Even if you detest tourist coasts and don't feel the Algarve is for you, you might well find that Tavira is somewhere you can be happy for a while.
Most visitors head for the lagoon and the Isla de Tavira [boats in summer only.]
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However the town itself is not short of interest and beauty. The castle is not one of Portugal's greatest but the walled garden at the side of it, with the shining white clocktower of the church of Santa maria and the castle itself overlooking the walls, is of very high quality.
Between the town and the beach are some salt pans, which are a bird-watcher's Paradise. In December birds to be seen include flamingos and black-winged stilts. [edit text][editors]
