Dear All,
I was hoping for some advice about the Algarve. We have been looking to buy a Villa in Spain for a while but not been able to find what we wanted. A friend has suggested that we take a look in the Algarve. Now clearly we wouldn't be buying anything without spending some time in the area first, so the question is which area in the Algarve is most likely to be suitable for our needs (and therefore this would help decide where we might want to take a first look on a pre-buying holiday). I have read some articles on this site and others about the main areas in the Algarve, but was wondering whether anyone had some specific views given the following main requirements for us:
- child friendly; we have 2 young children and often holiday with others who have children under 10; ideally we would also have access to kids clubs and things like that, although I see there are various water parks etc around so maybe that is our route for child entertainment
- warm weather (we have been to some of the Spanish islands which were lovely, but the wind/breeze by the sea made it a little too chilly by the sea/pool)
- walking distantance to restaurants. bars, supermarket etc; it doesn't have to be anything fancy, but we don't really want to be in a situation where we have to drive for even the most basic of options
- nice sandy beach/beaches, ideally with plenty of space; we have been to a number of places in Spain where the beaches are quite stoney and not great for children crawling around, either that or they are simply of a size that they are overly crowded with no room to move
- one of our children has limited movement and spends some time in a wheelchair; she is fine crawling around on beaches etc but somewhere that was very hilly or difficult to access would not be ideal
Any thoughts or suggestions greatly appreciated!
Thank you in advance.
A1, like the Spanish the Portuguese are a very child friendly nation, kids clubs are usually attached to hotels for guest only, but make yourself known [use the bar and pool facilities] then talk to them [their may be a small fee]
A2 ,the Algarve is in the Atlantic not the Med so the further west you go the winder its likely to be [taken over a year]
A3, all the main resort areas and many of the smaller ones will have the facilities you need
A4, IMO the best beaches are on the Atlantic silver coast but it can be very windy and is not known to the Brits unless your a wind surfer other than that most of the eastern resorts i would favour Monte Gordo
A5, Again Monte Gordo and Villa real de Santio Antonio [again not well known to the Brits] are probably the flattest areas
other members will have other ideas but its a start
wizard
A2 ,the Algarve is in the Atlantic not the Med so the further west you go the winder its likely to be [taken over a year]
A3, all the main resort areas and many of the smaller ones will have the facilities you need
A4, IMO the best beaches are on the Atlantic silver coast but it can be very windy and is not known to the Brits unless your a wind surfer other than that most of the eastern resorts i would favour Monte Gordo
A5, Again Monte Gordo and Villa real de Santio Antonio [again not well known to the Brits] are probably the flattest areas
other members will have other ideas but its a start
wizard
Hi,
Wizard has given you some excellent answers and I think he's got it spot on in that the resorts in the eastern Algarve are generally flatter. I didn't think I could contribute any more as the area we know best is the central Algarve (we have an apartment in Albufeira, which is very hilly). But you could look at Gale (pronounced gar-lay) which is a few miles west of Albufeira. Plenty of villas on the same level as the beach and there's a supermarket and restaurants there. The beautiful sandy beach stretches for miles along to Armacao de Pera. Choice of water parks and Zoomarine within a shortish drive. But of course it can be windy!
Wizard has given you some excellent answers and I think he's got it spot on in that the resorts in the eastern Algarve are generally flatter. I didn't think I could contribute any more as the area we know best is the central Algarve (we have an apartment in Albufeira, which is very hilly). But you could look at Gale (pronounced gar-lay) which is a few miles west of Albufeira. Plenty of villas on the same level as the beach and there's a supermarket and restaurants there. The beautiful sandy beach stretches for miles along to Armacao de Pera. Choice of water parks and Zoomarine within a shortish drive. But of course it can be windy!
very difficult to give advice, everywhere is fabulous, there is 150 miles of coastline to the Algarve and each town /village has a different ambience. My advice is to go and see for yourselves and like the rest of us you are bound to fall in love with a particular area and you are bound to find a property to your liking at a good price as at present it is very much a buyers market.
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