SUNSET AT THE EDGE OF EUROPE

The bars along the Praia da Rocha promenade range from the excellent to the forgettable, and the trick is knowing which is which. The best approach is to walk the full length of the promenade in the late afternoon and look for two things: a terrace with an unobstructed view of the cliffs, and a bar that is making its own cocktails rather than opening bottles of Sagres.

NoSoloAgua, at the western end of the beach, is the standout. It operates as a beach club during the day and transitions into a cocktail bar as the sun drops. The signature drink is a Medronho Sour -- made with medronho, the Algarve's local firewater distilled from arbutus berries -- and it is the correct thing to order. The terrace is directly on the sand, the cliffs are directly in front of you, and the sunset, on a clear evening, is the kind of thing that makes you reach for your phone and then put it away again.

Club Nau at Praia Grande, a short drive west of Portimao, is the kind of place that does not look like much from the road but reveals itself completely once you are standing on its terrace. It is built into the clifftop above a small cove, with a view of the Atlantic that extends, on a clear day, to what feels like the edge of the world.

The cocktail list is longer than you expect and more considered than the setting suggests. The house speciality is a Gin Tonica -- the Portuguese gin and tonic, served in a large balloon glass with ice, cucumber, and a generous pour of premium gin -- which has become the national drink of Portugal in the last decade and is executed here with the seriousness it deserves.

The most honest drinking in Portimao happens not on the beach but in the harbour tascas -- the small, dark bars along the waterfront where the fishermen drink after work. These are not cocktail bars. They serve cold beer, cheap wine, and medronho in small glasses. The decor is functional. The conversation is in Portuguese.

They are also, without exception, excellent. The beer is cold, the wine is local and inexpensive, and the medronho -- if you are brave enough to order it -- is the kind of thing that clarifies your thinking in a way that is either very useful or very dangerous, depending on the time of day.

The best of these tascas are on Rua Judice Fialho, in the old town, and they open in the early evening and close when the last person leaves.