Portimão is the biggest town in the western Algarve and sits on the bank of the Arade River facing Ferragudo on the opposite bank. Portimão's atlantic beach of Praia da Rocha has become a resort with lots of hotels, apartments, restaurants, bars, discos, clubs and shops.
Portimão is a mix of late 19th, early 20th century buildings in the older part of the town, and high rise apartment blocks around it. The town centre is simply perfect for those who love to shop, Offering a wide choice of clothes, gifts, souvenirs and more! There are also plenty of bars, restaurants and café’s where you can sit for a bite to eat or a drink and watch the town carry on around you. The roads in and around Portimão are quite confusing and congested, but there is plenty of car parking around the town, and a free car park on the waterfront. There is also a large underground paying carpark in the centre!
Obviously Portimão is excellent for shopping but it also has quite a lot of events through the year like powerboat racing or jet-skiing on the river, fantastic fireworks and live music to celebrate the New Year, and various exhibitions and sports events at the Expo-Arade centre. The most popular place for events in Portimão has become the Autodromo do Algarve, the motor racing circuit for which Portimão (and the western Algarve) is now famous for!
There are plenty of things to do in the Portimão area - there are boat trips for fishing, trips to the caves, dolphin watching trips or a trip up
the Arade river to Silves from the river front. There are several golf courses nearby and at Portimão municipal aerodrome near Alvor various pursuits like parachuting for the more adventurous!