By Philip Giddings · Last updated 13 October 2026

December in the Algarve is a month of two very different halves, and I enjoy both of them.

The first three weeks are the low season at its quietest. Picture a bright spring day back home: a T-shirt for a walk along the beach and lunch outside on a terrace, but a jacket for whenever the sun goes behind a cloud. The resorts are calm, at only around 30% full, and in the towns you can walk into any restaurant without a reservation. This is the period for hotel bargains.

Albufeira's Old Town in early December: the restaurants are open, and you can walk into any of them without a reservation

Then from around the 21st the region wakes up from the winter slumber. Tourists flow into the region for the Christmas holidays and many Portuguese return home from working abroad. The larger resort towns of Lagos and Albufeira feel as busy as in late June. Christmas lights go up along the harbour fronts, and New Year’s Eve in Albufeira is the biggest party in the south of Portugal.

Whichever half you come for, the Algarve has the best winter weather of mainland Europe. I am not going to pretend it is Egypt or the Canaries, and it is not a month for basking on the beach. But it is warm enough for everything else: hiking the Sete Vales Suspensos coastal path, a day trip to Silves, surfing the winter swells off Sagres, or a Saturday morning at the market in Loulé. And from the number of golf bags I see on the flights to Faro, I can guarantee the golf is in full swing.

The winter crowd is different from summer’s. Older couples escaping the grey back home, young families not yet tied to school holidays, and long-stay residents who have worked out what the Algarve is like without the heat and the queues. My ageing parents come to Tavira for as long as they can every winter, and my brother brought his young family down for a week in Albufeira. If you are in your 20s and after nightlife and a buzz, I would honestly point you to Lisbon instead, at least until Christmas week.

The waterfront at Cabanas, near Tavira, where my parents spend their winter mornings in a café

This guide will detail what to expect from the Algarve in December, where to be based and how to get the most from the month. It all comes from first-hand experience: exploring Portugal since 2001, living in Lisbon for the last six years, and a Portuguese wife whose extended family live in the Algarve and supply the local insight.

Below are the weather charts for the Algarve, based on data from Faro, in the centre of the region.

The average daytime maximum and the night-time minimum temperature for the Algarve

The average hours of sunshine per day and monthly rainfall (in mm)

The official figures are an average daytime maximum of 17°C (63°F) and a night-time minimum of 10°C (50°F). There are around nine days with some rain, adding up to 92mm for the month. That is comfortably the driest of Portugal’s three regions: Lisbon gets 127mm and Porto a soggy 153mm. In December I think of the Algarve as dry, Lisbon as unpredictable and Porto as somewhere I wouldn’t go.

What this means in practice is bright, low winter sun for most of the day, warm enough that I leave the jacket in the car at lunchtime, then a sharp drop once the sun goes down. Lunch is on a terrace, dinner is inside, and you will want a warm jacket for the walk home from the bar. When I’m out with my Portuguese mother-in-law she is in her thick winter jacket all day, dressed as if she is expecting snow.

The rain, when it comes, arrives in grey spells rather than the short passing showers of spring. It is not uncommon to have three days of grey, threatening weather only to have a few hours of rain. The same is true of the good weather, though. A run of high pressure can give you a week of clear blue skies, and a dry spell over Christmas means T-shirt walks along the beach while everyone back home is under grey skies.

A grey spell over Carvoeiro. December rain tends to come in runs of threatening days rather than quick showers

And the dark is the thing I notice the most about December in the Algarve, with the sun setting at 5:15pm on the 21st, the shortest day of the year. Dinner and a bar matter far more in December than in August, when I am often on the beach until gone 7:30pm.

The sea is around 17°C, which is chilly. For surfing I am in a full 4mm wetsuit, and nobody is swimming for fun. Outdoor pools, even at the hotels, are for photos rather than a dip.

Sunset over Albufeira's town beach. In December the sun is down by 5:15pm, so evenings are about dinner and a bar

The mild bright weather is ideal for activities and exploring the Algarve. If I were showing the Algarve to friends in December, these are the things I would make sure we did:

Hiking the Sete Vales Suspensos: This is the hike I would send everyone on, and December is a far better month for it than the summer. The 6km clifftop path (12km there and back) passes golden limestone cliffs, collapsed sinkholes and tiny cove beaches, finishing at Praia da Marinha. Sete Vales Suspensos guide

The Sete Vales Suspensos trail. In December you can walk the full 12km without the summer heat

Surfing at Sagres: December is the peak of the surf season in the western Algarve. Praia do Tonel faces west straight into the Atlantic and has serious waves for anyone with experience, while Praia da Mareta on the south side is sheltered enough for lessons. The surf schools run all winter, and Sagres has a proper surf-town feel, with campervans in every car park. For beginners nearer Lagos, Praia do Porto de Mós is my pick.

