The Alentejo coast is the anti-Algarve: wild, sparse, and beautifully indifferent to whether you showed up or not.
Porto Covo sits on a stretch of coast that feels more like Ireland than southern Portugal. The cliffs are dark and jagged, the sea is rough, and the villages are small and quiet. The Rota Vicentina trail passes through here — 450 km of coastal hiking from Santiago do Cacem to Cabo São Vicente.
The town itself is a grid of white houses around a central square. In summer, Portuguese families from Lisbon fill the holiday apartments. In winter, you might be the only person on the cliff path.
Ilha do Pessegueiro sits just offshore — a rocky island with a ruined 16th-century fort. You can kayak out on calm days. The beach facing it is one of the best on the entire coast.
Getting there: 170 km south of Lisbon on the N120/N390. The slow road is the point.