I too am off for my first visit to the Algarve and Carvoeiro on the 1st of July

You'll find some general info on the resort here - http://www.carvoeiro.com

Hi dotchas,
'fraid I can't help with restaurants in the immediate Carvoeiro area, but as far as beaches are concerned, anywhere you go along the coast will have gorgeous and spectacular beaches. Generally speaking, the further west you go, the more rugged and spectacular the coastal scenery gets. Would suggest you try to see the following ( dates in brackets are the market days for those particular towns so you can kill two birds with one stone )
In the Carvoeiro area, Lagoa(1st Sat) and Silves(3rdMon)are both worth a visit.To the East there is a weekly market in Quarteira(Weds) and probably the biggest market on the Algarve is at Loule every Saturday.
To the West, visit Lagos(1st Sat)-there's enough in Lagos to fill a whole day. Further west Sagres is a nice little harbour town(1st Fri) and Cap St. Vincent is worth a visit for the breathtaking scenery.
Closer to Carvoeiro Portimao(1st Mon) is the largest town on the Algarve after Faro and nearby Ferragudo(2nd Sun)is a nice riverside village with some great fish restaurants on the quayside.
Hope this will give you some ideas; have a super holiday.

Hi, i went to Carvoeiro a couple of years ago, was a great holiday, stayed at the Tivoli Al Mansor hotel.

Beaches - The beach in the centre of Carvoeiro is very nice, can get quite crowded though. As with all the beaches we used, they were all kept very clean, you can hire sunbeds with a shade (not a brolly, more of a 4 posts woth a blanket on the top) which weren't too bad, but did add up to a fair few quid over a 2 week period (about £8-10 per day for two beds and shade). Another beach that didn't get quite so crowded was the Centeanes beach, bit of a trek up the hill (unless you have a car!) but was a lot less crowded than the main beach, had a nice little restaurant for cheese/ham toasties during the day. If you want to be a bit more hectic/lively, you could try Praia De Rocha up the coast, though it is very busy most of the time.

Restaurants. There are a few nice restaurants in Carvoeiro, on the main square there are 2 restaurants that are well worth a visit (can't remember the name, but they are on the right hand side as you face the sea), there is one called the L'Orange up in the hills outside Carvoeiro which serves nice food but can be a tad expensive. For authentic poruguese food, you should try any of the restaurants on the hill going towards Carvalho/Centeanes beach (there was one with an outside grill that was very nice). If you get sick of all that my girlfriends favourite was a chinese half way up the hill.

Places to See. As above, they cover most of the areas you could want, Ferragudo was nice as was the food we had there. We were booked on the Jeep Safari, but ended up not going as the G/F didn't fancy it in the end, but it suposedly took in a lot of the portuguese countryside, with a visit to a monastry of some type. You could also look here http://www.portugalvirtual.pt/_tourism/algarve/ for places to visit and festivals that may be on when you are there.

Have a nice holiday,

Kef

Hi,
thanks everyone for the information,only 2 weeks to go!!!

Hi Dotchas,
I live in Algarve (Quarteira) and I strongly advise a visit to 2 of my favorite beaches:
Marinha beach -among the top 100 most beautiful beaches in the world, 10 minutes east from Carvoeiro.
Manta Rota - 45 minutes East from Carvoeiro; the beach with the warmest water in Portugal, well worth a visit!
If you have a chance, go on jeep safari. Pick one that stops for lunch in a little village called "Alte" (ex: Zebra safari)"¦you wont regret! Have Fun!

Alvaro - that link to Marinha beach isn't working but it sounds like one we'd like to visit as it's in the vicinity. When you say 10 mins from Carvoerio, is that walking? (I only ask as we won't have a car)

Thanks.

Alvaro - that link to Marinha beach isn't working but it sounds like one we'd like to visit as it's in the vicinity. When you say 10 mins from Carvoerio, is that walking? (I only ask as we won't have a car)

Sorry for the link, didn't realize. But you can click on the link, and then click on 'main page'. It will be the second from top. This beach is located 7/8 Km from Carvoeiro, so a car is helpful -Maybe this can help-
But what I would do is get a bicycle and take a stroll along the coast till I get there...and enjoy the stunning views.

There are some great restaurants in Carvoeiro. A Gale, Marisqueira, A Rede - these are all excellent. If you want to spend a fortune on a great fish restaurant, then Rui's (which is in Silves - about 10-15 minute drive from Carvoeiro) is definitely worth a visit, although you may have to wait for a table. Get there early and put your name down!

You are spoilt for choice with the amount of restaurants in Carvoeiro!

Thanks again to everyone,I am really looking forward to my holiday and can't wait to explore the Algarve,shop at the markets and sample all the restaurants

Have a great time, dotchas, and just remember the airline's weight limits while you're walking round all those markets.

Good point Sagres,
I might have to wear everthing to save adding too much weight to my luggage!! Can they charge me for being overweight
This time next week we will be at the airport
OOOHHH i am excited++++

I've been going to the Carvoeiro area, off and on, for about 15 years now usually staying at Rocha Brava to the east of Centeanes and can thoroughly recommend the area.

