I think Glynnbuck must have been walking around with a touch of the sun with reagrd to the "bit far from most things" comment:lol: The rest is spot on advice though.

Just to the right of your hotel, as you walk out of the gate is a cracking little cake shop called The Riviera.

Opposite (if you like that sort of thing) is Macdonalds, KFC and Pans & Co.
There is also a Chinese called Tim Tim, which we tried but I would not go back again.

If you go left out of the hotel, and left again you will pass the excellent Chefs House restaurant on the left hand side, a little pricey, but still much cheaper than you would pay for the equivalent in the UK. Follow the same road around and you come to a chinese which I have not tried, but I have heard good things about, at the bottom of the road is Don Nicolau, no idea what this is like. Turn left again - towards the sea and you will see a turning on the right; at the top of the hill is the excellent Gold Elephant chinese restaurant, next to that is our place Floyd's Bar (only toasties I am afraid). If you go left at the Gold Elephant there is the cosy Doce Diner, which offers international cuisine and is run by a lovely Scottish couple. Inside is non smoking, but you can light up on the terrace. Next to that is fabio's - one of the best steak houses in town. They also offer a wide variety of other dishes. If you don't take the right turn up the hill, but carry on towards the sea you will see Alfredo's on the right hand side - always busy with an excellent Portuguese menu and very reasonably priced - the fish is always good.

If you turn left out of the hotel and carry straight on past the town hall this takes you down MFA Road, where near the bottom you will find on the right hand side O Manjar - typical Portuguese. Again we have not tried it, but all our customers say good things about it. And opposite there is The Cavern where they do a top Sunday roast. This road will lead you into the Old Town square with loads of restaurants. Busy and bustling with lots of people watching on the agenda, as well as entertainment. But locals tend to steer clear, as it can be a bit pricey, and the quality (again this is feed back from customers) can vary from night to night. They can also rush you a little when it is particularly busy. Basically the same applies to the Strip. But that is not to say you won't find good places in both, just that it may take a bit of trial and error to find the best they have to offer.

At the end of the day (Brian) it's horses for courses. Try and pick up one of the red freemaps, they have lots of places listed on there. You should be able to get one outside Chefs House, or Floyd's.

Have a top time whatever you do. And don't be put off by an empty restaurant, if it looks clean and you like the look of the menu, try it. Nine times out of ten the only reason the one next door is busy is because that's where the first people sat outside, and evryone else follows.

Thank you very much..

All of the info i am recieving is quality ta.

I am going to get involved in the map cheers and will try my hardest to pop in for a beer or 2 to say thanks for the info.

I am soooo excited

quote algarvedick
I think Glynnbuck must have been walking around with a touch of the sun with reagrd to the "bit far from most things" comment:lol:

could be but this was my first time in albufeira, i spotted the mcdonalds/kfc etc and such on the other side of the main road from my hotel and would assume some people dont visit portugal to eat a macdonalds and have their photo taken outside it. (i know i dont)

a mile isnt a major distance and i just prefer to spend my short(4day) vacation a fraction nearer the sea/cafe bars where i can chill out with a few drinks and not have too far to stagger home to bed at 3am when i have had a couple more drinks than maybe i should have.

i was comparing it to vilamoura which i visited in april and that was ideal
in that there was no more than 100 yards to 30/40 bars restaurants all of which i found ideal, but these were two different holidays, vilamoura for a quiet chill out relax holiday and albufeira more hectic.

Anyone know if their are ATM machines in this are that accept visa electron debit cards?

I am on my way to Albufeira next week and really looking forward to it.

Can anybody give me some advice on taking money out to Portugal? I was going to adopt the half Euros/half Travellers Cheque approach, plus use a credit card if necessary.

Then somebody mentioned that although Travellers Cheques are the safest option, they can also be the most expensive, as you can get clobbered with different exchange rates locally.

What about ATMs in Albufeira? Are they they the cheapest and safest option?

