BEST PLACES TO STAY IN PORTUGAL - FAZENDA NOVA, TAVIRA

If you really want to get to know the Algarve, stay at this thoughtfully renovated country house. British owners Tim and Hallie Robinson have scoured the area. The couple makes fantastically helpful hosts with their spot-on advice about the best food markets, the restaurants serving the tastiest fish, where to buy the local wicker and straw, and where to find little coves that are only accessible by boat. But it will be hard to tear yourself away from the lovely peace of the house itself, which is 25 minutes inland from Faro. The grounds are a delight, rambling and romantic. 

BEST PLACES TO STAY IN PORTUGAL - IMANI COUNTRY HOUSE, ÉVORA

Many people who come here are drawn by the Almendres Cromlech, Portugal's most important Megalithic site, which dates from 6000 BC to 4000BC and is minutes away. Those who return, however, do so for Imani itself, it's perfectly round swimming pool, 13 hectares of garden and parkland where the two donkeys, Almendra and Eça, graze and Cat, the cat, roams through the fragrant lavender that lines the cobbled paths. The long drive is flanked by cypress trees leading up to a row of what were once stables and are now six bedrooms with one more up a flight of stairs.

BEST PLACES TO STAY IN PORTUGAL - MONTE CHORA CASCAS, MONTEMOR-O-NOVO

The house, or "monte", is a typical old Alentejan farmstead. Seven pared-back bedrooms, with terracotta floors and vases of fresh flowers, spill out onto bougainvilleas-edged terraces, some private, most shared. Boldly colored walls are offset by heavy white Portuguese linens, Provençal-style lamps and sun-bleached wood. Shutters and ceiling fans keep the whole place breezy in the height of the summer and there's a swimming pool in the garden, as tempting for its view of the 13th century castle that dominates neighboring Montemor-o-Novo as for its cool water.

BEST PLACES TO STAY IN PORTUGAL - MONTE DA FORNALHA, ALENTEJO

Surounded by gnarled olive trees and glossy-leaved oranges and limes, the main house here is topped by a row of typically squat Alentejan chimneys used to smoke the slightly spicy local sausages and black hams. It was inhabited by 10 different families in the 18th century and, over the past 15 years, owner Orlanda Alves has created a hugely welcoming spot, knocking down partitions to make six large bedrooms. It's an excellent base from which to explore the off-the-beaten-track Alentejo, with its dusty hilltop towns and centuries-old castles.

BEST PLACES TO STAY IN PORTUGAL - VILLA PEDRA, COIMBRA

Arriving here, after winding upwards on narrow roads that cut through wildflower meadows, it's gorgeous. When the car stops, silence falls, broken only by the whistle of the wind and the distante honking of geese. Victor Mineiro, the architect of these seven fantastically renovated cottages and adjoining restaurant, will appear. He brims with enthusiasm for a project he has spent more than a decade working on, since him and its partner Manuel Casal decided to breathe new life into the abandoned village.

BEST PLACES TO STAY IN PORTUGAL - L' AND VINEYARDS, ALENTEJO

Breathtakingly and innovative when it opened in 2011, with its rooftop windows that roll back at the flick of a button for views straight up to the star-studded night sky, L'AND continues its stellar theme by becoming the first restaurant in the Alentejo region to gain a Michelin star by the hand of chef Miguel Laffan. The 22 bedrooms are set out among the vineyards with their airy interiors. Across from the rooms is the swimming pool, edged by thick-cushioned, charcoal-coloured daybeds, a small lake and a Caudalie SPA.