Portimão

Portimão is the second largest commercial town in the Algarve after Faro and also the second largest port after Olhão.  Despite it being a very old city, you wouldn’t know it. The oldest building is the modernised parish church that contains seventeenth and eighteenth century tiles but the only really old part is the fourteenth century portal.
 Nowadays, Portimão is mainly about shopping and sardines.

One of the best shopping streets is the Rua do Comércio, a pedestrian shopping centre that starts in the old market square, beside the parish church, in the highest part of town.
 The river, of course, is and always has been the city’s life-blood.
Despite the fishing fleet mooring on the far bank, many of its fish are taken to the most popular open-air restaurant area in Portimão, beside the quay and the iron bridge. 


You can also find more restaurants in old boathouses, in the small square, just behind the quay, serving a variety of fish dishes, from the most expensive like tiger prawns to the cheapest of dishes - grilled sardines.