Hi ruth24s,

DIYing in Portugal is very easy. Which resort were you thinking of? Albufeira is the largest resort and is about 40 minutes from Faro airport. It has a lovely Old Town with excellent beaches as well as the newer areas including the "Strip". There is also a Marina to the west. A similar resort is Lagos, which has a more developed and busy Marina, an Old Town and lovely beaches. Lagos is further from the airport.

Transfers are easy to book online and there are lots of firms that do these.

I would say the cost of living foodwise is similar to the UK. Accommodation costs vary, of course. Were you thinking of staying in a hotel or self-catering accommodation? There are lots of both options!

Hope this has helped generally, but please come back with all your questions and we'll be able to help further.

Rosemary

Forgot to say, have a look at this for an overview of the Algarve - http://www.visitalgarve.pt/

Hello, thank you for your reply, I think we are looking at Albuferia. We are going next week, so expecting it to be cold, but hoping for hotter than here!

We don't mind accommodation, just somewhere close to everything really with a child too.

Where do you tend to get transfers from?

Thanks

We're going next Tuesday and to our relief the weather is just taking a turn for the better and I heard that there's no rain forecast for next week!

As time is short, I suggest you do a search on Google for accommodation in Albufeira. There are a few hotels in the Old Town. Sol y Mar and Rocamar are right on the beach. Up the hill towards the new town the Brisa Sol always gets good reports, but there are lots of others. You have to be careful that your accommodation is actually close enough to walk to the restaurants and bars, and be warned that Albufeira is very hilly.

We have an apartment in Albufeira and always hire a car, but some well respected airport transfer firms are Yellowfish, Bravo Tur and Batalhatur. Again, a Google search might be a good idea.

Sorry it's taken me a time to reply ............. maybe you're all sorted now?!

Hello,
Thank you for the reply, we looked a various places in Albufeira and the Rocamar was one I fancies, but was sold out. We were looking near the old town side, but in the end have gone for a totally different area and booked for the Eurotel in Altura... I think we are going to hire a car. Do you get yours from the airport? And who do you use?

All in all so far we have paid £400 for the 3 of us for the week. Could have gone for cheaper accommodation, but went for this one.

Looking forward to our last min cheeky break! :-) I have never been before but reading reviews and looking at the number of lovely beaches I have a feeling we will return...

Glad to hear you've booked your accommodation. We haven't been to Altura but we love Tavira and have done a drive along to Vila Real de Santo Antonio and Castro Marim and up the Guardiana. The land is much flatter in the Eastern Algarve, and if you want to see the typically Algarvian coves and cliffs you'll have to drive along to Albufeira or beyond. But if you just want to relax, I'm sure you'll want to come back another time to see a bit more!

We quite often book a car through Economy Car Hire - http://www.economycarhire.com/. They're very reliable and friendly, and you can get an online quote and/or phone them. We always pick up the car at the airport.

Well, the weather looks set fair at last so I hope you have a great time ............ and will fall in love with the Algarve as most people do!

Hello,
Thank you for that, I will have a look at the car hire. Yes we really wanted to be out of it a bit for this trip, and will no doubt be driving to different places for the day too OH fanices popping over to Spain! It was the flat the took us there but the Western beaches look stunning also, can't believe I have never been before. And the flights were cheap so if we got them when first released would have been even better. We normally go to Turkey, but fancied a change... Portugal sure has a lot of charm by the looks of it. Thank you...

Please check the small print if you're planning to take the car into Spain. We did it a couple of times before we read that it might be a problem. The hire included "entry into Spain", but when we checked with the car supplier they said any damage to the car would be covered, but it would be up to us to arrange and pay for the car to be returned to the Portuguese side of the border!

There are coach trips to Seville if you fancied doing that.

Have a great time!