Silves sits fifteen kilometres inland from the Algarve coast on a hill above the Arade river, and it has no beach, no resort strip and no sea view. What it has is the best-preserved Moorish castle in Portugal and a claim to having been one of the richest cities in the western Islamic world.
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UNDER MOORISH RULE THIS WAS XELB, AND IT WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE ALGARVE. The province's name comes from al-Gharb al-Andalus, the west of al-Andalus, and Xelb was its administrative and cultural centre, a city of poets and scholars that contemporaries compared with Granada and Cordoba. The Arade was navigable to the sea, so it was a port as well. It fell to the Portuguese in 1189, was retaken, fell again in 1242, and the 1755 earthquake and the silting of the river finished what the reconquest started. IT IS NOW A WORKING TOWN OF ABOUT ELEVEN THOUSAND PEOPLE, and the gap between what it was and what it is is the most interesting thing about visiting. Our Portugal travel guide for women covers the country.
THE CASTLE IS THE REASON TO COME AND IT IS GENUINELY GOOD. Built in red sandstone, which gives it a colour unlike any other castle in Portugal, with a complete circuit of walls and towers you can walk, an enormous vaulted Moorish CISTERN underneath, and views over the orange groves and the river valley. It is small enough to see properly in an hour and substantial enough to be worth the drive.
AND THE SECOND REASON IS THAT IT IS THE ALGARVE WITHOUT THE COAST, which is a genuinely different country. Twenty minutes from the beach resorts you are among orange and carob groves, cork oaks and small agricultural towns where almost nobody is on holiday. If you are staying at Albufeira or Carvoeiro and want one day that is not a beach, this is the one.
The Castle, the Cathedral and the Cork
A red sandstone fortress, a cathedral built on a mosque, a stone cross nobody can date, and cork.
THE CASTLE OF SILVES is ticketed and takes about an hour. Walk the full wall circuit for the valley views, and go down into the CISTERNA, the vaulted Moorish water cistern, which is the part that conveys what the place was: a city that could survive a siege. Recent excavations inside the walls have exposed the Moorish-era town layout.
THE SE, the cathedral, stands just below the castle on the site of the mosque, and was the Algarve's cathedral until the seat moved to Faro. It is plain, early Gothic, and after the castle it is the second thing to see.
THE CRUZ DE PORTUGAL, a large carved limestone cross on the road out of town, is late fifteenth or early sixteenth century and is the sort of object that has no obvious explanation and no agreed date, which is part of its appeal.
THE MUNICIPAL MUSEUM is built around a twelfth-century Almohad well, which you look down into from inside the building, and that is the single most striking object in the town.
CORK IS THE LOCAL INDUSTRY AND IT IS WORTH UNDERSTANDING. Portugal produces about half the world's cork and this part of the Algarve and the Alentejo behind it is where the cork oaks grow. You will see trees stripped to a dark red-brown trunk with a number painted on them, which is the year of the last harvest, because the bark can only be taken once every nine years. The Fabrica do Ingles, a former cork factory in the town, has been variously a museum and an events space.
THE ARADE RIVER boat trips run up from Portimao towards Silves and are a pleasant and unexpected way to arrive, though most stop short of the town itself depending on the tide and the silting.
AND THE MEDIEVAL FAIR, usually in August, takes over the whole castle and the streets below it for several days with a genuinely committed reconstruction of the town's Moorish and medieval past. IT IS THE BUSIEST THE TOWN EVER GETS and it is the best time to be there if you plan for it.
NEARBY: the MONCHIQUE hills are half an hour west and are cooler, wooded and the Algarve's highest ground; the BARRAGEM DO ARADE reservoir is just north; and the coast at Carvoeiro and Albufeira is twenty minutes south. Our Algarve packing list covers the region.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
Getting There and Getting Around
Forty five minutes from Faro, and the station is at the bottom of the hill.
FARO AIRPORT is about forty five minutes east by road. The Algarve railway line runs through Silves and the station is a kilometre or so below the town across the river, which is a walk uphill with luggage or a short taxi. From Lisbon it is around three hours by train with a change.
SILVES IS A HALF DAY FROM THE COAST FOR MOST PEOPLE, and that is a reasonable way to do it: twenty minutes from Carvoeiro or Albufeira, with parking below the castle. STAYING OVERNIGHT IS THE BETTER VERSION if you want the town after the day visitors have gone, and the price difference against the coast is substantial.
THE TOWN IS STEEP AND COBBLED. The castle is at the top, the river at the bottom, and the streets between are narrow calcada paving. There is no way to see Silves without climbing.
When to Go
March to June and September to November. Inland Algarve summer is hotter than the coast.
Silves is fifteen kilometres from the sea and loses the sea breeze, which makes a real difference: INLAND ALGARVE IN JULY AND AUGUST RUNS SEVERAL DEGREES HOTTER THAN THE COAST and 35C is an ordinary August afternoon, with 40C possible. Winters are mild at 16 to 18C by day with cold nights and genuine rain.
