In Pictures: Armacao de Pera

Normally my trusty camera is at its busiest on city breaks, but my memory card has a healthy (obsessive?) 1000+ photos to show for my recent beach holiday in Armacao de Pera, a small town to the west of Albufeira on the Algarve. These are just a few of my favourite snaps from the trip.
Follow me on Instagram for plenty more travel snaps (including a sunbathing dog...)

On our first night we were tired but keen to explore, so we went across the road to the beach, just in time for sunset. As families packed up and left the beach for the day, this fisherman was just setting up ready to do some night fishing.

At the eastern end of Armacao de Pera is the fisherman's village. Boats sit on the beach waiting to be taken out, shadowed by a row of wooden fisherman's huts. 

Nothing says 'holiday' quite like a combination of camper vans and palm trees. One day we stumbled across a vintage car rally in the centre of town.

Sunset over the western end of Armacao de Pera.

Those palm trees again, this time at dusk.

The whitewashed church at the old fort put me in mind of a Greek island - like something you might see in Mamma Mia!

The devil's in the detail - in this case, the detail of the pair of scissors repurposed as a a door handle. Upcycling at its finest.

The Algarve coastline is absoutely stunning - just a short walk along the clifftop from Armacao de Pera are a wealth of hidden beaches and bays, coves and caves. A geologist's dream.

The church in the centre of Armacao de Pera is very ornate - and very busy on a Sunday.

Anywhere that had road signs as ornate as this is A-OK by me.

I can only assume this building on one of the back streets is a school or children's centre of some sort. Not sure about the dodgy looking fella on the right.

One of the fisherman's boats waiting to be taken out to sea.

Peak season may have ended, but the beach was still heaving by 10am every morning. 

You could be looking down over Durdle Door in Dorset, were it not for the bright sunshine, blue(ish) sea and golden sand.