What town/village in Portugal for a holiday rental?

mrsWhippy

Hi there,

Am currently planning a family holiday to Portugal for the end of May. We're looking for a 3 bedroom rental for myself, hubby, parents and aunt.

We'd love somewhere within an hour of Faro - a traditional portuguese style village with access to some nice beaches and a bit of shopping would be great. Not really into big drinking strips with nightclubs etc, something a bit more low key would be great, but with a bit of an atmosphere all the same

We're hoping to avoid having to rent a car, so somewhere which had everything within strolling distance would be ideal!

Any sugestions? Have been looking up Porches and Vilamoura, but some first hand recommendations would be great.

Thanks!!!

bungaro79

we've been to alvor a few times and really love it. its a nice small fishing village near praiha de rocha and portimoa where you can go for more nightlife or shopping. there are lots of buses from alvor to both but taxis aren't that expensive there anyway.
there are lovely restaurants and bars there and the beach is only a few mins walk from the village. its about an hour from faro airport, bit longer if you use resort hoppa as your transfer. we always used travelrepublic when booking accommodation there.

Tech3

Armacao de pera is another nice fishing village. Lovely old town and some good restauants. An Irish bar located in the old town if you need one! 30 mins from Faro.

bamboozle

Porches is a beautiful sleepy village, close to sea, close to Silves, some great restaurants.
Vilamoura is a heavily built up newish resort with fancy marina, not my cup of tea but its very popular with golfers.
Benagil & Alvor are two beautiful fishing villages, i think Alvor might be close to what you're looking for as its that bit bigger and livlier.

You can get transfers from Faro but i'd always recommend renting a car, gives that extra bit of freedom, roads in the algarve are very good.

mrsWhippy

Hey all
Thanks so much for the suggestions. Alvor looks great. Have been looking into it, and found a really nice 3 bed apartment with a pool near the town centre which looks like suits our needs to a T
Any nice restaurant recommendations while I'm at it?
Thanks again for all your help !!!

RubyK

I think the beach resort of Cabanas, or the nearby town of Tavira (they are about 4 miles apart), in the eastern Algarve might suit you. It's a more traditional than the west, with lovely long sandy beaches and good restaurants, especially fish.

Not a place for club18-30's .

bamboozle

RubyK wrote: »

I think the beach resort of Cabanas, or the nearby town of Tavira (they are about 4 miles apart), in the eastern Algarve might suit you. It's a more traditional than the west, with lovely long sandy beaches and good restaurants, especially fish.

Not a place for club18-30's .

forgot about Tavira, agreed that would be ideal, Isla de Tavira is beautiful and just a boat ride from the riverside. Great restaurants and the Pousada in Tavira is a beautiful hotel.

bungaro79

mrsWhippy wrote: »

Hey all
Thanks so much for the suggestions. Alvor looks great. Have been looking into it, and found a really nice 3 bed apartment with a pool near the town centre which looks like suits our needs to a T
Any nice restaurant recommendations while I'm at it?
Thanks again for all your help !!!

is it the alvormar apartments you're looking at by any chance???
as for restaurants there are loads to choose from, they get more expensive as you head closer to the water. theres a really nice one near enough to the taxi rank called bougan villa (sp?!), a real local place. try the stone steak if you can!!