Hotels in Portimão

Portimão is a working Algarve port city rather than a purpose-built resort, with its beach district at Praia da Rocha — a big, cliff-backed strip of sand with the bars and hotel towers to match. In the hills a few kilometres north sits the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve, the rollercoaster circuit that hosts Portugal's MotoGP round.

That combination makes this one of the easiest race trips going: stay at Praia da Rocha or in the town centre and the track is a 15-minute drive, with Faro airport about 45 minutes east. Shoulder-season race dates mean decent weather and sane prices; the immediate circuit area has little, so stay coastal.