Portugal recommendations

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SamT
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Portugal recommendations

Postby SamT » Mon Apr 18, 2022 6:17 pm

Hi all,

Any recommendations / tips for a reasonable family hotel in Portugal (summer) suitable for 3 generations?

Thanks!
Sam
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BVK
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Re: Portugal recommendations

Postby BVK » Mon Apr 18, 2022 7:46 pm

We like Albufeira. Can recommend Santa Eulalia. There is a lovely water park in albufeira too which the kids will enjoy
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Starr
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Re: Portugal recommendations

Postby Starr » Tue Jul 05, 2022 7:56 pm

We've been to Carvoeiro which I thought was a perfect place to holiday for 3 generations , which is what we did.
It's smaller than Albulfeira, with really gorgeous beaches, big and small and has an old charming town. We went in early October before the children were at school and it was very hot even then. Locals were lovely with small children when eating out. A great holiday and highly recommended.
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CCgayton
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Re: Portugal recommendations

Postby CCgayton » Mon Jul 11, 2022 8:19 am

Hi,

I have a house in Portugal so I’m there a few times a year.

I would recommend Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo, which are nextdoor to each other. Wonderful beaches, hotels and holiday rentals with good quality restaurants for all generations. Also Vila Vita Park at Porches, Martinhal in Sagres or Praia Verde hotel. You should avoid Albufeira, it has been ruined by the British and is now very trashy.
Lisbon is also great if want authentic Portugal and beach resorts nearby are Cascais, Comporta or Troia.
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sidmeister
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Re: Portugal recommendations

Postby sidmeister » Mon Jul 11, 2022 12:04 pm

We spent the last two summers in Portugal (drove there with a 6 year old as we didn't want to get on a plane coz of COVID), and cannot recommend it enough. However, I would not recommend Albufeira, unless of course you like a resort-y vibe with fish and chips shops and English breakfasts everywhere, and drunk British tourists all over the streets after about 6 PM. Zoomarine however was quite nice — that said, there have been allegations that Zoomarine treat the animals quite cruelly (https://algarvedailynews.com/news/16840 ... ploitation). I was a bit torn about going there, but DD absolutely loved the place, so I'm not judging.

Where I do recommend staying in is Lagos! It is such an amazing little town with a lovely vibe; it's quite touristy, but not trashy like Albufeira, and has a more mixed tourist crowd from all over Europe. It just felt more family friendly. A few things we really enjoyed during our time in Lagos, both in 2020 and in 2021 were:
  • A kayaking trip to the Benagil caves: DD screamed and cried all the way through, only to say later it was the best experience of her life. Both times. :-P
  • Abigail's Cafe in Lagos (https://www.google.com/search?q=lagos%2 ... jXfu9Lo;mv:[[37.112377599999995,-8.670128199999999],[37.0942967,-8.6814435]];tbs:lrf:!1m4!1u3!2m2!3m1!1e1!1m4!1u2!2m2!2m1!1e1!1m4!1u1!2m2!1m1!1e1!1m4!1u1!2m2!1m1!1e2!2m1!1e2!2m1!1e1!2m1!1e3!3sIAE,lf:1,lf_ui:9) - it's run by this American woman and her Portuguese husband, and it's really nice. They do excellent smoothies, and do beach yoga classes some days for a €5 charge. The waiters are lovely, even if some of them definitely do give off a bit of a f***boi vibe (the guys who own the cafe own a backpacker hostel, and it was very clear as to why some of the young men who worked at the cafe hung around ;-P)
  • There's this amazing trampoline just by the beach in Lagos; I spent many hours there. I recommend taking an Umbrella to protect yourself from the sun, coz your kids will make you stay there for hours on end and spend a fortune :)
  • There's some excellent beach-side cliff walks along the coast in Lagos.
  • I also recommend going to Sagres to look at the Atlantic. Be warned, though, the wind there will remind you more of Land's End than of Portugal or Spain ;-)
  • Carvoeiro is an awesome place too; we stayed there for a week in 2020 and absolutely loved it. It's a lot smaller than Lagos, but we were both working during hte week, so we got a bungalow in a gated community with a pool so DD could entertain herself in the kiddie pool  (too shallow to risk drowning) while we worked on the verandah.
Hope this helps. Man, I wish I was off to Portugal this summer :)

P.S.: If you're into fitness and would like a workout when you're over there, Phil Soames is awesome (https://soamesfitness.com/philandlisa/). Funnily enough, Phil was a fireman in Clapham before he moved to Portugal to get away from Brexit. 

P.P.S.: The Indian restaurants on the Algarve are generally surprisingly excellent; way better than the average outside of Tooting and Eastham in London. (Source: I'm Asian :-P)
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Moonlightdawn
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Re: Portugal recommendations

Postby Moonlightdawn » Mon Aug 15, 2022 12:52 pm

We had a great time at the Martinhal Cascais.
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