The Algarve in November: Weather, Sea Temperature, Crowds and a Two-Day Itinerary

THE ALGARVE · NOVEMBER · FARO STATION 554

By November the Algarve’s beaches have been off lifeguard duty for weeks. The 2026 order from Portugal’s official gazette ends the season on September 30 in Lagos, Faro, Tavira and six other councils, and on October 15 in Albufeira. The afternoons stay mild. At Faro the average November high is 67.3°F, warm enough for a cliff trail at noon and lunch on a terrace.

A November trip keeps midday walking weather and a sea that still reads 65.3°F at its daily peak. It gives up supervised swimming, the long summer evening, and a share of dry days: 6.6 bring measurable rain at Faro in an average November.

On this page

• Algarve weather in November67.3°F highs and 6.6 rain days at Faro
• Can you swim in November?A 65.3°F sea with no lifeguards
• Crowds, prices and bookingLow season and a toll-free A22
• Things to do in NovemberSagres fortress and a guided Benagil kayak
• A two-day Algarve itineraryLagos and Sagres, then Benagil
• October or December instead?6.6°F warmer or 4.5°F cooler
• Is November a good time to visit?Yes for walkers, no for swimmers

Two full days, driven from a single base, cover the west coast and Benagil, and our itinerary below does exactly that. For the flight over, routes and connections live in our flights-from-the-US guide, and the eastern base is covered in our Faro guide. Still choosing a month for the whole country? The 12-month verdict for Portugal ranks the year.

Algarve weather in November: average highs, lows and rain days

Portugal’s weather service, IPMA, publishes 1991-2020 normals for station 554 at Faro, 5 meters above sea level, and every figure here comes from that real thermometer rather than a model grid cell. An average November afternoon peaks at 67.3°F, nights settle at 53.4°F, and the month collects 2.97 inches of rain. One caution before you pack: Faro sits at the eastern end of a coast about 150 km (93 miles) long. High ground inland runs colder and far wetter, and the western end keeps its own weather, so a mountain hike needs its own forecast.

Rain falls on 6.6 days of an average November, counting any day with at least 1 mm (0.04 inch). That is measurable rain about one day in four or five, or one to two days in a typical week. Heavier days of 10 mm (0.39 inch) or more come 2.7 times a month, about one in eleven. IPMA’s thresholds are its own: American tables count from 0.10 inch, so a US-style count for Faro could only come out equal or lower, and the two figures do not swap. Keep one flexible day in the trip for the boat or kayak outing.

Afternoons and nights sit 13.9°F apart at Faro, 67.3°F against 53.4°F. A T-shirt handles the midday walk, and a sweater or light jacket comes out once the sun drops. Add a packable rain shell for the wet days and shoes with grip for cliff paths after a shower. Our Portugal packing list covers the full bag.

On November 15 the Algarve gets about 10 hours 14 minutes of daylight. The sun rises at 7:09 am and sets at 5:23 pm, and mainland Portugal keeps UTC through the winter, so those clock times match the published UTC ones. A beach walk begun at 4:00 pm has 83 minutes before sunset. Put outdoor sights in the morning and early afternoon, and keep the evening for dinner.

Can you swim in the Algarve in November? Sea temperature and what it feels like

The Open-Meteo Marine API puts the sea surface off the Algarve at 65.3°F in November, averaged over 2015-2024. That figure is a mean of daily maxima: each day’s warmest reading, averaged across the month. A 24-hour mean runs a shade cooler, so an early-morning swim meets water slightly below 65.3°F.

At 65.3°F the first plunge is bracing, and a long swim suits people used to cold water, often in a wetsuit. The bigger change is legal. The 2026 order sets no Algarve lifeguard season past October 15, the closing date in Albufeira, so every November swim is unsupervised, whatever the thermometer says. Beaches missing from the order had no assured cover even at publication.

We found no November wind or swell series for the Algarve, so we give no wave height and rank no stretch of coast as calmer. With nobody on duty, the sea call is yours each morning: check the day’s marine forecast before a swim or a paddle, and treat a tour operator’s cancellation as final. Our Portugal safety guide covers the beach basics.

How busy is the Algarve in November? Crowds and prices

November falls in the Algarve’s low season, a calendar fact tied to the close of the beach year. We found no hotel-rate or occupancy series, so we name no month as the cheapest and quote no nightly price.

We also found no booking-lead data, so we set no deadline in weeks. For rooms and tours, favor rates you can change: with 6.6 wet days in an average month, a Benagil kayak morning may need to move by a day. The coast’s bases, from Lagos to Tavira, are compared in our where-to-stay guide.

We could not verify a municipal tourist-tax rate for the Algarve councils, so we give no amount. Ask your hotel at booking whether a tourist tax applies and how it is collected.

A rental car is where extra spending changes a November trip most. The A22, the Via do Infante that runs the length of the Algarve, charges nothing: Infraestruturas de Portugal keeps its toll rates at zero under Lei n.º 37/2024 of August 7. That zero covers named roads such as the A22, A24 and A25, and it is not a general rule for Portuguese motorways. With about ten hours of light, the car decides how much coast fits in a day. Our car rental guide covers insurance and pickup.

Things to do in the Algarve in November

At 67.3°F, a November afternoon near Faro is walking weather straight through lunchtime. The cliff path at Ponta da Piedade outside Lagos and the headland at Sagres both suit a late-morning start, and a sea-cave paddle at Benagil still runs as a guided tour.

