2/03

I was in the Algarve with my hubby for about 5 days last summer. We drove around the southern coast of Portugal. I had heard a lot from friends about the large number of women who go topless on these beaches but was surprised to see less than 10% of topless women on the beaches.

From what I saw the few women who were topless were very comfortable and no one was looking at them but I didn't feel too comfortable. I stayed in my thongs and kept my top on. Nearly all the women going in to the water were covering up. Again just to be clear I don't think there would have been an issue going topless but I wasn't comfortable being the minority.

--Amita, Houston, Texas

10/02

We've just returned from a holiday in the Algarve, Portugal. We spent most of our time at our rented villa by the private pool ­ naturally topless was the rule there!

We did visit a couple of beaches though. The first was near Tavira in the Eastern Algarve, taking the boat to the island off-shore. Here the beachgoers were predominantly Portuguese and topless was in a very small minority. Nevertheless there were a few ­ only a handful on a large, busy beach ­ and in typical European manner, no-one paid them any particular attention. I did feel a tiny bit uncomfortable being one of such a small and dispersed group and so reluctantly kept my bikini top on during our short time on the beach.

Our second trip to a beach was to San Rafael near Albufeira ­ the tourist heart of the Algarve. There was more of a cosmopolitan mix here, including a noticeable British presence. I would put the proportion that was topless at 10%, perhaps a little higher. The atmosphere was very relaxed indeed and topless sunbathers seemed happy to walk along the beach and go in the water sans top. I was very comfortable going topless here. It was very typical of much of southern Europe in readily accepting topless bathing by those who choose to do it. I did wonder though if, sadly, topless is decreasing a bit in popularity.

--Alice, Leeds, England

6/00

I was in the Praia da Rocha, a resort on the Algarve in Portugal, for a week over Easter, with my parents (hey, they invited me to tag along for a free holiday, I wasn't going to turn it down! :-)).

Topfreedom in Portugal is fairly common, and no-one bats an eyelid to it, even on the main resort beaches.

On the main beach at Praia da Rocha, there were a small number of women, mostly in their 20's and 30's, sunbathing topfree most days while I was there, but the beach is over a mile long, and so there were not exactly LOTS of women there (although the beach was very quiet anyway; it was not as warm as it might have been). But a short walk along the coast and through the tunnel to the coves at Praia du Vau, and probably at least half of the women there, young and old, were topfree.

I got chatting to a couple of German girls on the beach one day, both of whom were topfree, and from the look of their tans, had not worn a top while sunbathing all holiday. My German is a little ropey these days (it's 6 years since I studied it last) but from what I understood they were saying, no-one had given them any hassle about their attire), and they had seen no gawkers. It was more because of their position on the beach (they were very close to the mouth of the tunnel) that anyone had really looked at them at all.

While topfreedom was restricted solely to the beaches in my experience, there were plenty of women walking around topfree, paddling in the sea (it was much too cold to swim) and playing frizby or beach-tennis. I spoke to numerous other people on the beaches during the week, all of whom backed up what the two German girls had said. They had not been stared at for being topfree, and while there were several people (like me!) walking around with cameras (the beach and the rocks are one of the most astounding naturally beautiful sights in Europe), no-one had felt like anyone was intentionally just there to take photos of them. I *did* take a few photographs of girls I spoke to, but only those who were willing, and they didn't see it as a problem at all.

I think, to be honest, that *I* got more stares than the topfree women on the beaches, because of my very pale skin and my Megadeth t-shirt!

The only other beach I visited, at Luz, was very full of people on the day we visited, and there were about 10 or 15 topfree women (mostly young) on the beach, but this was quite a small proportion of the beach users, because it was very crowded that day.

--Martin, Manchester, UK

5/00

My late wife and I visited several beaches in Algarve, Portugal during 09/89, 09/91, and 07/93.  In both town and rural on these trips - the rule seems to be topless is entirely acceptable on the beach and away from cafes and concessions, about 50% of all women are topfree 80% of the time. Some tops go back on for a walk or (always) to go to a cafe or concession. Hotel and resort pools and terraces, and busy small town beaches seem to be the exception - stay covered. Most of the visitors to these areas are from northern Europe and have few inhibitions.

Did my wife go top-free? post-mastectomy - no, and probably would not have done beforehand either.

--Allan, Alberta, Canada