Good evening

“Come back in the summer - there’s nightly music, local festivals. It’s a whole other place.” That’s what writer Amelia Duggan was advised when she took an off-season trip to Tavira in the Algarve. But Amelia had already fallen for the serenity of the southern Portuguese fishing town turned tourist resort without all its passenger ferries, crowded beaches and busy restaurants.

“Dusk in Tavira is a masterclass in seduction,” Amelia writes. “On either bank of the Gilão river, street lamps gild the cobblestone promenades and pavement restaurants. Downriver, the landscape opens expansively, shifting through gleaming salt pans to where the lagoon system and beaches of Ria Formosa kiss the ocean.”

It could be a scene stolen from another century. Or even another country, as the city still bears faded hallmarks of grandeur, including facades adorned with azulejo tiles and Juliet balconies.

The mild climate and the lack of throngs encourage Amelia to roam the wild beaches of the barrier islands, knock up a seafood stew at a farmhouse cookery class and explore the surrounding countryside on horseback. The music and the festivals will have to wait until summer.

Elsewhere, Porto local Célia Pedroso recommends 10 tasty restaurants in Lisbon, and we have 10 of the best reasons to visit Portugal from surf and yoga to creative workshops in the Alentejo.