There are plenty of things to do should you want a change from the beaches. Here are a few ideas, but there really is something for everyone.
Parque da Floresta
About a mile from the apartment is the Parque da Floresta which has a spa with massage and various relaxing and beauty treatments.
Tiffany's riding centre
Just up the road from Salema is Tiffany's riding centre which is open all year, so just drop in for a visit.
Lagos
Lagos, which is 20 miles to the east of Salema, is a historic, walled town, the principal port of Western Algarve, and offers superb beaches, top-class shopping, a range of sporting facilities and boat trips to the extraordinary sandstone coves and caves to the west of the town. There is a museum, a zoo and Lagos is also the western terminus of the famous Algarve railway.
Parque Zoologocio de Lagos
Lagos, 12 miles east of Salema, is a historic, walled town. There is the Parque Zoologocio de Lagos. The Zoo has over 120 different species of animals and 200 botanical species and offers a fun and educational day out for the whole family.
Slide'n'Splash
Slide'nSplash is a large water park about 20 miles east at Lagoa and is considered the biggest of its kind in the country. The Park especially aims at featuring a full-day of fun for visitors.
Zoomarine
Zoomarine at Guia (about 40 miles east) is a great family theme park.
Algarve Jeep Safari
The Algarve Jeep Safari is fun, informative and takes you to parts of the Algarve that you would never find on your own.
Algarve Shopping Centre
The open-air Algarve Shopping Centre has over 100 shops, including designer shops and is about three quarters of an hour's drive away. There is an impressive food court with 30 restaurants that should satisfy just about any appetite. There is also a 9 screen Cinema (all films in English) and a "RocknBowl" Fun Centre. There is also the Bichinhos Carpinteiros Playground, which is for children aged 2 – 12 years.
Sagres
Sagres, 11 miles to the west, was where Henry the Navigator established his School of Navigation in the fifteenth century, where explorers like Magellan and Vasco da Gama learned the skills that enabled them to become the first Europeans to set eyes on the Indian and Pacific oceans.
Most of the medieval town was destroyed in the great earthquake of 1755, but Henry's Fortaleza survives, now serving as a museum, and notable as well for its enormous "Rosa de Ventos" – a compass to indicate the direction of the wind.
Sagres has a slightly end of the world feel to it, but has several very attractive beaches, any number of good fish restaurants, and you can learn to surf, dive or parasail.
Cabo de Sao Vicente
Cabo de Sao Vicente – Cape St Vincent – a few miles further on from Sagres, is the most south-westerly point on the European mainland. The waves here are frequently stupendous and the sunsets magnificent.