Hello annie, one of the good things about Portugal is that you don't get hasstled in to there restaurants only the ones run by the English, we have been to Portugal lots of times and like every thing else this has gone up over the years but you can still get a good meal for a lot less than you pay at home.
I can not give you any hotels with kids clubs as we always go to hotels that do not have kids, but as for Lagos this is a very nice town/resort I put town as well as the old town has a realy good atmosphere day and night with lots of cafes/bars and restaurants you can get a fresh fish dinner for about 10 euros and chicken for 6.50 euros a bottle of house wine from 6.00euros and beer a pint of for 2 to 4 euros.
In one place we went to I had a Fillet steak my wife had Sirloin two salads chips, two soups a jug of house wine and a bottle of water for 28.00 euros the best thing was that the water cost more than the wine.
There is a great train line to get to place like Albufeira/Faro/Portimo and lots of other place inbetween and is cheaper than the bus. Try these sites to get a better picture of places to go.

http://www.portugal-info.net

http://www.portugalvirtual.pt

The hotels in Portugal seem as if they are a lot more money than say Turkey but again they are a lot better so I would say give it a go I am sure you will like it and don't forget about Albufeira, the old town is better than the Strip end as this is were all the 18-30 type go.

Dave

Hi Annie,

If you like beaches, the Algarve will be an excellent choice for you as there are beautiful coves and stretches of long sandy beach all along the coast. The people are really friendly and the food is great. Prices have gone up a bit this year, really because of the euro exchange rate, but I would think your £40-£50 would easily cover a meal like you describe. You'll usually find a wide range of restaurants in the resorts and it's easy to browse the menus outside before deciding where to eat. If you're new to the Portugal forum you might like to look here to give you a start.

If you are thinking of doing DIY, again the Algarve is a good choice as all the budget airlines fly into Faro. I think you fly from Gatwick, as we do, and the cheapest fares are usually from EasyJet. The only drawback is that they don't release their Summer flights until about December, and the Gatwick ones are usually the last to be released. It's important to keep an eye on their website every day so that you can book as soon as possible as the prices go up very quickly as the tickets are sold. However, there are plenty of other airlines to choose whose flights are bookable earlier.

The choice of resort can be a bit daunting if you don't know the region, but we all love the Algarve on here and will be pleased to try to help.

the real holidaymaker wrote:

Hello annie, one of the good things about Portugal is that you don't get hasstled in to there restaurants only the ones run by the English,
Dave

You have never been to Albufeira then Dave, it certainally ain't British restaurants with touts outside here, 100% Portuguese mate!

Thanks a lot for the advice. we wont be booking just yet as hubby has just started a new job and i want to make sure hes going to be earning some decent money before I start looking properly. At least I have an idea of what to expect.

Hello Perry, I have been to Albufeira 5 times and even had a drink in your pub 2 years ago and while I agree with you about the restaurants, and I don't want to get into a war with you over it but what about the one on the rue 5de Outubro is it called the Tosca or Tasca with the English P R out side who chat up line is (cheapest beer in Albufeira) and then there is one on avenda da liberdate something 2 also one at the to of the strip the Acora, these may be owned by locals but they have Engish P Rs.
I know as well as most people on this forum how good the food is and you don't get the hasstle that you get in Turkey and even Greese just to have a look at the menu but it does go on, but after a great holiday in Lagos this summer we are going to Tavira next year so it could be the year after before we get to Albufeira again to see if there are any of those P Rs still about.
Regards,
Dave

The Portuguese lady who used to do the PR for the Silk restaurant (now under new management since March 2008 might I add)
at the top of the Strip used to do my head in!

She used to try everything except physically drag you inside!

I can still hear her now..."Nice feeeeesh, air conditioooooooooooon...."

Although I must admit, she wasn't there last year and we did miss her!

Dave, you did use the words "run by the English" mate, almost all the places in and around the square are owned and run by Portuguese, and if they have a Brit PR its a cynical marketing ploy. The Bank, Bravo and a couple of others in that corner of the square have Portuguese touts outside all the time. We get blamed for enough here, and it just upset me that one of ours was accusing the ex-pats of something that is not entirely true.

