Hello everyone,
my husband and I next August 2018 we would like to take our 14 year old son to spend 7/10 days in Portugal. Can you suggest me a hotel / resort where he would not get bored and even make new friends with peers? Our holiday would like it to be at sea beach but even close to some places where we can arrive walking for shopping and dine in the evening.
Another question ... from the many photos I see it seems that the sea in Portugal is always rough! I was wondering if it's also in August and if it's immediately deep, because I do not swim well!
Thanks to everyone who will answer me and Happy 2018

Hi, I'm from Lisbon,

You're not given much of information to help you.
Portugal is not very big but it a has an immense diversity for it's small land.
It seems you like the sea and the beach. Well, Portugal as one of the major beach destination in all Europe, the Algarve region in the south of the country. There you can find the most amazing beaches, calm and hot waters, very good to swim not to surf. There are plenty of top notch hotels like Vila Galé and others and you will have lots to do and see. For me the village of Tavira and Lagos are the most beautiful. In August will be the high season so a little bit crowded.
Check the website:
https://www.visitportugal.com/en/destinos/algarve
https://www.visitportugal.com/en/con...osta-vicentina

There are, off course others places to visit.
The Lisbon region has also a lot of beaches, some very close to city itself, others not so close. It´s better to rent a car and explore them.
In the Lisbon area you can find amazing beaches, like Sesimbra, Costa da Caparica, Cascais and Estoril, Ericeira Beach, Troia beach. You can stay at the beach and visit the city which is one of the most beautiful in all Europe. In the Lisbon area the water is much colder then in the Algarve region. In some parts of the coast the sea can be a little more rough than the Algarve but it'll be summer so in most beaches the sea will be very calm.
https://www.visitlisboa.com/
There are also a more wild, unspoiled region, the Costa Vicentina with amazing beaches, less touristic. The sea is a little bit more rough and the water is cold (Atlantic ocean) but the scenery is amazing.
You should choose beaches with the blue flag, that means a perfectly safe beach, in terms of water quality, in terms of accessibility, and lifeguard infrastructures. If you choose one of these you'll be fine. In the past year Portugal got a record for blue flag beaches.
https://www.myguidealgarve.com/regio...osta-vicentina

Portugal sea it's not always rough, especially in the summer. That being said, it's not the Mediterranean, it's the Atlantic ocean so, definitely more waves, if you are not a great swimmer, you should swim close to the shore. The Algarve region is definitely much more swim friendly.

Hi mbjl1976 and thanks for the reply.
I thought of Algarve also because I could land in Faro.
I do not want to stay in villas but only in hotels or in tourist villages with activities for teenagers.

I do not care about big hotels or large swimming pools because it is at sea that I want to swim and I prefer hotels with fine sandy beaches equipped with sunbeds and umbrellas instead of pebble beaches. In the pool maybe I would go there only if the sea is rough or in the afternoon.

I do not even want to rent the car but move either by taxi or bus (if they also circulate in the evening) or on foot if not too far from shopping streets and restaurants.

I had seen Jupiter Algarve Hotel in Portimão but apart from the beach there seems to be no social life in the nearby streets.

Then I really liked these hotels:
Monica Isabel Beach Club or
Grand Muthu Oura View Beach Hotel or
Club Med Da Balaia but it's too expensive!

Hi,

The 1st hotel is in Portimão very close to Rocha beach which is a very good location. Not much social life!!. Portimão in the summer is a very busy place and Rocha beach is one of the most beautiful beach in the Algarve. Lost of restaurant in the promenade close to the beach. Nothing wrong there.
The other 2 hotels are in Albufeira, definitely much busier than Portimão. The night life is wild, party all night, and lots of British tourists. Definitely more crowded than Portimão with also large beautiful beaches like Pecadores beach and Oura beach. Both are good locations and the water is exactly what you want, calm to swim. Albufeira as a more young feeling, Portimão on the other end a more family feeling. By the way is very easy to move around the Algarve to discover others parts of it, even without a car.

http://www.algarve-tourist.com/albuf...gal-guide.html

http://www.algarve-tourist.com/porti...l-algarve.html

So it is not easy to choose because the nights we would like to sleep and not hear the street noise!

I prefer Grand Muthu Oura View Beach Hotel in Albufeira and I wonder how far it is from restaurants and bars.

Are there typical food fairs during the months of July and August?
Thanks for your help.

Hi,

Definitely not easy to choose.
As for the hotel, i think it´s very well located only a few meters away from the beach and very, very close to all the main restaurants and bars. You'll be fine there, the main discos and pubs are not right next to it so it'll be more calm at night.

As for food festivals and fairs:

-Seafood festival in the Village of Olhão, this is a must to all the seafood lovers, normally between 10 and 15 of August
-Seafood festival of Faro, also a must have for all seafood lovers, Starts at the end of July and goes until 7 of August
-From 18 to 27th of August the big Fatacil fair in Lagoa with a tradicional food court, typical crafs and a big area for concerts
-Medieval fair of Silves. It´s a very old Algarve city with a bib red Moorish castle (11 to 20th of August)
- Medieval fair of Castro Marim
-sardine festival of Portimão (2 a 6 of August)
- Sons do Atlantico world music festival in Lagoa (30, 31 July, 6,7,13,14 August)

Fantastic! Thanks for your help

"from the many photos I see it seems that the sea in Portugal is always rough! "

Yes, in the western coast.

It is ok if you go to Algarve (south coast).