Portugal is a popular destination for digital nomads. For years, remote workers have known how to find this Southern European destination, with Lisbon being a particular favorite. Lately, you also hear more and more people talking about the island of Madeira. We went to discover the south of Portugal for a workation, namely the Algarve. In this blog you will find my 5 favorite hotspots that you really must have seen.
On workstation in the Algarve
Before I share my tips with you, it might be good to tell a little more about the Algarve. I myself was in this region for the first time. Previously I did a road trip in Portugal, from Porto to Lisbon. The Algarve is mainly known for the impressive rock formations along the coast and as far as I am concerned, that is definitely one of the highlights. It is truly beautiful! Together with colleague and travel buddy Daniëlle I went to several places: Lagos, Carvoeiro, Portimão and Monchique. We flew into Faro, from where these places are about an hour’s drive away. Lagos is my favorite. It is small, has a nice beach and countless nice cafes to work and cozy bars to have a drink. You run into quite a few Dutch digital nomads there. Funny enough, I was even recognized by someone in one of the coworking spaces. It’s a small world 🙂
1. Wotels: the perfect accommodation for digital nomads
This chain has several accommodations in Portugal and caters mainly to remote workers and digital nomads. Our hotel in Lagos had nice hotel rooms and a huge, brand new coworking space. They also organize joint activities to get to know other travelers. In surf hotspot Ericeira they have a coliving, in Lisbon a nomad hostel and in other places they also have apartments, lodges and surf houses.
2. Kayak tour at Ponta da Piedade
Ponta da Piedade is the hotspot in the Algarve, so I couldn’t wait to go here. They are huge rocks and caves along the coast. These are best admired from the water. You can do this with a boat, but a kayak is the most fun. Together with a guide you paddle along the coastline, this is really insanely beautiful and fun to do! We did a nice tour at Discover Tours. Are you looking for tips for fine accommodations and good restaurants: see this blog
3. Jeep safari in the hills of the Algarve
Not only the coast is beautiful, the inland of the Algarve is also worth a visit. You can explore it by car, but with a 4×4 jeep it is even more fun. Then you can also go off-road and discover small country roads. Along the way you will stop at several nice places, such as a traditional basket maker, an old-fashioned liqueur distillery and a cute little bakery with the most delicious Pastel de Nata. Of course you have to eat those when you are in Portugal. Did you know that making a basket the traditional handmade way can take 2-3 days! And that while a hat or basket costs only € 20. The nice thing about an organized jeep tour, we went with Extremo Ambiente, is that a guide can tell you a lot about the area. Facts you would never know otherwise. For example, we discovered that in the Algarve a lot of cork from the trees is used for export all over the world. The bark of the trees used for this purpose is marked with numbers, so you can tell when the bark can be taken off. I wondered why many trees here had numbers haha.
4. The beach of Praia da Marinha
As a big beach lover, I have visited many beaches in the Algarve and Praia da Marinha is absolutely my favorite. Here you see the typical picture with large rocks and caves that you often see from the Algarve. You can take a nice walk along the coastline through nature and of course lie on the beach. My tip: go here in the late afternoon. Then the temperature is pleasant for a walk and afterwards you can watch the sunset here. You can of course decide how far you want to walk, but I did a stretch of about 5 kilometers, a nice distance as far as I am concerned.
5. Meet like-minded people at a digital nomad meetup
I always really enjoy meeting other people who also work remotely abroad. Especially if you travel alone, this is really a perfect way to meet new people. For this purpose, digital nomad meetups are organized in all kinds of places around the world. Sometimes by a coliving or from a coworking. This meetup was from Portimão Digital Nomads. You can sign up for this for free and then meet other travelers. At 5:30 p.m., about 50 digital nomads had gathered at a local restaurant for drinks. As is often the case, we went out to dinner afterwards with a nice club of people and some continued into the early hours. My club of new digital nomad friends included someone from Estonia, Mexico, Canada, Finland, Norway, Ukraine, Brazil, a local Portuguese and 1 other Dutch person. It is so cool to hear their stories, about what they do for work (one is employed, the other is freelancer or entrepreneur), where they are from, what kind of travel they do. Definitely recommend getting to know other people this way, whether you’re in a particular place for a short or long time.
Enthusiastic about the Algarve and want to take your team on a workation to Portugal? We work together with several accommodations in Portugal. Please contact us for the possibilities for your company workation.
