Burgau: "Portuguese Santorini" of the Algarve
Located on the Algarve coast, between Sagres and Lagos is the quaint village of Burgau. Often called “Portuguese Santorini” or the “white village”, Burgau is a beautiful town worth to visit if you are travelling on the southern Portuguese coast.
In this post I will write why it is worth a visit, how to get there and where to eat. I also have a bonus which is a suggestion to a similar town nearby you can visit as well!
Why visit the town of Burgau?
It is not strange that people allude to Santorini when they visit Burgau: the reason being that it is built between two rugged cliffs and is almost completely painted in white. Moreover, you have beautiful turquoise water to add to it.
This town is easy to miss as it is not located close to the highway when driving on the Algarve coast. Also, it is easily forgotten as you have the more vibrant town of Lagos with its bars and the peculiar town of Sagres with its lighthouse and dramatic cliffs. However, despite the two impressive Portuguese siblings, Burgau is worth a visit for its beach, cafés and restaurants as well as the view.
If you are a bit interested in History, Burgau has a fortress from the 1700s overlooking the town. It crumbled during the devastating earthquake of 1755, but there are still remains. It also offers the best view over the town as shown in the first picture.
How to get to Burgau?
Like most Portuguese towns in the countryside, public transport is a rare commodity. However, Burgau is located on a bus line between Sagres and Lagos. I found the following website with the timetable on this link. Mind that it is not an official website so it might be unreliable, but it seems like a well-made website with lots of information on the bus lines across all Algarve.
Easiest is of course having your own car. Burgau is located 35 min away from Portimão and only 20 min from Lagos. Being so close to Lagos, you could even do a hike by following the famous Fisherman’s Trail (“Trilho dos Pescadores”): according to Google Maps it should take you 2h30, however during the summer the heat might make it unsafe so would not recommend it to just anyone!
Where to eat in Burgau?
Burgau has plenty of cafés and restaurants for such a small town! The number one restaurant to have lunch I would recommend is Miam. It is only 30m from the beach making it an ideal place to hide during the hottest hours of the day.
Another place I found was the Restaurant AIRES they served grilled meat and other hearty dishes. Have a look at Instagram below:
Otherwise, if you just want a coffee or a cocktail in the evening, I recommend the café LOVE Burgau. While the name might not be that original, the interior and overall vibe definitely is.
If you want to see something more…
Visit the town of Salema! It is a 3-min drive from Burgau and has also a great beach. It is a slightly bigger town with more restaurants, shops as well as pharmacies if you need something specific. Salema also has some landmarks worth to see like old dinosaur footprints. Overall it is very similar to Burgau, but oddly somehow it never got the same reputation as Burgau.