MARCH TO JUNE IS THE BEST WINDOW and it is the one thing Silves does better than the beach towns. February and March bring ALMOND AND ORANGE BLOSSOM across the valley, the castle walls are comfortable to walk, and the interior is green rather than burnt. September to November is the second window, with the orange harvest.
JULY AND AUGUST are hot and the castle is open stone with no shade. Go at opening or in the last two hours. The MEDIEVAL FAIR falls in this period and is worth the heat if you want it.
NOVEMBER TO FEBRUARY is quiet, cheap, green and occasionally very wet, and the town carries on as a working place because it is one. This is a reasonable winter base for walking in the Monchique hills.
Is Silves Safe for Women Travelers
Very. This is a small working Portuguese town and the risks are heat and footing.
US State Department travel advisory: the Portugal advisory. Read the current level there directly rather than relying on a figure printed in any guide.
UK FCDO travel advice: gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/portugal, and read the safety and security page rather than only the landing page, because that is where the substance sits.
The FCDO publishes no advised-against areas anywhere in Portugal and no country-level warning. The named risks are specific rather than vague. Street crime, particularly pickpocketing and bag snatching in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve resorts. Drink spiking, and the FCDO names the drugs rather than hinting at them: be alert to the possible use of date rape drugs including GHB and liquid ecstasy. Drowning, because people die every year in the sea and in swimming pools in Portugal and the Atlantic beaches have rip currents and a flag system that is worth learning before you swim. Wildfires from April to October when the weather is hot and dry. And earthquakes, which are a genuine if infrequent risk here.
PORTUGAL HAS NO ADVISED-AGAINST AREAS AND NO REGIONAL-RISKS PAGE AT ALL. The FCDO's named street-crime risk is specific to Lisbon, Porto and the ALGARVE RESORTS, and Silves is not one: this is an agricultural town where almost nobody is on holiday, and crime against visitors is close to nonexistent.
HEAT IS THE REAL RISK AND IT IS WORSE HERE THAN ON THE COAST. Fifteen kilometres inland there is no sea breeze, the castle is open red sandstone that absorbs and radiates, and the streets are stone. An August afternoon on those walls above 35C is genuinely punishing and this is the commonest way a Silves visit goes wrong. Go early, carry water, and use the middle of the day for the museum, which is indoors and cool.
THE FOOTING IS THE SECOND. The town is steep and surfaced in CALCADA, the small-stone Portuguese paving that polishes to a shine and becomes slippery when wet. The castle's wall walk has drops, uneven medieval steps and sections with low parapets, and the cistern stairs are damp stone.
WILDFIRES ARE A NAMED SEASONAL RISK FROM APRIL TO OCTOBER AND THIS IS THE PART OF THE ALGARVE WHERE THEY HAPPEN. The Monchique hills behind Silves burned severely in 2018, with evacuations and a fire that ran for days. Inland Algarve is cork oak, eucalyptus and scrub, which is exactly the fuel that carries a fire. If you are driving in the hills in summer, keep track of local news, do not stop to look at smoke, and be aware that the roads up there are single track with few turning places.
THE RIVER AND THE RESERVOIR: the Arade and the Barragem do Arade are not supervised swimming places. Reservoir water is cold, deep and steep-sided and people drown in Portuguese reservoirs every summer, which is part of what the FCDO's drowning warning covers.
Portugal is in the EU, so a UK Global Health Insurance Card or an EU European Health Insurance Card gives you state-provided medically necessary care on the same terms as a resident. That is not the same as free and it does not cover repatriation or a private clinic, so travel insurance sits on top of it rather than instead of it. Portuguese public hospitals are good and private clinics in Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve are used to foreign patients. A farmacia handles minor problems without an appointment and the green cross sign is the one to look for, with a rota of late-opening branches posted in the window. Tap water is drinkable everywhere.
Socially Silves is a conservative, friendly, working Portuguese town rather than a resort. ORDINARY CLOTHES RATHER THAN BEACHWEAR is the courtesy here and it matters more than on the coast: arriving in a bikini top from a beach day reads as rude in a way it does not in Albufeira. Shoulders and knees for the cathedral. English is less widely spoken than on the coast and a few words of Portuguese go a long way.
The Silves Packing List
Shoes with grip for calcada and castle walls
Walking shoes with a real sole and no heel. The town is steep and paved in polished small-stone calcada that is slippery wet, the castle wall walk is uneven medieval stone with drops, and the cistern steps are damp. This is the first item and it is a safety one.
Proper socks, because it is all uphill
Merino hiking socks. Everything in Silves is a climb, and if you add a Monchique walk it becomes a real day.
Sun protection for open sandstone
A wide brim sun hat, a long sleeve sun hoodie and high factor sunscreen. The castle is unshaded stone and inland Algarve is hotter than the coast, which is the specific thing people fail to plan for here.