Surfers at Praia da Mareta in Sagres

Boat trip to the Benagil cave: The famous sea cave, with its domed roof and light spilling onto the beach inside, is a different place in December. The summer flotilla of boats and influencers has gone and the magic comes back. Only book on a very calm day, and leave it until you are in the Algarve and can see the forecast. I have done this on a rough December sea, and seasickness was my lasting memory.

The tour boats at Benagil beach. In December only go out on a calm day, and book once you can see the forecast

Day trip to Silves: My idea of a perfect winter day out. A red sandstone castle, a cathedral, a couple of hours of wandering, then a long lunch and a pastry. December is also orange season, so the groves around the town are heavy with fruit and the roadside stalls sell them by the bag. Silves day trip guide

The red sandstone castle of Silves, my idea of a perfect winter day out

Day trip to Loulé: When I have had enough of the coast and its resort towns, I head inland to Loulé. The covered market is the heart of the town, and on a Saturday morning the farmers’ market and the traditional market on the edge of town make it feel properly Portuguese. In December the stalls fill with Christmas food: bolo rei, dried figs and almonds from the hills.

The covered market at the heart of Loulé, filled with Christmas food in December

Day trip to Faro: Faro has a pretty walled old town and a pedestrianised centre, but whenever I bring friends and family they only want one thing: the Capela dos Ossos, a small chapel lined with the bones and skulls of more than a thousand monks. In December Faro also puts on good Christmas lights and a small festive market in the Jardim Manuel Bivar by the marina.

The Capela dos Ossos in Faro, the one sight every visiting friend and relative asks to see

Kayaking the Ria Formosa: The winter sea is usually too lively for the kayak trips around the Ponta da Piedade in Lagos, so I go to the lagoons of the Parque Natural da Ria Formosa instead. The birdlife peaks in winter, with flamingos in the salt pans between Faro and Tavira. The Ria de Alvor estuary, leaving from Alvor, is the other calm-water option.

The Ria de Alvor estuary

Golf: I am not a golfer and cannot get excited by it, but I would be lying if I said December was not the month for it. The bars of Vilamoura are full of groups reliving their rounds, green fees are far lower than in October, and the courses are quiet enough for a quick round. The big names cluster around Vilamoura, Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo.

December green fees are far lower than in October, and the courses are quiet

A beach walk: Not a beach day, a beach walk. The long sweep of Meia Praia in Lagos, Praia da Falésia with its red cliffs, or the deserted sands of the Ilha de Tavira. Low winter sun, nobody else about, and a coffee at the one beach café still open. For me this is what the Algarve in December is actually about.

Meia Praia in Lagos: a long beach walk with nobody else about is what December in the Algarve is actually about

Up until the 20th, the Algarve is in deep low season. The water parks and theme parks are shut, there are no late-night clubs, and the smaller resorts can feel deserted. What is left is slower and, for the right person, much better: no pressure to book a restaurant, music turned down so people can actually talk, and five-star hotels at three-star prices if you search the comparison sites.

It is also when you need the least planning. There is no need to pre-book tours, tickets or even accommodation. Arrive with a list of things you would like to do and let the weather decide the order.

From the 21st everything shifts. The Portuguese working in France, Switzerland and the UK come home, and the Algarve has a huge diaspora, so the towns fill with returning families. Flights into Faro are expensive and busy from around the 20th to the 23rd, and again from the 1st to the 3rd of January as everyone heads back. Hotels in Albufeira and Lagos sell out over Christmas and New Year, so this is the one part of the month where booking well ahead matters.

Coming in to land at Faro. Flights are expensive and busy from the 20th to the 23rd, and again in the first days of January

Christmas in Portugal is a family holiday, and it happens on the evening of the 24th. This is the Consoada, the Christmas Eve dinner, and the centrepiece is bacalhau (salted cod). In our family it is always Bacalhau com Natas, cod baked in cream, because it is everyone’s favourite. The presents are opened at midnight, which I love, as it means a lie-in on Christmas morning without children badgering me at first light to see if Pai Natal (Father Christmas) has been. Christmas Day itself is a quiet day of visiting relatives and recovering from the night before.

