Sunshine, sardines and spoilt fishing villages in the Algarve

Advantages: Sunshine, beaches and scenic rocky coves, interesting inner towns
Disadvantages: Irish bars, fast food and tacky tourist shops

...Just in case there is anyone who doesn't know, the Algarve is on the coast in Southern Portugal. Most tourists get there by flying to Faro and many of the cheaper airlines fly into Faro. Therre are about a dozen options for hire cars at the Airport so you can select your favourite comapany and then drive off to find your accomodation in the Algarve. Driving seems safe and with the help of our Tomtom we found our way around easily rememberring of course to drive on the right side of the road. The Algarve; Having been unimpressed with our accommodation (Albufiera Jardim 1) and stayed in for an appointment with our representative from Resort Point Services or Resort Promotions ( another long tale of woe) we decided that we were not going to be put off the area by this and decided we would explore. ALBUFIRA: On Sunday after our abortive...

catsholiday 16.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Algarve (Portugal)

  MOOSES GUIDE TO THE ALGARVE

Advantages: Loads to do/see, reasonably priced, great for seafood lovers
Disadvantages: Many places will rip you off, bull fighting

...I quite like this travel-writing lark ~ so if anyone needs a holiday tester, please let me know! The Algarve, Portugal was not really my holiday of choice, but more a holiday of cheapness and convenience. You see I can only take holiday in the school holidays due to teaching so this generally hikes up the price of my holiday and also means that wherever I go, I am almost guaranteed to have hoards of kids dive bombing me in the hotel swimming pool! Myself and a couple of mates were looking for a cheap holiday and managed to find one for £250 to the Algarve, the only trouble was that we wouldn't know where we were staying and to be honest, the Algarve never really appealed, but it was cheap so off we went, and one of the biggest bonuses was that the flight was only 2 hours 15 mins from Stansted ~ superb for 30+ degree heat!!! GENERAL...

moose 31.07.2002 (01.08.2002) · Read review
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Review of Algarve (Portugal)

Family fun in the Algarve.

Advantages: Water parks, weather and accomodation.
Disadvantages: Three tired kids this morning!

...I went on holiday with my partner and my three step childen (ages 4, 8 and 10) so this is basically a run down of our family holiday in the Algarve. So where should I begin? With the price I suppose. About six months ago we rang up a travel agent and asked them for the cheapest holiday they had any time in September (the prices in August are that ridiculous we couldn?t afford to go). We didn?t really want a ?package? holiday as we were quite happy to hire a car so we could be mobile. A few days later they came back to us with a price of 800 pounds (my pound sign on my keyboard doesn?t work by the way!), considering there is five of us two adults and three children, I thought this very reasonable. For 800 pounds we got flights from Manchester to Faro and a weeks stay in ?Quitas das palmerias? apartments self catering. We had never...

carminator 19.09.2003 · Read review
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Review of Algarve (Portugal)

Algarve - Al Be Back Soon I Hope

Advantages: Good summer climate, nice people, good food, need I go on?
Disadvantages: Had to come home

...I?d been to the Algarve before, four years ago, staying just to the west of the famous town of Albufeira, which was as good an introduction to the southern Portuguese coast as any, although the ?Strip? of clubs, bars and Irish Pubs in the centre of Albufeira did tend to make you wonder whether you hadn?t stumbled through a rip in the space/time continuum, and come out with the date intact, but the location shifted to Southend or Blackpool during a heatwave! Anyway, we were encouraged by the fact that we didn?t HAVE to go anywhere near this part of town, and by the general friendliness of the area. Eating out is good value in Portugal ? why, we even managed to dine at the next table to ?Richard and Judy?, much to my wife?s angst, since she appreciates that kind of thing but was facing the wrong way! (Yes, she does look a lot older...

BNibbles 14.08.2002 (08.09.2002) · Read review
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Review of Algarve (Portugal)

Get out of the Resort and see the real Portugal

Advantages: A lovely part of Portugal
Disadvantages: None

...My hubby and I grabbed a last minute deal to Portugal back in April of this year and found the Algarve area really relaxing and friendly. We stayed in Albufeira which was the largest resort and very popular with the tourists. It had an area known as the strip which to me was very much like Blackpool great to have a quick look around but not very relaxing because it was full of bars and overpriced tacky shops. The old town of Albufeira was a nicer place to visit with its beach front bars and winding streets filled with shops and tavernas. The square itself was full of different restaurants, there was plenty of choice but some were quite pricey, but I liked it here because there was always some sort of entertainment. We stopped for a beer one afternoon just to listen to the Pan Pipers and ended up staying for an hour or two, after...

