Hi Billsboy,

Welcome to the forum! I hope we'll be able to make some recommendations for your visit this month that will persuade you that the Algarve is a fantastic holiday destination.

I'll kick off by saying that Tavira is a beautiful old town but it if you want to be well placed to explore the whole of the Algarve you might be better staying somewhere more central. Tavira is fairly far to the east, so for ease of reaching all parts of the region, Albufeira or Lagos might be preferable. You say you like beach holidays and the Algarve certainly has some of the best beaches in Europe. They stretch along most of the coastline, and the further west you go the more rugged the scenery becomes. The beaches in the Eastern Algarve are long and straight but as you go westwards the cliffs start to appear and west of Albufeira is where the typically Algarvian coves with turquoise water and magnificent rock formations start. These are interspersed with long beaches stretching for miles, and every beach has beautiful yellow/white sand. Cabo Sao Vicente is the Algarve's "Land's End" and the coastline turns northward and the beaches are very much like the best ones in Cornwall.

There is plenty of countryside to explore and many villages dotted around in the hills. I presume you'll be hiring a car, and it would be a good idea to get a book of car tours to give you some idea of what is possible in your short stay this time.

Eating out? Well, everyone on this forum will tell you that eating out is so easy and such fun all along the Algarve. Obviously most restaurants are concentrated in the resorts, but in the area I know best, Albufeira, there are fantastic restaurants dotted about in all directions. You will not be disappointed with the food and the excellent Portuguese wines!

You say you don't like busy towns but I think you will find that nowhere, even the biggest resorts, will be very busy in October. However, if you are planning to go in the high season next year (July and August) it would be best to avoid Albufeira and possibly Lagos.

Please don't think everyone holidaying in the Algarve is there to play golf! Although there are golf courses everywhere, the main golfing areas are Quinta do Lago, Vale de Lobo and Vilamoura so you might wish to avoid these.

I hope this has helped in a general way and if you need anything more specific let us know and we'll try to help.

Tavira meets your criteria for type of town, I've posted some photos in the gallery at (currently pages 2 and 3 but may drift down) and a review at http://www.holidaytruths.co.uk/reviews/portugal/algarve/tavira/

However, whilst the beach is very nice - long, wide and mostly deserted when you get away from the restaurant and organised sun bed area - it can be a pain to get to if you aren't in peak season when the ferry runs from the main quay. Off peak you need to get a small ferry from Quatro Aguas which is about 20 minutes walk from town.

As roseweb says this far east it isn't very well located for exploring the rest of the Algarve, although it does start to become possible to visit places in Spain. The reason it doesn't feature in many general brochures is that because there are only two significant hotels in the town so there aren't many beds for the mass market. However, both are bookable through expedia if you wanted to put the holiday together yourself.

Many thanks Roseweb and Steve for these useful comments.
I will now be looking further West for our exploratory short break. Due to a slight hitch in our plans we may have to put this off until the Spring and if we like it, hopefully we will not be too late to book our main holiday in August.
Thanks again