For a visitor, this means planning. On Christmas Day the entire country closes: shops, museums, attractions, and a much reduced bus and train service. Many restaurants close too, and those that open for a Christmas lunch are booked out weeks in advance. In Albufeira and Lagos there will always be a handful of bars serving a full Christmas dinner, but book a table before you fly. A rental apartment with a kitchen is a real advantage on both the 24th and the 25th.

Every pastelaria window in December is filled with Bolo Rei, the crown-shaped Christmas cake studded with candied fruit and nuts.

Insight: Merry Christmas in Portuguese is “Feliz Natal”, and Happy New Year is “Feliz Ano Novo”.

New Year’s Eve (Passagem de Ano) is the big night out, and Albufeira hosts the largest party in southern Portugal, with a concert and fireworks on the beach in front of the Old Town. The bars of the Strip are busier than on any night of the summer. Lagos, Portimão and Vilamoura all have fireworks over their waterfronts too, but Albufeira is where the crowd goes.

The Strip in Albufeira. On New Year's Eve the bars are busier than on any night of the summer

In the low season I would always be close to one of the larger towns with a permanent population: Lagos, Albufeira, Vilamoura or Tavira. The smaller resorts built around second homes, such as Armação de Pêra, Carvoeiro and Olhos de Água, can feel like ghost towns in the first half of December: whole apartment blocks behind closed shutters and just a single café open.

Albufeira is the classic resort holiday, and my recommendation for families and for Christmas week itself. It is central, and the Old Town beach is sheltered by its headland from the westerly winds, so it always feels a few degrees warmer. The Old Town is packed with restaurants and bars that stay open all year, and on a bright day it feels like mid-June. My brother’s family week here was a success: parents relaxing, kids on the beach and ice cream at every opportunity. I stay in the Old Town, as the New Town and the Strip still manage to feel rowdy at weekends, and more so over Christmas.

Albufeira's town beach is sheltered from the westerly winds, so it always feels a few degrees warmer

Lagos is where I go in December, and where I head when the weather in Lisbon turns. It is a lived-in town with a life beyond tourism: Portuguese spoken everywhere, restaurants run by the same family for generations, and a winter crowd of remote workers whose laptops fill the cafés each morning. Add the surfers and van lifers passing through on their way to Sagres and it has more going on than anywhere else in the region in the first half of the month.

Lagos has more going on than anywhere else in the region in the first half of December

Vilamoura is the golf base, set around a modern marina. The hotels here are the big complexes, which matters in December as they have the heated pools and indoor facilities. Expect the bars to be full of middle-aged men going over their last round over a few too many beers, safely out of sight of their partners.

Vilamoura marina, where the bars fill with golfers reliving their rounds

Tavira, far to the east, is the prettiest town of the Algarve and extremely quiet in December. It is where my parents go each winter, drawn by mornings in a café by the river and then a potter around the town or the empty beach on the Ilha de Tavira. For me it is too quiet, but for them it is exactly right: warm, calm, safe and friendly.

Tavira, the prettiest town of the Algarve and where my parents spend each winter

Albufeira for families and Christmas, Lagos for most, Vilamoura for golf, Tavira for the slow version, and Lisbon if you want nightlife before the 21st.

Whichever town you choose, hire a car for at least a few days. Without one you are tied to a quiet hotel complex or a sleepy town centre, and the best of the Algarve in December is in the day trips.

Think about pools and heating before anything else. An outdoor pool, however pretty, is a backdrop for photos in December, and apartments and villas with an unheated pool are not worth paying extra for. If you want to swim, you need one of the large hotel complexes with a heated or indoor pool.

Heating matters more in December than in November. Many Algarve apartments and villas were built for summer and have no heating beyond the air conditioning unit switched to warm. If, like my wife, you feel the cold, check this before booking.

For the first three weeks there are steep discounts, often at the larger hotel complexes. The booking sites pre-reserve rooms through the year, so once you have settled on a hotel, compare a few different websites. For Christmas and New Year week, book early and look for a hotel chain that lets you reserve without a deposit, so you can change your mind if plans shift.

Pack layers. A December day can start cold, be T-shirt weather by lunchtime and need a proper jacket as soon as the sun sets. Bring sunglasses, as the low winter sun is in your eyes all afternoon. If you are hiking the clifftops or walking the beaches, bring shoes with some grip for the paths after rain.