THE ALGARVE TUSCANY

Why the off-season is special

There is a gentleness to the Algarve in the winter months by which those who only come in the blinding light of summer would be enchanted. Those harsh contrasts of white-washed chimneys set against cobalt skies take on a softness due to the season’s low sun, blurring sharp edges. The shocking pink bougainvillea, which shamelessly flaunts itself all summer long bows out, making way for the delicate blush pink of winter’s almond blossom. Storks gather en-masse, turning fields and riversides into moving chequerboards, as they plan their homeward flight. The climate is increasingly dry and rain is rare; the nights are deliciously cool, free of summer’s sticky limbs and the background hum of mosquitos.

For us locals, “off-season” is what we love. Gone are the traffic jams, the queues in the shops and the crowded beaches. Prices come down everywhere. We can walk our dogs along the seafront again and just turn up at our favourite restaurant on the sands knowing that a sea bass drizzled with local olive oil will be ours for the asking. No reservations needed.

Perhaps the joys of off-season are really the Algarve’s best-kept secret. Those who love European soul and sunshine, walks along the beach, al fresco dining and uncrowded spaces should really try it. You will be amazed.

Winter savings

Airlines run a much sparser schedule in winter, but flights are considerably cheaper than during the high season. Right now, if you are tempted by a weekend away, a Saturday 7am flight with BA from Gatwick on Dec 9 gets you to Faro for £60. And there is a return on Dec 12 also for £60. Compare that to a weekend in July, where similar return flights are already at just under £300.

Then there are the hotels. The most important thing for a winter visit is to ensure that the hotel swimming pool is heated, not something that is typical on the Algarve. On the west coast, child-centric Martinhal Sagres resort (00 351 282 240 200; martinhal.com) has just that, a warm pool which overlooks

the beach. There are a variety of rooms and villas there, but a twobedroom townhouse which sleeps two adults and two children up to 12 would be £125 per night during February half term as opposed to £501 in August.

Those who prefer a fully staffed rental property have a brilliant opportunity to take over the impressive Red Chalet (vilavitacollection.com) in the centre of the Algarve, which comes into its own in winter and where its lack of swimming pool is not important. It sleeps eight and the price for winter is £2,175 per night instead of £3,914 in summer.

Holidaymakers happy with selfcatering should snap up the fourbedroom Monte da Palmeira (montedapalmeira.com), a traditional Algarvian farmhouse which has been beautifully restored. Think log fires and a garden of orange trees under blue skies. In January it costs £652 per night; in July £1,044.

What to do

Just opened is Aquashow’s new indoor water park. Don’t miss the Tornado, an 85ft-high tower built for thrills (aquashowpark.com). Try the new walking routes through traditional mountain villages and forests around Monchique, the highest point on the Algarve (viaalgarviana.org). A new gallery from one of the Algarve’s most exciting artists opens this month. Galeria Belchior (126 Rua Infante D. Henrique, Portimão) will display the goats and donkeys that artist Meinke Flesseman is famous for alongside her evocative water paintings. Lastly, do dip into the recently unveiled Islamic Bath Museum in Loulé. An important find, these date from the 12th century (cm-loule.pt).

Join the locals

The beach is for summer; the restaurant for winter. Dine out on hearty Portuguese fare in one of the simple tascas, or inns, which serve game at this time of year, or go to Rei das Prais for the freshest of fish (restaurantereidaspraias.com).

Mary Lussiana

Winter savings

Flights to Pisa with British Airways (ba. com) offer substantial winter savings. At the time of writing, a midweek seven-day return from Heathrow costs from £60 departing February 7, while a similar return departing June 7 costs from £146.

Packages, too, reflect cheaper flights and accommodation rates. Citalia (01293 324633; citalia.com), for example, offers three nights’ B&B, with flights and private transfers, at the Hotel Balestri (00 39 055 214743; hotel-balestri.it) in Florence from £595 per person departing January 19, against a price of £1,095 – a saving of £500 – for the same package departing July 20.

Among museums and galleries offering winter discounts are some of the region’s best: in Florence they include the Uffizi, Italy’s finest art gallery, where tickets from November to February cost £10.50 as opposed to £17.50 the rest of the year, and the Palazzo Pitti – which has an almost equally dazzling art collection – where prices drop from £14 to £8.75 for the same direction.

What to do

Cultural sightseeing is the obvious city draw and in Florence, one of Europe’s busiest cities, off-season visits make a huge difference. Timed tickets for galleries such as the Uffizi (uffizi. it) and the Accademia (accademia.org), which houses Michelangelo’s David, are easier to come by and queues are much shorter.

Most towns and cities have local food festivals and other small events, usually aimed at children, in the run-up to Christmas, but Tuscany’s biggest winter event is the Viareggio Carnival (Feb 4, 12, 16, 19, 21 and 25; viareggio.ilcarnevale.com), with processions of vast floats, food stalls and more.

In Florence, the Firenze Winter Park, a “winter wonderland” on the banks of the Arno, is a popular family outing for its food, skating and other activities.

Pisa’s Palazzo Blu has the region’s major art exhibition, devoted to the macchiaioli (macchiaiolipisa.it; until Feb 26), a group of impressionist-like Italian painters; with Henry Moore in Florence (museonovecento.it; to March 31) the main show in that particular city.

For further information on what is going on across the region, see visittuscany.com/en/events; for more on Florentine exhibitions, markets, festivals and more, see feelflorence.it/en/events

Join the locals

Food is as big a part of Tuscan life in winter as it is the rest of the year – only the menus change, especially in the countryside, where you can sit down with locals to indulge in hearty soups (ribollita, pappa al pomodoro), ceps (porcini) and other mushrooms, and the season’s first winter truffles (tartufi).

In town, other rituals remain the same, either in bars – where you will want to blend in by ordering a cioccolata calda (hot chocolate) – or the see-and-beseen of the Saturday and Sunday promenade, or passeggiata, where numbers in towns are swollen by shoppers pouring in for the saldi, or winter sales.

Tim Jepson