For food, a bit posh, go up to the top of Monte Carvoeiro and into the development there, where there are a number of restaurants and bars round a square. Stone Steak is not only good food, but an entertainment itself, especially when the boss is doing his Flambe Strawberry desert.

Centeanes beach has the O Stop restaurant, snacks during the day, wonderful seafood at night, with most of the customers being locals.

Half way up the main road to heading up to Centeanes, on the left hand side there is a restaurant who's speciality is flaming skewers and the rest of the food is pretty good too. It is run by a Duch guy who used to be a Toure de France cyclist.

I'd agree about the chinese being good, but it is not quite the same as chinese in the UK.

If you want to get out of town, a little, up the hill from Centeanes beach (not the main road) there is a small parade of shops restaurants and bars. Bella Napoli is about the best Italian we've found in the Algarve, and Zombies cocktail bar is fun for adults and kids - non alcoholic cocktails available.

If you are having a car, don't miss out on the drive to the lighthouse at the end of the world at Cabo St Vincente. An interesting day out. As is Monchique up in the mountains - good for a picnic.

Oh, boat trip from Portemao to see the grottoes is interesting.

http://www.carvoeiro.com/ for anything that has been missed here and http://maps.google.co.uk/?ll=37.095546,-8.462777&spn=0.022045,0.034032&t=k&om=1 is Carvoeiro on Google maps. It is in a high resolution area. Carvoeiro is the beach to the left, Centeanes is the one to the right.

Have fun,
Slarti

Hi Slarti,
Thanks for the info I am really looking forward to the Algarve,we have a car for 2 weeks so will do a fair bit of exploring.We will look out for your restaurants.
I finished work today so I am getting VERY excited
The Map link is great ,hopefully when we get back we will be able to spot our villa
Cheers
Dot

Hi Dot,

I've just realised that you are staying at a villa.

If you are collecting your car at the airport and driving to Carvoeiro yourselves, you will be turning south off the N25 in the middle of Lagoa, onto the road into the middle of Carvoeiro. About 1.5 to 2 miles down that road, on the right hand side is a large supermarket which is good for stocking up. Surprisingly, it is owned by Tesco, though last time we were there it was hard to tell, as the fruit and veg are so good.

Having said that, there is often better fruit and veg at some of the smaller "Mini Mercardo" shops and at the market in Carvoeiro.

Enjoy
Slarti

Cheers,
Will look for the supermarket for beer and BBQ stuff.
Only 1 sleep to go and that is at the airport hotel tonight!!!
Dot

Dot - would love to hear about Carveoiro when you get back.
We still have 14 sleeps to go.....

Hi Everyone,
Well we are now back and had a fantastic time.
The weather was poor the first week with 3 days cloud/rain,but was fine after that .
Carvoeiro is a lovely resort,although I didn't expect it to be so hilly ( I have a bad ankle)
Despite not being keen on fish (the main staple on Menus) we had some lovely meals.
Our favourite was Oasis where I had Chicken skewers with Satay sauce and my OH had the ribs,he said they were the best ever!!!
Sorry I cannot comment on fish dishes except to say they are plentiful!
Smilers at the square does great wraps etc ,great at lunch time!
Sullys does a great British Breakfast (sad,I know).Also has lovely clean loo!!!
The Stone Steak restaurants at Monte Carvoeiro is great fun as you cook your steak/chicken on a hot stone at your table.My OHs steak was the size of a small roast!!
The Indian at Monte Carvoeiro is also great.
We had no poor meals but in the Italian up the slope to the left on the Centeanes road they rushed us as they were busy ,we never got hurried anywhere else

Puddleduck.....if you have any questions ,fire away ,I will try to help.
It won't be long now....

Alvaro,......the market at Quarteira was great ,till it was invaded by dozens of armed police,is that a regular occurance??
We didn't hang around to find out why they were there ????counterfeit goods

Dot

Hi Dot - my friend and I are back now too

I'd agree about it being hilly - great for weight training pushing my god-daughter's buggy up the hills!
With a small person on board we never got out of the town, but I have to say I would like go back to Portugal with my hubby and get out and explore, especially as the roads looked great for driving and were well signposted.

I thought Carvoerio was a nice little place, very clean and with the odd exception of sullen waiting staff, the people were very friendly - especially on our first night out when they had just beaten England!!

Overall I think the qualiity of food was very good. We had a couple of lunches at Smilers too - very good. Lots of fish on the menus, which I love so I was in heaven. I can't remember the names of the places we ate except that we had a lovely meal in Villa Medici on our last evening. We tended to just go for a wander and see what took our fancy. Lots of nice fresh fruit and veg to buy too so we stayed in a cople of nights and cooked (saved the baby being out too late as well)

Oh, and boy was it hot! The 7 days just flew over. Ah, this time last week..........

Off to Carvoeiro (Rocha Brava complex) tomorrow for a fortnight and can't wait. I've been before but we didn't eat out much last time so all these recommendations have been noted for this holiday thanks. Arrived at the start of a mini heatwave last time and looks like this weekend is going to be just the same according to some forecasts. Somehow I don't think I'll be moving too far from the pool for the next few days.