A warm layer, because inland nights are colder
Our merino base layers are 100% Australian merino at 17.5 micron, and a long sleeve merino wool base layer for women earns its place inland rather than on the coast: away from the sea the diurnal swing is larger, so a 33C day becomes a 15C evening, the Monchique hills are several degrees cooler again, and a winter week here is genuinely cold at night. It also stays wearable across several hot days without holding smell.
Water, and more of it than on the coast
An insulated water bottle. Portuguese tap water is drinkable. There is limited supply inside the castle and the walk up from the station or the car park is the part that catches people out in August.
A quick-dry towel
A quick dry travel towel, which earns its place if you are combining Silves with beach days from a coastal base, which most people do.
The small things
Sunglasses, protective over pale stone. A high factor lip balm. ORDINARY CLOTHES FOR THE TOWN rather than beachwear, which is the one genuine social note here. Cash in euros in small notes, because the smaller inland cafes and the market are less card-friendly than the coast. A European two-pin adapter for 230V type C and F. And a few words of Portuguese, which are more use here than anywhere on the Algarve coast.
Essential Resources for Women in Silves
Emergency numbers: 112 is the European emergency number and works throughout Portugal from any phone for police, ambulance and fire. SNS 24 on 808 24 24 24 is the national health advice line for anything that is not an emergency. In a rural area the GNR rather than the PSP is the police force you will meet, and 112 reaches both.
Police and support: there is no tourist police presence in an inland town of this size; 112 and the local GNR post are the route. APAV, the victim support association, runs a free and confidential national helpline on 116 006.
Main hospital or clinic: Silves has a health centre, a centro de saude, for day-to-day matters. THE NEAREST EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT IS THE HOSPITAL DE PORTIMAO, about twenty five minutes south west, with Faro about forty five minutes east as the regional centre. A FARMACIA handles minor problems without an appointment, with a late-opening rota posted in the window. Bring a UK GHIC or EU EHIC for state care on resident terms, with insurance on top for repatriation and private treatment.
Official health authority: the Direcao-Geral da Saude, Portugal's health authority. Portugal is in the EU, so a UK GHIC or an EU EHIC gives state-provided medically necessary care on resident terms, which is not free and does not cover repatriation. Silves has a health centre; the nearest emergency department is Portimao about twenty five minutes away, and SNS 24 on 808 24 24 24 is the advice line
US Embassy: the United States Embassy in Lisbon.
Official tourism authority: Visit Portugal, the national tourism board. And the Algarve regional tourism board, plus the Silves municipal office for the castle's opening hours and the dates of the Medieval Fair, which moves year to year
Silves was Xelb, the Moorish capital of the Algarve, and the province's name comes from al-Gharb al-Andalus, the west of al-Andalus. The castle is the best-preserved Moorish castle in Portugal.
Inland Algarve is several degrees hotter than the coast in summer. There is no sea breeze fifteen kilometres in, and the castle is unshaded sandstone.
This is a working town, not a resort. Ordinary clothes rather than beachwear is the courtesy, and it matters here in a way it does not in Albufeira.
Solo women safety assessment: Silves is about as low-risk as a destination gets. Portugal has no advised-against areas and no FCDO regional-risks page at all, and the street crime the FCDO does name is specific to Lisbon, Porto and the Algarve RESORTS, which this is not: it is an agricultural town of eleven thousand where almost nobody is on holiday, crime against visitors is close to nonexistent, and a woman alone attracts interest only of the friendly kind. THE RISKS ARE ENVIRONMENTAL. Heat first, and it is worse here than on the coast because fifteen kilometres inland there is no sea breeze and the castle is open red sandstone that radiates: an August afternoon on those walls above 35C is the commonest way this visit goes wrong, so go at opening and use the museum in the middle of the day. Footing second: the town is steep and surfaced in polished calcada paving that is slippery when wet, and the castle wall walk has uneven medieval steps, drops and low parapets. Wildfire third, and this is the part of the Algarve where it happens, since the Monchique hills behind the town burned severely in 2018 and the inland cover of cork oak, eucalyptus and scrub is exactly what carries a fire; if you drive in the hills in summer, follow local news and note that the roads are single track with few turning places. The Arade river and the Barragem do Arade are unsupervised, cold and steep-sided, and people drown in Portuguese reservoirs every summer. Socially the town is conservative and friendly, English is less common than on the coast, and ordinary clothes rather than beachwear is a real courtesy. 112 from any phone, 808 24 24 24 for health advice, 116 006 for APAV victim support.
Reading On
Start with the Portugal travel guide for women, the Portugal packing list and the Algarve packing list for the region. The two nearest coastal bases are the Carvoeiro packing list and the Albufeira packing list, both about twenty minutes south. Along the coast, the Lagos packing list, the Faro packing list, the Tavira packing list and the Sagres packing list. For other inland Portuguese towns with the same working character, the Evora packing list and the Tomar packing list. For why merino rather than cotton where a 33C inland day becomes a 15C evening, read the guide to merino wool base layers for women. Every destination we cover is indexed at the travel packing guide for women, and the base layers are at the Roman Trail collection.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
