Property HEJ56734, Holiday Villa for rental in Monchique, Western Algarve, Portugal

Lush, verdant hills fade to a broad plain punctuated by villages, and the distant sea defines the horizon in this breathtaking spot. A wooded hillside provides a peaceful and private setting for a magical holiday. Cerca da Cima is an engagingly simple and pretty cottage which harmonises perfectly with its glorious surroundings. The three-bedroom interior is a charming combination of pretty floral prints and painted bedsteads with rustic wood and mellow terracotta. The bathroom is marble and the kitchen well fitted, so the country cottage charm has not been kept at the expense of creature comforts.A venerable fig tree spreads its canopy across the veranda and a vine corkscrews around the rustic trellis, casting a pool of soft green shade in high summer. A flower garden surrounds the stone bathing pool (formerly the cistern), whilst a stone bench beneath the shady trellis is the perfect spot to rest and contemplate the scene, perhaps espying your neighbour below, tilling the vegetable patch as his donkey crops the grass by a small stone cottage.It is now a far cry from the days when Cerca da Cima was still the local pub. Road access, still narrow enough to deter the merely curious, has brought this beautiful area into closer touch with Monchique, under four kilometres away. It may still seem wonderfully remote but in fact, shops and restaurants are within easy reach; the perfect recipe for those in search of peace in surroundings of great natural beauty.