Thanks.

A lot depends on whether you will have a safe available at your acommodation;if we have a safe at the hotel/ rooms, we normally take euros out with us and top up if necessary from ATM's which are plentiful in all the major resorts including Albufeira. As there is always a minimum charge per transaction, would suggest not topping up in small amounts. Would also suggest that you use the ATM's during the afternoon rather than the evening as queues can form when people are on their way out to eat in the evening.

Yep,

Haven't used travellers cheques for years now. Take a fair amount in euros and use the atm when it runs out. There are loads of atm's and they are a lot less hassle than changing cheques(passport etc) and atm's are open all the time!

Lummie

I'm at a bit of a loss here. My bank says they will charge 2.75%, plus £1.50 handling charge for every transaction at an ATM abroad. As do most banks (except Nationwide). So how can it be cheaper than using traveller's cheques? Even with commision charge, its cheaper than the bank. We've always used traveller's cheques and taken some currency to start us off. Could you explain, Lummie and Sagres, how it works out cheaper at an ATM? Would love to know, as we're going in 5 weeks!

It all depends on how accurately you estimate your spending requirements before you go. When we go for 3 weeks, we can judge by the beginning of the third week whether we are on budget or over/under. If necessary we will top up from an ATM- but once only is usually enough; if you keep using an ATM to top up a bit at a time it will work out expensive. Provided that you have safe facilities, taking euros is the best solution ( or, at least, that's what we find).

Hi Doramar,

Never said it was cheaper?? Just less hassle and atm are more accesible.

I'd rather draw from an atm than cash travellers cheques thats all. Some will find cheques easier. You dont have the bother of going to the bank before and after the holiday to get them/cash them in(assumiong you have some left) Nor do you have to bother with your passport.

Each to their own. I never saw any charges when drawing from the hole in the wall on my statement, I might have missed it but it couldn;t have been that much if I never noticed it. I used a bank of scotland debit card by the way(the visa debit kind, not a switch card).

Cheers

Lummie

We specifically opened a Nationwide Flexaccount so we could draw money abroad from ATMs without being charged. That's all we use the card for. Before going on holiday, we transfer enough dosh into the account to see us through our stay. If you make three of four withdrawals while you're away, you're saving six or seven quid. Also, I used my other bank account Switch card while in Amsterdam recently to buy tram and metro tickets from the machines on the platform. The fare was about 50p but my bank charged me over £1.50 for each use of the card so it cost me over £2 every time I went out. The swines!!

Another point is Do not forget to take a ticket when you go into banks, post offices, some chemists etc. or else you will be all day waiting to be served. It happened me in a chemist near the watches roundabout and I had waited about 10 minutes to get served and when I queried why I wasnt served was told 'Take a ticket'.
ATM's are the best really. Only thing is, as was said take the maximum out for each transaction - it think it is €200.
Anyway, you will have such a great time there the few quid you spend in retrieving your cash from the ATM will be nothing in comparison to the fun and value for money you get spending it.
I would truly love to be going back there again, and I am only home about 2 weeks!!!!

Thanks, All. Having mulled the various advice..will stick with traveller's cheques. But I appreciate your comments. D Lite: we've been to the Algarve 7 times so far, absolutely love it there! Can hardly wait for 5 weeks!! Hope you all enjoy your holidays.

Just take plenty of euros and stash them in the safe..you may even end up taking some back for next time!

Thanks for your opinions...

Our apartments are equipped with a safe so it'll be mostly Euros with my credit card and cashpoint card as a fall back...

Exactly how we do it..... have a great holiday!

So much easier using the Euro as oposed to all the different currencies abroad.

We take Euros with us, then use ATM's when extra cash required. Haven't used travellers cheques for ages.

Carol

If you think a safe is safe then think again. Thieves know where to find them and they come equipped with sledge hammers and crow bars.

When you hire a safe from the hotel, the fee usually includes insurance cover- just don't keep the receipt in the safe!