Portugal is without a doubt one of the most underrated countries in Europe. We fell in love with the country, food, wine and scenery when we were on our Campervan holiday there a few years ago. Here are five ultimate campervan destinations in Portugal to add to your bucket list!
Fuseta
Fuseta is a really cute, authentic Portuguese fishing village in the Eastern Algarve. It’s a popular place for free camping and we spent a night here in the most perfect spot by the river where it meets the sea.
Fuseta has a wonderful, relaxed vibe with colourful fishing boats, friendly fishermen and cute little fishing huts lining the river. We had the best meal of our time in Portugal in Fuseta, with the ‘fish of the day’, salad, bread and beer coming to only €16!
Fuseta treated us to a beautiful sunset, a peaceful night by the sea and a magnificent sunrise! It’s an ideal destination to park your campervan for the night.
Senhora da Rocha
Senhora da Rocha boasts two beautiful beaches, one a smaller cove with dramatic cliffs and breathtakingly beautiful waters and the larger of the two, a long, unspoilt sandy beach, again with the dramatic cliffs that the Algarve is so famous for.
We parked our campervan at the top of the cliffs, close to the church and fell asleep to the sound of the waves crashing into the cliffs below us.There wasn’t a single other car or person around and after dark until mid morning we had the whole place to ourselves which truly felt like a dream!
Monte Clerigo
Located in the Alentejo National Park is the sleepy little surf town of Monte Clerigo. We has the first rain of the trip in Monte Clerigo so after a stroll along the beach we got cosy in our campervan, Dan cooked a delicious dinner and we fell asleep to the sound of lashing rain and crashing waves which was beyond perfect.
We had the best sleep we’ve had so far on our own private beach on Portugal’s west coast without a single other soul around.
Lagos
Lagos lies on the banks of the Rio Bensafrim and has impressive 16th century walls which enclose the beautiful, charming old town which has cobblestoned streets, beautiful plazas, an impressive fort, charming tiny streets and picturesque churches along with bars and restaurants with street side dining.
Lagos has something for everyone including a busy nightlife, every activity under the sun, beautiful weather, excellent restaurants and some of Europe’s most beautiful beaches. You’ll stroll down wooden steps onto the beautiful, sandy beaches and coves with majestic limestone cliffs and formations which dominate postcards and travel brochures for Portugal.
Lagos is more of a city, so it’s a good opportunity to stay in a campsite with your campervan, hook up to electricity and enjoy a proper shower! The campsites are also really well located with all the main sites in walking distance.
Cacela Velha
Cacela Velha is a gorgeous UNESCO world heritage protected village less than 30km from the Spanish border. We parked the campervan and set off to explore the gorgeous cobblestoned village which had whitewashed houses that had beautiful colourful doors, windows and edging, it reminded me of Paraty, a Portuguese colonial town in Brazil.
Cacela is tiny and has a few restaurants, houses, a beautiful church and the remains of a fortress which boasts the most stunning views across the Rio Formosa Nature Reserve and out to the beaches and ocean. We’d highly recommend a visit to Cacela if you are already in this Eastern part of the Algarve.
Do you love campervanning too?
Hopefully these campervan destinations in Portugal will help you to plan your next holiday! You may end up loving campervanning so much that you decide to buy one so you can take it on holidays everywhere! You’ll need to make sure you’re using a storage unit to keep it safe and stored when not on holidays!
This post was written in collaboration with Self Store.
All words are our own.
