The Municipality of Loulé is located in the center of the Algarve, covering an extensive area from the Alentejo to the sea integrating nine parishes: Ameixial, Salir, Alte, Boliqueime, Querença/Benafim/Tôr, Almancil e Quarteira, e S. Sebastião, S. Clemente both urban parishes of Loulé.
With 765 km2 it is the largest of the Algarve municipalities, including three sub-regions: mountains, barrocal (rocky area, rugged, located between the coast and the mountains) and the coastline. These areas offer a variety of natural landscapes and ecological habitats, such as the Ria Formosa and Rocha da Pena. Loulé is 25km away from Faro, the main airport of the Algarve.
What makes Loulé such a Traditional and appealing town to Live and Visit
The Municipality of Loulé extends from the mountains to the sea, with many locations worth a visit.
In its territory are encompassed several protected areas such as the Nature Park Ria Formosa, Rocha da Pena and the Source of Benémola, among others.
In historical heritage aspect is to highlight the archaeological site of Cerro da Vila in Vilamoura, the entire historic area of Loulé, where the parish church dates back to the reign of King Dinis (XIV century). The Castle where the Historical Archives are installed and the remaining Gothic portal that was part of Grace Convent which was destroyed by the earthquake in1755. The Municipal Art Gallery, founded in 1988, where numerous exhibitions and cultural activities take place throughout the year.
Towards the interior mountains, the church in Querença is worth a visit with its Gothic and Renaissance architecture, and towards Ameixial the traveler can admire the rugged landscape of rare beauty, scenery out of sight. In Ameixial is to enhance its typical stone houses.
Again towards the coast a stop in Salir to explore the ruins of its castle, which is of Arab construction, stem from archaeological excavations. Not far from Salir and passing through Benafim, we find Alte which is considered one of the most beautiful and typical villages of Portugal, its church was built before 1518 with a porch and chancel of Manueline style and tiles of XVI and XVIII century.
Towards the south are still the villages of Tor and Boliqueime, where you can enjoy a magnificent panoramic view of Vilamoura. Almancil includes noble tourist areas and a golfing paradise of the luxurious tourist complexes, Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo. It is still justified to visit the Cultural Centre and the Church of St. Lourenço, which is covered with valuable tiles of century VXIII.
Sports and Entertainment
The Algarve is famous for its excellent golf courses and the municipality of Loulé comprises 12 golf courses, distributed to Quinta do Lago, Vale do Lobo, Vila Sol and Vilamoura and we can say without exaggeration that from all Algarvean golf courses the best are in the municipality of Loulé.
This is the reason, combined with the excellent climate that the best golfers from around the world visit the county's camps throughout the year. In addition to golf Loulé municipality provides other infrastructure for various sports, such as football and rugby fields, all water sports, from jet-skiing, windsurfing, kayaking, kite surfing, diving, sailing, performing several international competitions in Vilamoura.
Loulé was nominated European Sports City 2015, which is the recognition of the work that has been done over many years and will allow the integration of this region into the European sports’ network.
Vilamoura is undoubtedly the center of nightlife in the Municipality of Loulé. The Casino is a reference to the thousands of tourists visiting the Algarve. Apart from the engine room and roulette, visitors can watch the magnificent shows at this location. The Casino is also one of the most popular nightclubs in the area.
Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo Square are also crossing points of many national and foreign tourists in the hot summer nights.
The town of Loulé also has some popular bars especially for young people. In the municipality of Loulé is a water and amusement park with many aspects related to water.
