, shops)
Carvoeiro With a steep approach, no close parking & tiny beach we do not recommend you try Carvoeiro. Ferragudo Whilst the sea front & village are accessible, the beaches absolutely aren’t. |
We do not include Praia da Rocha in our main “Places to visit” guide as it is a resort with dozens of apartment blocks & we think frankly that there are better places to visit, even though the beach “beach of rocks” is quite spectacular. This beach is totally inaccessible for wheelchair users, but, in compensation, there is another beach at Praia da Rocha which is at the eastern end of the stretch of coast below Portimao. Follow Marina signs then when you get near you will see “Praia Accessivel” signs. There are only a couple of disabled parking bays but there is a drop off turnround zone where you can offload passengers then find somewhere it park.
The beach itself is huge & so should never get overcrowded. Significantly there is a network of boardwalks spanning large areas of the beach to improve access. Along the back of the beach there are lots of bar restaurants (visible in top pic) & these share public loos which include large properly designed disabled facilities.
Overall we would say this is one of the better disabled beaches we’ve seen in the Algarve – if you can put up with the package tour folks
The beach itself is huge & so should never get overcrowded. Significantly there is a network of boardwalks spanning large areas of the beach to improve access. Along the back of the beach there are lots of bar restaurants (visible in top pic) & these share public loos which include large properly designed disabled facilities.
Overall we would say this is one of the better disabled beaches we’ve seen in the Algarve – if you can put up with the package tour folks
Alvor has become the real hero for leading the way in disabled access! To reach the beaches at Alvor, follow the signs for “Praia”. When you get to about 400m from the beach car park you will see this type of sign – encouraging!
The car park looks like a forest of palm trees at first – drive right to the end – you will see a P sign with a small wheelchair motif. There are a number disabled parking slots here but, because there is no windscreen sticker system or penalties for misuse, many Portuguese can’t resist the opportunity for easy parking.
A few metres from the parking a board proudly announces the opening of the accessible beach of Alvor June 2005. Nearby you will find a boardwalk running from the car park to the top of the beach. There are in fact several of these at intervals along the beach. It was not however clear what you were expected to do then…….
Guest comment: Alvor – as well as the disabled parking and access to the beach at Alvor there is an amazing 4km or so Boardwalk across the lagoon. Best to park at the Marina and the Boardwalk starts from there. Also from Marina is a Promenade that leads towards the town centre and beyond, all flat. It passes numerous accessible restaurants and there are lots of boats to see!
The car park looks like a forest of palm trees at first – drive right to the end – you will see a P sign with a small wheelchair motif. There are a number disabled parking slots here but, because there is no windscreen sticker system or penalties for misuse, many Portuguese can’t resist the opportunity for easy parking.
A few metres from the parking a board proudly announces the opening of the accessible beach of Alvor June 2005. Nearby you will find a boardwalk running from the car park to the top of the beach. There are in fact several of these at intervals along the beach. It was not however clear what you were expected to do then…….
Guest comment: Alvor – as well as the disabled parking and access to the beach at Alvor there is an amazing 4km or so Boardwalk across the lagoon. Best to park at the Marina and the Boardwalk starts from there. Also from Marina is a Promenade that leads towards the town centre and beyond, all flat. It passes numerous accessible restaurants and there are lots of boats to see!
2016 update The above information all relates to the beach & lagoon to the west of Alvor. However, at time of writing (May 2016) a huge new boardwalk is almost complete stretching along most of the eastern section of the beach. with drop down ramps to the beach & numerous cafes & sunbed/sunshade areas on the beach this is an exciting new development that brings well developed beach facilities within the accessible range of a wheelchair user – well done Alvor! In the map here the car park is centre screen. you can just see the board walks east of the carpark, but none to the west, where all the beach facilities are! This addition gives wheelchair access most of the way westwards to Praia dos Três Irmãos |
The beach at Alvor is wonderful – 2 miles of level golden sands but the sand is very soft – but no chance of getting a wheelchair over it.
By chance however we met a local who told us that during the summer there was an accessibility centre (see next slide) with people on hand to assist & with a “beach buggy” to help people into the sea. (This tent is the accessibility centre – it was being used for something else when we photographed it here.) |
Also “accessible” are beach cafes, again at intervals which do have disabled toilets (they were locked on the day we visited – get the key from the bar) – you might need to get into training for the ascent however (see pic)!
You will find that the beach at Alvor is a fair distance from the town centre & it’s promenade. The promenade is lovely & has these cafes at intervals along its length – beware however, none of the loos are at all accessible & we did not see any public loos in the vicinity |
Lagos
In our main briefing notes we suggest parking at the Lagos marina & walking across the river bridge to the town centre. The route is reasonably doable for wheelchair users albeit about 1/2mile each way. There are loos in the marina at the outset & cafe bars along the marina front. Shown here is the bridge linking the town to the marina – a steepish push up the slopes but otherwise no steps along the entire route. |
Praia Da Luz
Just west of Lagos, Praia da Luz is a buzzy resort with a smallish beach & nice promenade (the promenade is surfaced with calcada – small rectangles of stone – which might be bumpy for wheelchair users. The best place to park is at the eastern end of the promenade (see Rua da Varzea on the map here. You will find the well marked disabled parking shown in the photo.
