Castro Marim is on the right bank of the Guadiana River and on the other bank is Andalusia land. The village has the unique environment of the Castro Marim Nature Reserve, a place where countless species of birds live, while others such as flamingos rest there from their migrations. From the top of the castle walls you can enjoy the extensive protected area, the imposing International Bridge of Guadiana, and the fix your eyes on extending panoramic until Vila Real de Santo António, at the mouth of the Guadiana River.

The river borders the village with its traditional architecture and  the old 16th century fortress, you can also see the lands of Andalusia (Spain) and the artisanal salt pans with the crystals shining in the sun that extend in the river sands around the castle, erected by D. Afonso III.

Castro Marim’s connection to salt activity has long been a long time, making it almost impossible to determine the precise date of its beginning. The wisdom of the salt workers, which preserves traditional art and instruments, offers superior quality products, sea salt and salt flower.

The wide sands of the beaches of Alagoa/Altura, Verde Lago, Verde and Cabeço are two steps from the village, offering more than 3 km of golden sands and clear water with mild temperature.

Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans and Arabs have left their mark on this border land that is 6 km from the southern coast of the Algarve. Being close to the river, the sea, the plain and the mountain and bordering Ayamonte, Castro Marim was for centuries an important war square of the Algarve.

The people of Castro Marim, accustomed since antiquity to living with different peoples from the Mediterranean, exchanged products and practices, absorbed ways of being and doing, knowledge matured by the time they came to us through the artisans, the traditional heritage of Castro Marim, who preserve the memory and a culture of a people.

Visitors can still find those who make the famous and delicate bobbin lace, a textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage. It is still possible to know who, with wise hands, weaves baskets with straw and cane, reed leaves and palm tree.  All this heritage of popular culture is allied to the natural landscape of the municipality of Castro Marim, a territory with numerous charms to discover.

Castro Marim is on the right bank of the Guadiana River and on the other bank is Andalusia land. The village has the unique environment of the Castro Marim Nature Reserve, a place where countless species of birds live, while others such as flamingos rest there from their migrations. From the top of the castle walls you can enjoy the extensive protected area, the imposing International Bridge of Guadiana, and the fix your eyes on extending panoramic until Vila Real de Santo António, at the mouth of the Guadiana River.

The river borders the village with its traditional architecture and  the old 16th century fortress, you can also see the lands of Andalusia (Spain) and the artisanal salt pans with the crystals shining in the sun that extend in the river sands around the castle, erected by D. Afonso III.

Castro Marim’s connection to salt activity has long been a long time, making it almost impossible to determine the precise date of its beginning. The wisdom of the salt workers, which preserves traditional art and instruments, offers superior quality products, sea salt and salt flower.

The wide sands of the beaches of Alagoa/Altura, Verde Lago, Verde and Cabeço are two steps from the village, offering more than 3 km of golden sands and clear water with mild temperature.

Phoenicians, Greeks, Carthaginians, Romans and Arabs have left their mark on this border land that is 6 km from the southern coast of the Algarve. Being close to the river, the sea, the plain and the mountain and bordering Ayamonte, Castro Marim was for centuries an important war square of the Algarve.

The people of Castro Marim, accustomed since antiquity to living with different peoples from the Mediterranean, exchanged products and practices, absorbed ways of being and doing, knowledge matured by the time they came to us through the artisans, the traditional heritage of Castro Marim, who preserve the memory and a culture of a people.

Visitors can still find those who make the famous and delicate bobbin lace, a textile made by braiding and twisting lengths of thread, which are wound on bobbins to manage. It is still possible to know who, with wise hands, weaves baskets with straw and cane, reed leaves and palm tree.  All this heritage of popular culture is allied to the natural landscape of the municipality of Castro Marim, a territory with numerous charms to discover.

The Municipality of Castro Marim has a temperate Mediterranean climate, with hot and dry summers and mild winters and has an extension of about 3.7 km of coastline, with excellent conditions, extensive fine white sands and calm waters and mild temperatures, strongly influenced by the Mediterranean.

The mild climate, the long sunny hours, the vast natural areas of pine forest and dunes are irresistible and in this extension of the Algarve coast, known as the Sotavento, or the East of the Algarve, the beaches has excellent water quality. The beaches of Alagoa/Altura, Verde Lago, Verde and Cabeço, are little paradises.

All beaches display the Blue Flag the European classification, and the Alagoa/Altura Beach, the Green Beach and Cabeço Beach have accessibility for disabled people so they also raise the award “Accessible Beach” since 2005.

It is well worth enjoying the Nature Reserve of the Castro Marim and Vila Real de Santo António, the first to emerge in Portugal, a place of shelter for birds, mollusk fish and crustaceans.  There are about 2089 hectares of protected area, covered by the Ramsar Convention, among other international nature conservation provisions.

A mosaic of life that makes the landscape surprising and unusual by the contrast between standers and marches, a habitat tailored to many species, both in the wetland and on land. The reserve has unique environmental qualities, encompassing beaches, mountains, forests, where you can observe numerous protected species and is one of the favorite places of migratory birds, including the fascinating long-legged bird.

The flight of incredible beauty of the storks, or the pink clouds of flamingoes are shows not to be missed, in the traditional salt pans, shone in the sunlight, unexpected white between the green of the fields and the blue of the river.

The contrast between marshes, salt pans, and the interior that invites calm walks is great. Along the way, enjoy the bucolic scenery dotted with white houses, old mills at the top of the hills.