Cabo de Sao Vicente – The most South West point in Europe

After leaving Lisbon we headed down to the extreme South West corner of Portugal and in fact the extreme South West of Europe and into the Algarve.

We managed to negotiate Portugal’s new motorway tolls – in 2012 all motorways became toll roads with ANPR cameras installed on all motorways which were previously not covered by tolls. The system was introduced to raise additional revenue in the light of the recent financial crises, however not sure how successful this has been as most of the motorways we saw were practically deserted, we spent over 1 ½ hours on one motorway and I doubt we saw more than 50 cars in that time!

We also noticed a large number of storks in Portugal which seem to nest in some strange places, including motorway gantries, power pylons and factory chimneys.

High rise living

In the end we decided that the Algarve was not for us so after a couple of days we headed back into Spain.

We are currently camped up between Jerez and Cadiz where we have enjoyed a fiesta in Jerez, lots of flamenco dress and sherry (not me on both counts), and a good day strolling around Cadiz. We finally understood the need for a siesta after a couple of sangrias with lunch.

Party time