At the Fortaleza de Sagres, gates open 9:30 am to 5:30 pm with last entry at 5:00 pm, and one ticket covers the fortress and the Sagres promontory. We could not read the full adult price at source, so ask at the gate. At Benagil, the maritime authority’s Edital 019/2024, amended in 2025, bans swimming into the sea cave and landing on its inner beach. Licensed guided kayak and paddleboard groups enter by the eastern arch for up to eight minutes, and solo kayak rental ended in July 2025.

Faro’s afternoon high drops from 73.9°F in October to 67.3°F in November, and the fortress still opens 9:30 am to 5:30 pm. That puts the 5:00 pm last entry 23 minutes before the 5:23 pm sunset: inside by five, you can watch the sun go down from the promontory before the gates close at 5:30. At Benagil the cap on a guided paddle group stays at eight minutes, and the morning’s sea state decides whether the tour goes out.

The Sagres fortress waives its ticket on Sundays and public holidays until 2:00 pm, but only for residents of Portugal, so visitors pay every day of the week. The A22 costs nothing to drive, and our Portugal things-to-do guide lists more open-air stops along the coast.

The Algarve in November: a two-day itinerary

Start day one at 9:00 am on the Ponta da Piedade cliffs by Lagos, under two hours after the 7:09 sunrise, and walk until late morning. Take a long lunch in Lagos, then drive west toward Sagres in mid-afternoon. Get through the fortress gates before the 5:00 pm last entry, walk the promontory, and stay for the 5:23 pm sunset before the 5:30 close. Book dinner for after dark.

On day two, book a guided kayak or paddleboard tour at Benagil with a licensed operator for the morning, and expect eight minutes inside the cave at most. Spend the afternoon on the cliffs around Carvoeiro. If the forecast turns (2.7 days a month bring 10 mm of rain or more), swap the two days, or take the A22 east for an old-town day in Faro and Tavira.

The Algarve in November vs October and December

From October to December at Faro, the average high falls 6.6°F from 73.9°F to 67.3°F, then another 4.5°F to 62.8°F. Nights drop faster going into November: lows slide 7.0°F from 60.4°F to 53.4°F, then 3.9°F to 49.5°F. Rain climbs from 2.20 inches to 2.97 and 3.54, with rain days at 6.0, 6.6 and 7.0. The sea steps down 2.0°F to 65.3°F, then 1.9°F more to 63.4°F.

Moving four weeks earlier gets you water 2.0°F warmer, 0.6 fewer rain days and, in Albufeira only, lifeguards until October 15. Moving four weeks later adds 0.57 inch of rain and trims highs to 62.8°F, a trip for sightseeing over swimming. The Algarve in October and the Algarve in December carry the detail for each.

Is November a good time to visit the Algarve?

Yes, for travelers who want the coast for walking, driving and sightseeing: 67.3°F afternoons, a guided kayak into Benagil, and the Sagres sunset inside opening hours. No, for a swimming vacation. A 65.3°F sea with nobody on duty makes a beach week a gamble.

If the answer is no, pick October, and its first half if supervised water matters. Albufeira’s lifeguard season runs to October 15, the only Algarve council covered past September 30, with Faro highs averaging 73.9°F.

Of October, November and December, November is the last in which Faro’s afternoons average above 65°F and its nights stay above 50°F.

The last word

If the trip needs a swim, go in October. If it doesn’t, book November and plan each day around the light. At Benagil, pick the paddle over the motorboat: motorized boats get two minutes inside the cave, entering by the western arch and keeping 15 meters (49 feet) off the rock, against up to eight minutes for a guided kayak group.

Sources & data for the Algarve in November

• Faro normals 1991-2020, October to December (highs, lows, precipitation, rain days at 1 mm and 10 mm) · IPMA, station 554 Faro, 5 m · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Sea surface temperature, mean of daily maxima 2015-2024 · Open-Meteo Marine API · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Daylight, sunrise and sunset on November 15 · sunrise-sunset.org, UTC matching Lisbon winter time · checked Sep 24, 2026
• 2026 lifeguard seasons by council · Diário da República, Portaria n.º 204-A/2026/1 of April 30, 2026, annex I · checked Sep 24, 2026
• Benagil access rules · Autoridade Marítima Nacional, Edital 019/2024 as amended by Edital 009/2025, relayed by regional guides and the Portimão harbor office · we did not read the edict text ourselves · checked September 2026
• Fortaleza de Sagres hours and resident-only free Sundays · Monumentos do Algarve, regional culture directorate · the full ticket price loads in JavaScript and the ticket shop was unreachable, so we give none · checked Sep 24, 2026
• A22 zero toll rate · Infraestruturas de Portugal, Portagens page · Lei n.º 37/2024 · checked Sep 24, 2026
• We found no occupancy, hotel-rate, booking-lead, tourist-tax or swell data, so we give no figure for any of them. Hours and tour rules change · check operators when you book.

To plan your stay

• Things to Do in the Algarve: Sea Caves, Cliff Trails, Lagoon Ferries and Winter Golf
• Where to Stay in the Algarve: Sagres, Albufeira, Tavira and the Car Question
• Things to Know Before Going to the Algarve: the Toll-Free A22, Cliff Stairs, Tides and Fish by Weight
• Day Trips from the Algarve: Benagil, Sagres, Ria Formosa and Seville

Nearby places

• Carvoeiro, Portugal: the Cove, Algar Seco and the Seven Hanging Valleys Trailhead
• Tavira, Portugal: the Island Ferry, the Old Town and Where to Stay
• Sagres, Portugal: Wind, the Beaches on Both Sides and Cabo de São Vicente