Some effort has been made with a small network of board walks around the near beach area however there is still a shortfall between the edge of the boardwalk, & the area of sunbeds/shades
The main cafe/bar/restaurant is accessible via ramps & they have a full sized disabled public toilet. Overall – an effort has been made but we suggest getting there early (especially in peak weeks) as the parking near the beach will go very quickly.
Just west of Lagos, Praia da Luz is a buzzy resort with a smallish beach & nice promenade (the promenade is surfaced with calcada – small rectangles of stone – which might be bumpy for wheelchair users. The best place to park is at the eastern end of the promenade (see Rua da Varzea on the map here. You will find the well marked disabled parking shown in the photo.
Some effort has been made with a small network of board walks around the near beach area however there is still a shortfall between the edge of the boardwalk, & the area of sunbeds/shades
The main cafe/bar/restaurant is accessible via ramps & they have a full sized disabled public toilet. Overall – an effort has been made but we suggest getting there early (especially in peak weeks) as the parking near the beach will go very quickly.
Burgau
The next town along the coast from Praia da Luz, accessibility is really difficult & although Burgau is a pretty place, we would say its just too difficult. The main problem is that it is a very steep hill down to the beach through the town over cobbles. Even if you manage this then the ramp shown is the only access onto the beach – fine if you can drive a car right down but we suspect that Burgau becomes a complete zoo during peak months (single narrow street up/down is the only access) so best go somewhere else! |
Salema
Is a much better bet than Burgau. Similar in being still an active fishing village it scores on several fronts. Firstly there is a lot more parking by the sea front all of which is level. There are some disabled slots but they are poorly marked & will probably be illegally parked in however any parking in this area is fine. There are two rampways down to the beach both shown in photos. They are reasonably sloped & the 2nd one shown (see the concrete slope in the photo below) is the old slipway for the fishing boats.
At the time of writing (4/09) new public loos were under construction in the meantime however there is one “accessible loo” (not inspected – locked until end April!) underneath the Atlantico restaurant bar. Altenatively the hotel Salema has a ramped entrance & so called accessible loos (handrails etc) but are very cramped for proper wheelchair access)
Is a much better bet than Burgau. Similar in being still an active fishing village it scores on several fronts. Firstly there is a lot more parking by the sea front all of which is level. There are some disabled slots but they are poorly marked & will probably be illegally parked in however any parking in this area is fine. There are two rampways down to the beach both shown in photos. They are reasonably sloped & the 2nd one shown (see the concrete slope in the photo below) is the old slipway for the fishing boats.
At the time of writing (4/09) new public loos were under construction in the meantime however there is one “accessible loo” (not inspected – locked until end April!) underneath the Atlantico restaurant bar. Altenatively the hotel Salema has a ramped entrance & so called accessible loos (handrails etc) but are very cramped for proper wheelchair access)
Sagres
Guest comment:
Sagres – long paved wheelchair walk. Go first to Cabo San Vincente which has good disabled facilities –a ramp down to a disabled loo and also in to the souvenir shop. Then return to Sagres and park at the Fort (there is a disabled space on the road back down from the Fort at the top of the public parking area). Inside the Fort there is a newly paved “Ponta de Sangres Panoramic Walk” maybe 3 or 4 km long right around the headland with views back across to the lighthouse. For lunch afterwards visit “A Casinha” on Rua de Sao Vincente – after leaving the Fort turn right at first roundabout and it is on the left just beyond a small supermarket. Flat access, a good disabled loo and also a disabled parking space in the small courtyard!
Guest comment:
Sagres – long paved wheelchair walk. Go first to Cabo San Vincente which has good disabled facilities –a ramp down to a disabled loo and also in to the souvenir shop. Then return to Sagres and park at the Fort (there is a disabled space on the road back down from the Fort at the top of the public parking area). Inside the Fort there is a newly paved “Ponta de Sangres Panoramic Walk” maybe 3 or 4 km long right around the headland with views back across to the lighthouse. For lunch afterwards visit “A Casinha” on Rua de Sao Vincente – after leaving the Fort turn right at first roundabout and it is on the left just beyond a small supermarket. Flat access, a good disabled loo and also a disabled parking space in the small courtyard!
Vila Do Bispo There are two further signposted beaches on the west coast, both reached via Vila do Bispo
Only Colegio beach has any wheelchair access at all – as far as the cafe you can see in the picture.
However even this access is not without problems – here is the ramp down to the lower terrace!
Only Colegio beach has any wheelchair access at all – as far as the cafe you can see in the picture.
However even this access is not without problems – here is the ramp down to the lower terrace!