Ponta da Piedade

Ponta da Piedade is a headland just south of Lagos where wind and sea have carved golden sandstone into arches, grottoes and freestanding pillars that drop straight into turquoise water. A steep staircase and a network of wooden walkways lead down from the clifftop car park to several lookout points, while small boats thread through the rock formations below. A lighthouse from 1913 marks the point itself. The paths are unshaded and the drops are real, but the reward is one of the Algarve's most photographed stretches of coastline.