Carvoeiro vs Albufeira

[Jonnas]

Hi

Currently planning a trip to Portugal with the wife and two kids of four. We are looking to hire a villa and have narrowed it down to two, one is in Carvoeiro and the other to the West of Albufeira near Evaristo. The Villa near Albufeira is a bit nicer but we are a bit worried about what we read about Albufeira as we are not looking for a Full English and Sky Sports but a nice quiet and relaxing holiday where we can take the kids out to restaurants early evening. We will probably be spending most of the time at the villa in the pool but would like to have the odd day on the beach so it would be good to be near one that again is a bit quieter although we will have a car so we can drive if needs be.

Any advice would be greatly received.....

Cheers

[craig1912]

Carvoeiro every time for me. The Algarve improves the further west you go IMO. stayed at Pria de Luz 3/4 times. Some great villas there within walking distance to the beach. Spent plenty of time at Sagres which is quieter.
Zoomarine is a good day out with kids.

[C0ffin D0dger]

Having stayed in both places and more recently Carvoeiro with the wife and two kids (2 & 4) I'd say Carvoeiro would be your best bet. Enough restaurants and bars in town to have a choice and the beach is very nice. Loads of really nice beaches within a short drive, water park just up the road in Lagoa. As mentioned I'd also recommend Zoo Marine for a day out. I also wish we'd driven up to coast towards Sagres a bit earlier on in the holiday as we found a beautiful beach on the outskirts of Sagres called Martinhal. Would have gone back there for a day if we'd have known about it earlier, always the way.

Albufeira is okay, the old town is nice but the "strip" offers all you'd expect It's really not bad though, still plenty of authentic eateries and other stuff but just a bit more lively. It's not Marbs or Benidorm by any stretch of the imagination. The holiday I had in Albufeira was with mates so a lot more suited to us as we were out on the beers most nights but we had two adjoining villas and were sharing with my friends family including his sister with little'un. Everyone enjoyed it. Was late September so I guess the resort wasn't at its busiest though.

[DSLiverpool]

Just looking at villas for October half term - did you go to Carv ? How was it ? we have twin 5 year olds

[ikarl]

If you can read up a bit about the beach regeneration (sp) in the algarve, especially in carvoeiro.

We were in the algarve a few weeks ago and a few of the beaches are pretty poor now. They have used dredges/pumps to pump huge quantities of sand up on to the beach from a few hundred yards out. The problem with that is there's now loads of smashed up, and very very sharp, pieces of shell on the beach. It's a bit like walking on glass that doesn't quite cut your feet.

I got a bit of shell in between my foot and my flip flop....was much more painful than you'd imagine!

[FUBAR]

craig1912 said:

. The Algarve improves the further west you go IMO. stayed at Pria de Luz 3/4 times. Some great villas there within walking distance to the beachs.

I was lucky enough to have spent some 25 odd summers in this part of the Algarve (folks had a villa between Luz and Burgau) and can't agree with this enough. The Lagos area generally is lovely, so is Portimao, and I'd put Carvoeiro on the Eastern edge of where to stay.