Albufeira, the Algarve's largest beach resort with about 42,000 residents (and roughly 5 million visitors a year), began as a Moorish and then Christian fishing settlement on a limestone cove of Portugal's south coast, dominated until the 1755 Lisbon earthquake by a fortified castle whose fragments still lie in the Cidade Velha. Today the town has two faces: the cobbled Old Town of white-washed houses tumbles down to the Praia dos Pescadores and the Pau da Bandeira viewpoint, while the resort strip of Areias de São João stretches east in high-rise hotels, bars and the late-night Strip on Avenida Sá Carneiro. For travellers with a dog, the Algarve combines ~300 sunny days a year, official year-round dog beaches at Cova Redonda and Barranco das Belharucas, the Pine Cliffs clifftop trail under umbrella pines, and the Praia dos Salgados lagoon reserve with its flamingos. Timing is critical: from 1 May to 30 September dogs are banned from all central beaches (GNR fines up to 120 €) and July-August heat pushes asphalt and sand above 50 °C. April-May and October-November turn Albufeira into one of southern Europe's most rewarding dog-friendly escapes, hotel rates 40-60% below August levels and all beaches reopening to leashed dogs from 1 October.
