Olhos de Agua Travel Guide

Olhos de Agua Travel Guide

Olhos de Agua is located at the southern end of Portugal and is where people once thought the world came to an end. If you are going to visit the Olhos de Agua area, here are some helpful travel guide tips to help make your stay an enjoyable one.

Taste the Local Delicacies

Eating out is a pleasurable and inexpensive experience. Portuguese food is fresh and wholesome. There are many regional specialties that are derived from local traditions and ingredients. For example, some of the dishes to try out:

• Caldo Verde: potato soup with sausage and shredded cabbage
• Sardinha Assada: sardines grilled over charcoal
• Caldeirada de Peixe: fish, shellfish, potatoes, tomatoes and onions stewed together
• Bacalhau: salted cod steak with onions, potatoes, and parsley
• Frango no Churrasco Piri-Piri: grilled chicken in a hot spicy sauce

Try the Wines

By far the most popular drink in Portugal is wine. Perhaps the most famous Portuguese wine is Port. The Portuguese prefer the white port rather than the tawny sweet red port as an aperitif.  The Portuguese were not satisfied with the three normal shades (white, ruby, and tawny) of Port, so they added a fourth shade called ”Verde”.  Verde describes the immaturity of the wine and not its color.

Portugal has a reputation for producing excellent grapes along with good local wines, particularly those from Lagoa and Lagos. Among the Portuguese wines you should try are:

• Vinho Branco – White Wine
• Vinho da Casa – House wine
• Vinho Claret – Light red wine
• Vinho Doce – which is served as a grape juice during the first two days while it ferments. After two or three days, the sugars turn into alcohol and the Doce becomes wine.
• Vinho Spumante – Sparkling wine
• Vinho do Porto – Port wine
• Vinho da Região – Local wine
• Vinho Seco – Dry wine
• Vinho Verde – green immature semi-sparkling acidic wine.

Take a Drive along the Coast

After enjoying a good meal with wine, you should take a relaxing drive along the coast.  While driving along the coast, you can stop and enjoy one of the many secluded beaches along the coastline. Complimenting the natural beauty of the beaches are the spectacular rock formations that divide the beaches and create the quaint private secret paradises. Many of the beaches are bordered by beautiful sand cliffs, which merge with pine trees, creating a feast of nature that is unmatched anywhere else.

Cape Vincent

Cape St. Vincent towers 300 feet above pounding surf. In ancient times, the area was known as the “End of the World” because everything beyond this rocky monument was the unknown. Cape Vincent was also home to “Henry the Navigator” for 40 years. The fortress that Henry lived in and founded his famous school of navigation where Christopher Columbus learned his navigational skills still stands above the cliffs.

Editor’s note: The information contained on this page was compiled using real traveler reviews about the Olhos de Agua Travel Guide.