Independent Portugal

berrecka

Hi all,

We have just booked our flights for 10 days in Portugal at the end of May/start of June. We have also booked a cheapy hotel in Albufeira for a few nights.
After that we were hoping to get away from that scene for the rest of the holiday. We were thinking of maybe renting a cottage somewhere rural or in a fishing village. We would like to get away from the really touristy resorts but would still like somewhere with restaurants where we could enjoy some proper Portugal - i.e. not totally isolated! I would like to be close to the sea/lake preferably, but could live without it if we had a pool. We are flying from Faro early enough in the morning so would prefer not to be more than 2 hours from there.

Just wondered has anyone done anything similar? Could anyone suggest an area that might suit?

Thanks in advance!!

bamboozle

I've done similar a few times, flying into Porto Lisbon and Sevilla and meandering our way down to the algarve, my general rule of thumb for the algarve is the further from faro you travel the less built up it becomes, two places that I reckon would be ideal for you would be carrapetiara which is a windswept tiny village on the sea surrounded by miles of empty beaches, bit of a surfer hangout, that region(west algarve) is actually a nature reserve so nice and quiet.
Carrapetiara would be 90mins from faro. Incredible hotel we stayed there called monte da vilarinha - expensive but stunning in an isolated valley about five km inland from the sea.

Other place that is well off the beaten track is minas da Sao domingos, this is an abandoned former mining village about an hour inland on the border with Spain, the former mine governors house is now converted into a stunning hotel, hotel Sao domingos and there is a cool lake across from hotel with beach and beach bar which the last remaining locals use. There are also lots of Agro tourismo in this area if you want to keep costs down,

I'd highly recommend the above two, if you wanna stay more local in the algarve spots like tavira, silves and monchique are worth the visit.
Heading over in the morning...can't wait! One final thing I would say is that to really get a feel for the algarve a car is necessary.

Kittywake

We loved Olhao, East Algarve. Very local, lots of great local restaurants. Check out this hotel, set inland: http://www.tripadvisor.ie/Hotel_Review-g312714-d596244-Reviews-Quinta_dos_Poetas-Olhao_Faro_District_Algarve.html

Armona island off Olhao has fabulous beaches, just €2.50 by water bus over. There is accommodation on the island and though we didn't stay on our last trip I would definitely stay on our next one. Check out accommodation here: http://www.ownersdirect.co.uk/armona-island.htm
Olhao is just a short spin from Faro airport, maybe 10 to 15 mins.

berrecka

Great ideas guys. Thanks for the tips. Im afraid Ill have to wait till next year to put them to use though.
We found a little rural farmhouse cottage that we booked just outside Sao Bras de Alportel. Anyone know anything about this town?