Best places to stay in Portugal's Algarve?
Mar 2nd, 1999, 11:23 AM
#2
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When we went to the Algarve we went to Taveria and Lagos. In Lagos you can easily walk to the cove beaches, but in Taveria you need to take a ferry to an island. Its about a 10 min. ride, but don't let that discourage you from visiting Taveria - its very quaint. <BR> <BR>If you go to Tavira stay in the Residencia Lagoas. Its run by a great woman named Maria. It is listed in the Rough Guide to Portugal. Good location and nice rooms with or without baths (inexpensive also). Another place is the Princesa do Gilao it looks nice. Tavira recently changed their area code if if you try and call these places you may want to check to see if the area code is right. I had trouble - I think they added one number to it. <BR> <BR>For books, check out Rick Steves' Guide to Spain and Portugal. He has great budget hints. Also, Cadogan Guides has one entitled Portugal: The Algarve. I did not find the Fodor's very useful. Not enough info. on the region. <BR> <BR>Try this web page for Portugal information. Read the "Post It Notes" section and the "Travel logs." You should be able to get some good information from it. <BR> <BR>http://www.nervo.com/pt/travelog/ <BR> <BR>
Mar 2nd, 1999, 03:52 PM
#3
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Jill - we were at the Algarve last September. Without doubt, the best place we stayed was in Salema at the B&B, "AMARE". You can email John the owner for information at [email protected]. Clean rooms, 1/2 block from the beach and John makes a full breakfast every morning for his guests. Tell him that Paul and Deborah from Colorado sent you. <BR>
Mar 2nd, 1999, 08:20 PM
#4
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Hi - Thanks for your info. I have considered both Tavira and Salema (John's place). I had a family member visit Tavira last week for me and she thought it was a rather small community with very few restaurants and beach access difficult (via the ferry vs. out your hotel door). Any comments Marie? <BR> <BR>Paul - the studio at John's place is the only room available. Any comments on this room for 2 adults for a week. I was hoping to prepare lunches in the room, but doesn't sound like I'll be able to do this. Paul - what is your recommendation regarding transportation to Salema. <BR> <BR>Paul/Marie - John quotes 9,000 esc per night, does this seem like alot of money for a place on the Algarve? Initially I thought this was high, but some hotels I've seen on the web are steeper then this for a night. I work in Canadian dollars so the exchange rate isn't as great as the US dollar. Any other hints would be great....Thanks
Mar 3rd, 1999, 10:50 AM
#5
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We picked Tavira and Lagos because they would be different experiences. Lagos is more lively with great restaurants and bars. It has been deemed a bit touristy, but I really enjoyed it. Tavira is more quiet and it is more difficult to get to the beach since you have to take a ferry. <BR> <BR>In Lagos, once we arrived by bus a woman asked us if we needed a room. We took her up on it but next time I would probably stay in someone's apartment or a hotel. More privacy that way - but it was cheap! I hear the Mar Azul or Rubi Mar (I think) are suppose to be nice in Lagos. <BR> <BR>Check out the Cadogen Guide for the Algarve. That is where I got most of my hotel, restaurant and town information. It was a good source!! <BR> <BR>I hear Albuferta (sp?) is nice also.
Mar 3rd, 1999, 01:01 PM
#6
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The ferry to the beach in Tavira takes next to no time and the beach is very nice. There are restaurants there and its very pleasant. Although it is not just a walk out of the door, it really is quite easy to navigate. The town is quite charming. I too liked Lagos, a small big city. West of Lagos there are some really beautiful fishing villages. with a car, the whole coast is easily accessible in a day and you should try to sample as many of the beaches as you can.
Mar 5th, 1999, 12:45 PM
#8
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We visited Praia de Luz, which is west of Lagos, as well as Sagres. I don't have my guides books here but I believe it was from Praia de Luz that you could take a fishing boat to visit caves only accessible from the sea. Sagres, at the extreme west,is very rugged. It has connections with the age of discovery because Prince Henry the Navigator set up a school here for mariners, vestiges of which survive. The view from the top of the clifs is spectacular. There are quite a few villages between Lagos and Sagres that have nice beaches. I used the Cadogan guide. I did not visit the two other places you mentioned.
Apr 6th, 1999, 02:45 PM
#10
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Here you can find more informations about the Algarve: http://www.algarve.com/
