Most visitors remember Portugal’s Algarve for its 100-plus miles of golden, sun-drenched beaches. We remember this southern coast of Portugal for the quiet, white-washed villages and dramatic cliffs of its far western corner. And for the superbly serene Finisterra Spa at Martinhal Sagres Family Beach Resort, where we first discovered what a massage and facial could do for aching
shoulders and faces parched from days of hiking along the sun-washed clifftops. Neither I nor my husband, Tim, had been fans of spas before that trip, but Finisterra made us believers.

This year we returned for a longer getaway, beginning our stay with arrival-day massages to smooth out the kinks from the long overnight flight.

We’d booked in advance for our arrival afternoon and began feeling refreshed as soon as we entered the tranquil Finisterra lobby. With only six treatment rooms, the spa maintains an air of calm that prompted us to slow our pace and breathe more deeply.

Tim opted for the 80-minute Relaxing Massage, a full- body massage designed for deep relaxation. I chose the shorter 50-minute Relaxing Massage and the add-on Full Body Wrap, in hopes its deep hydration would give my skin a head start on the days to come. While I hydrated, I dozed off from overnight-flight sleep deprivation.

© Martinhal Sagres Family Beach Resort

Finisterra offers choices for all ages and family members, from baby massages, Mum & Child back massages and teenage skincare to foot massages for grandparents. Teen & Tween rituals include facials, masks and establishing beauty routines. Massage options include detox, anti-stress deep-tissue, Ayurveda, reflexology and hot stone/seaweed treatments.

After our treatments, we met in the comfortable relaxation lounge overlooking a broad sunlit courtyard where tall clusters of native grasses waved languidly in the breeze. Treatment rooms and relaxation areas circle this central patio, maximizing natural light with a wall of windows; skylights illuminate the treatment rooms.

Like the rest of the resort, Finisterra Spa was built and decorated with local materials — native wood, stone, cork and natural fibers. These and the minimalist furnishings combine with the gently waving grasses to give the spa a harmonious, zen-like air.

Finisterra sits easily in the coastal environment, a white building on its own secluded grounds and surrounded by plants native to the Algarve. Like all the buildings at Martinhal, the contemporary architecture echoes the low profiles of traditional village structures.

Refreshed from our travels, we spent the next day lounging about the resort, with beach time and a sunset dinner on the terrace overlooking the ocean. Then we were ready for a few days exploring the western Algarve. This tranquil end of the Algarve has little in common with the beach resort towns of the central coast with their rows of high-rise tourist apartments. The villages dotting this less settled western landscape feature clusters of small white homes that seem to have grown there organically.

© Martinhal Sagres Family Beach Resort

It was from the cliff-lined point here in Sagres — the land’s end the spa is named for — that in the early 15th century Prince
Henry the Navigator gathered the best navigators, mapmakers and geographers to plan and support the voyages of exploration that made Portugal a great maritime empire. In the churches of nearby Lagos, we saw altars covered in gold brought back by these
Portuguese adventurers.

Here at Sagres, Europe’s southwesternmost point, the coast turns sharply north and into the Southwest Alentejo and Vicentine Coast Natural Park, which surrounds much of the region. Hiking trails follow the dramatic and lofty coast, across a landscape that appears barren from a distance but at closer look is carpeted with wildflowers. The best season for these begins in late February and March when dozens of different plants bloom in a rainbow of colors along the clifftops.

Hiking these trails with our cameras for a few sunny days gave us ample reason to return to Finisterra Spa. Arriving there early, we lazed in the hot tub overlooking the natural landscape before heading to our treatments. From the more than 40 choices — a
candy box of sybaritic indulgences — Tim selected the organic seaweed leaf and hot stones full-back massage, designed to relax
aching muscles with smooth, warm, volcanic stones.

The Body Beautiful treatment, my choice, immersed me in 110 minutes of pure heaven as I luxuriated in a fragrant exfoliation of
lavender and sugar, followed by a contour massage. This combined treatment also included an anti-aging facial by VOYA, enriched with a blend of seaweed mud and seaweed leaves, packed with collagen and nutrients to hydrate and nourish my skin. I don’t know if it erased any years, but it did make my face feel a lot better.

FINISTERRA SPA
Martinhal Sagres Family Beach Resort
Quinta do Martinhal
R. Balona la Real, Apartado 54
8650-908 Sagres, Portugal
tel 351 282 240 200