rosiesmum 01.06.2008 · Read review
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Review of Algarve (Portugal)

There is more to Portugal than the Algarve - visit Lisbon

Advantages: Easy to get around and different quirky places to visit, everyone speaks English
Disadvantages: The City seems a bit 'faded glory'- places uncared for and tired

...A Day trip to Lisbon We spent a week in the Algarve in June 2009 and during this week we chose to book a trip with ?Follow Me? tours to Lisbon for the day. The trip was 34 Euros per person which we thought was good value as the toll on the A2 is 18 Euros each way for a car and then we would have had to pay to park the car and of course petrol as well as the fact that we were not sure where all the sites were. We had to meet by the Dolphin roundabout in Albufiera for 6.55 and the coach was only 5 minutes late but we were virtually the last people to be picked up before heading for Lisbon. We made a stop about an hour away for coffee and the toilet. This was at a motorway service station so functional rather than interesting. We stopped at the same place on the return journey too. Initially our guide introduced herself and explained...

catsholiday 21.06.2009 · Read review
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Review of Lisbon (Portugal)

TAVIRA A QUIET TOWN ON THE ALGARVE

Advantages: Small and friendly
Disadvantages: None for us.

...TAVIRA a small town on the Algarve, this is a very quiet place so if looking for Night Life , look elsewhere. If you are looking for Peace and Quiet and the Beauty of Nature then come to Tavira. Fly into FARO Airport, usually at the time of year we go, Early January for a pickmeup after the Xmas and New Year, I am disappointed if we have to pay more than £50 return on Easyjet from either East Midlands or Stansted. The flight times are good for us From East Mids normally 06:30 departure. Arrives FARO about 09:15. Tavira is located about 24 Kilometers towards the Spanish Boarder. We book our Transfer thru WWW.AUTO-FARO.COM They charge 40 Euros each way for the 4 of us. No extra charges that is what you pay even if flight late. They are very good and friendly, the Taxi driver will give you a little tour of Tavira...

poshtroika 21.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Tavira, Algarve, Portugal

Holidaying in The Algarve

Advantages: It's hot in the summer with great beaches
Disadvantages: The tourists- it gets absolutely packed with them!!

...The Algarve has been my holiday destination for the past 9 years. Each time I have stayed in a self catered villa inland. Although you do not get the luxury of a hotel you get the peace and quiet after a day in the main tourist attractions. I personally think that the best way to experience the Algarve is to hire a car and split your holiday into beach and inland. The Algarve has got large stretches of beaches with a variety of sandy and rocky beaches. This is great for sunbathing or rock pooling which can be really interesting for the adults and the kids alike. I know people who have been out fishing, surfing, jetbiking and swimming, and if you have kids hiring a pedalo with a slide can provide endless entertainment. The ocean is the Atlantic so swimming in the sea can be very cold, not advisable at Christmas. An alternative...

sleyley1 19.06.2007 · Read review
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Review of Algarve (Portugal)

The place to visit when in the Algarve

Advantages: Fairly priced, good variety of animals which are well looked after, well kept and clean park
Disadvantages: None

...When I had first met my wife we decided to take a nice little holiday somewhere so I booked us a nice week in Portugal and organised us to stay in Vilamoura and we simply loved the place but what we have remembered the best about our entire trip was the visit to Zoomarine. The theme park is situated in a fairly remote area of Albufeira and spans quite a large area of land which in turn allows for large areas for the animals to be housed. The park has a large variety of animals including dolphins, seals, sealions, crocodiles, aligators, birds, tortoise and others with the animals well looked after. The park has a great variety of shows on offer aswell as a large swimming area (something we didn't know about until we were there), a number of gift shops and a large restaurant with hot and cold food on offer that was fairly priced...

tangoman1984 27.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal

Excellent Algarve

Advantages: Great for familys, nice beaches, very cheap
Disadvantages: touts on the beach, Albuferias old town.

...Looking for a cheap but nice family holiday for myself, partner and seven year old son was proving to be difficult but then the travel agent suggested Portugal, I was not sure at first as I usually go abroad on recommendation from friends and family, but the price was right so we headed off for sunny Portugal! After only a two hour 30 minute flight we got in a cab to our apartments, first impression coming from the airport was that is was going to be a nightmare all I could see was dirty, shabby looking (should have been white washed) villas and apartments. Good for us we were 45 minutes from the airport in Praia Da Oura, just outside Albuferia. It was totally different to the area around the airport, this is what I came on holiday the great scenery and the smell of the sea! We stayed in the Altaoura apartments, in a block of 32...

tmullen3 11.09.2002 · Read review
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Review of Algarve (Portugal)