Spectacular coastline, cheap wine – and no one will point a water pistol at you: MARK PALMER tells you how you can’t go wrong with a beach holiday in the tourist-friendly Algarve

Where are they all? I keep asking myself this question on a holiday in the Algarve in high season, when, I am told, half of Britain heads to this sunny, reasonably priced, friendly, spectacular coast.

But on Gale Beach, a long, sandy stretch west of busy Albufeira, about 45 minutes from Faro, our fellow sunbathers are mainly Portuguese, with a few Dutch and Germans thrown in. Either the Brits aren’t there or they’re keeping unusually quiet.

A similar situation is seen on the second day, when we (ten adults and six children, all under five years old) go on a day long BBQ on the beach, where we get on a boat with about 100 passengers to explore some caves along the coast towards Lagros, then we anchor and swim or get on a small boat to the coast.

Again, hard to say for sure, but I think we were the only Brits on this particular outing. Which makes me think that clichéd impressions of the Algarve are not entirely accurate.

We are staying near Gale Beach in two adjacent four-bedroom villas, rented through Solmar Villas, a family-run business (established in 1994) that prides itself on personal service and, in my experience, delivers.

Making an impression: Mark Palmer enjoys the delights of Portugal’s Algarve, visiting Praia do Castelo (above)

The higher-spec villa, Casa das Tilias, has its own tennis court and is set in mature gardens with flowering hibiscus, a Norfolk pine (native to South Africa), palms and banana plants. We – and especially the kids – love the large swimming pool, more the size of a pool you see in some hotels. And the outdoor snooker table attracts plenty of action too.

Villa Charlota is less luxurious, but still comfortable, with a ping-pong table, a built-in barbecue and space for two cars.

First stop – and then a kind of daily pilgrimage – is the local supermarket, which is always a good way to assess the locals. Here they are as friendly as ever. The young woman at the checkout even offers to help us pack our groceries. Mind you, the receipt for our first big shop splutters out of the machine for what seems like an eternity.

Mark is staying at Casa das Tilias (pictured), a four-bedroom villa he rented through Solmar Villas

Casa das Tilias has its own tennis court and is set in ‘mature’ gardens, Mark reveals

There’s no hostility to tourists here; no shooting water pistols while you sip a cup of coffee. And it’s worth remembering that Portugal has long had strong ties with Britain, dating back to the 1386 Treaty of Windsor, which cemented relations. They’ve never been broken (although Cristiano Ronaldo’s gleeful wink as Wayne Rooney was sent off in the 2006 World Cup came close).

It is the unique backdrop of the Algarve beaches that makes them so impressive, with the Miocene limestone and sandstone cliffs rising vertically into the sky and best seen from the sea.

While Gale Beach is vast, Praia do Castelo, a three-minute drive or 30-minute walk from our villas, is surrounded by giant boulders. We take our rental cars and find that there are no ‘pay and display’ rules. You just find a spot and fill it.

Mark visits Gale Beach (seen above), a long, sandy stretch west of ‘busy’ Albufeira

There are two lifeguards on duty but they are more concerned about people camping near the cliffs in case any crumbling rocks fall on them. Best of all there is a whitewashed restaurant hut at one end of the beach and miraculously we manage to book a table and enjoy a fantastic lunch.

This kind of setting in the south of France would be financially ruinous, but here the local wine costs less than £15 a bottle. A single glass would cost you that much elsewhere in the Mediterranean.

One day we visit Guia and have lunch at Ramires, which specializes in the local piri-piri chicken. The restaurant is located in a beautiful old building. Ordering is easy: choose spicy or not so spicy and again the clientele consists almost entirely of locals.

Above you see the town of Silves, famous for its red-stone castle, where 6,000 Moors were slaughtered in 1189. The feast day of Mark coincides with a festival in the town.

Our week coincides with the annual medieval festival in the town of Silves, about 30 minutes inland. We had always planned to visit, not least to see the famous red-stone castle that witnessed the massacre of 6,000 Moors in 1189. Silves was once the capital of the Algarve – and remains the standout town in the area. We eat spectacularly well under the shade of the trees at Cafe Ingles, right next to the 13th-century cathedral, with kitchens built into the city walls.

Choose your spot wisely in the Algarve and you will never go wrong. Sun and sea are guaranteed in the summer and the heat lasts well into October, perfect for the autumn holidays.

And I promise no one will point a water pistol at you.