Cascais, Portugal | Portugal Special Report

Silves is a fascinating historical delight and excellent place to make your new home. It’s a popular vacation destination and a day tripper’s paradise… but it has a different vibe to most of the beach resorts nearby. It’s a proper town, where people live, work, commute, and socialize.

It’s home to a population of about 11,000, made up of many Portuguese people and expats from across the world. This is the real Algarve—before tourism captured and transformed so much of this area. Living here is like stepping back in time…

Discover Silves in this Portugal Special Report.

At an ancient crossroads in the hills of the eastern Algarve, the town of São Brás de Alportel has a rare claim to fame in inland Portugal: its population is steadily growing. It has bucked the trend of depopulation, which has taken out many of the Algarve’s smaller villages.

São Brás is an inland municipality of some 11,000 people. A palpable sense of community, astute political leadership, and some key practical considerations have set it on a winning path. Today, its population has a growing international flair.

São Brás is not a prime Algarve beauty spot, but it has a small, scenic old quarter with a church and narrow, cobbled streets, plus it’s only 15 minutes to the sea. Discover São Brás’ little gems in this Portugal Special Report.