You are right about it being better than Turkey though...

Hey, Milly Molly, BUT

Not been to the strip for ages and the Silk was one of my favourites but that lady wasn't a PR there then but I think I know who you mean as she was a PR for practically everywhere........" pleeeeeese come eeeeensiiiiiide..........eeeeets very niiiiiiiiiiice, yooooooo liiiiiiiiike!!!!!
Even the local Portuguese laughed at her !!!!!!
Pat

Milly the lady in question is called Emilia she moved down to the Paradise from Silk for a while and then left, the guy who took her place was an absolute waste of time, she went back cos she was asked and was still there in April this year but she has now left again. She is really a lovely lady when you get to know her but she does prattle on a bit .Before working at Silk she was at O Leao just higher up.

Aaaww, I'm sure she is a very nice lady Jayjan.
She came across as a happy/cheery type of person if you know what I mean?
God love her, she was only earning a living - there's far more worse ways of doing so.

And now you mention it, I do remember seeing her at a different spot on the Strip - was that last year?
(My memory is getting worse... )

But to be honest, I used to feel sooo uncomfortable when she used to stop us and ask us about eating in the
Silk -which was pretty much every single night.

When the boys were little, we used to eat early and head back towards the apartment-via the 60's Bar of course!
She used to stop us every time!

We started crossing over before we got near there, but she used to come over to us, or call over!

(Maybe it was because I had two snow-white blonde haired little boys and they stood out - I don't know, but
she used to ask us every night that we walked past.)

I used to feel awful - as though I was lying to her when I said we had already eaten (and we honestly had).
But she always kept a smile on her face, even though so many people ignored her, or tried to.

Yes last year Milly, she left the Paradise for a while and went working in the Old Town, then was asked to come back to the Paradise. I think the reason she likes chatting to people is because she lives on her own and probably gets lonely. We like you used to cross over the road to avoid the mither but we got to know her quite well,she has told us a million stories over the years about her experiences in life, some of them sad and others funny. I havnt a clue where she is working now.

Aaaww she lives alone? Thats so sad, and I feel awful now...

I have always imagined her being so busy, busy, busy - running around after a huge family,
she just seems that sort of person if you know what I mean (or does that sound daft?)

Well, if I see her this year I will make a point of talking to her.

Milly shes quite a strong person really who wont take any sh=t so to speak, if you see her before me let me know where she is working please. Thinks we better get back on topic before we have slapped hands

Hi Annie

When i went to Lagos last year I found the cheapest way was to book Easyjet flights the day they came out - about the middle of Dec, I checked the site daily from the beginning of Dec & a kind person here pmed me the day they came out. Then booked my apartment in April on an accomm only site.

I'm sure flights were 65 pounds per pers for mid July dates so not off-peak.

This can really help off-set other costs. If you go back to Turkey even cheap flights are about 200 per person and you are lucky if you can get those, more likely 350. I've just come back from Turkey myself.

We were paying approx 70 to 80 Euros for 4 last year in decent restaurants in and around Lagos. Normally 4 mains and 2 or 3 desserts, litre water, jug of sangria or bottle of wine and two soft drinks, plus the cover which is bread & nibbles, maybe a coffee or two. Nice food, chicken, steaks, fish, obviously pasta and pizza will be cheaper.

Those prices were before the problems with the Euro, so you may need to add 20%. But then Turkey was dearer this year to, I was FB but we did go out in the evening and looked at prices & had some lunches & drinks out.

It is probably similar costs to eating out as Turkey, but somehow you dont feel so ripped off in the Algarve (hope nobody from the Turkey forum is reading this or I will so get a hard time) as all prices are published and dont seem to change. There is no bartering so you know what you are getting into in the first place.

I think the huge choice of restaurants in Lagos keeps the prices competative and I'm sure its the same in Albuferia.

HTH, Doe