VRSA is the furthest east on the Algarve coast line, its a few years since we were there but it felt more like a working town than a holiday resort,there was [probably still is] a large central square with bars and cafe's and radiating from this ,several shopping streets, there was also a small harbor, this is where you catch the ferry to Ayamonte the furthest west town on the Mediterranean Spanish coast

wizard

It's a bit more shoppier and a little less classy than Tavira, no idea whether it even has a beach, never looked into that but there are definately good beaches at Monte Gordo slightly back towards Tavira. The shops seem to do a roaring trade in towels (bit bulky for luggage but in nice box sets if you have any wedding presents to buy this year!!)

It does have a "unique selling point" in that it is the last town in Portugal, it faces Ayamonte in Spain across the river and there is still a small ferry shuttling across, although these days the through traffic uses the big bridge slightly north of town. Don't forget, if you go over (especially in the evening) Spain is one hour ahead of Portugal - don't miss the last ferry back!

Just a little further north (you can see it from the edge of the town centre) is the old fort at Castro Marim which is preserved but not touristified, from the walls you get great views of the International Bridge and back to both towns, best in afternoon when the sun has gone west.

One thing to keep oh entertained could be this http://www.riosultravel.com/uk/about.php which cropped up in discussion a few months ago. The cruise with lunch etc at the Quinta da Rio sounds like a good day out although it was the Jeep Safari that was mentioned to start with.

Steve was going to post about the towels! We've popped into VRSA when we stayed in Cabanas & we knick named it towel town as that's all we could see outside all the shops.

Was there Saturday and found it to be an attractive town with a pleasant square with a number of resturants and bars and reasonable shopping. Note there is free internet within the central square area and alongside some of the river embankment resturants and bars. It is a real town rather than a tourist resort. If you've got transport it should be easy to get around and hit some beaches.

It's only a five minute drive to Montegordo which has great long sandy beaches and is much more touristy.

There is a tiny beach if you go right down past the lighthouse but the best beaches are in Monte Gordo, about 2 miles away. If you don't have a car there are buses about twice every hour, in summer, between Vila Real and Monte Gordo.

The castles at Castro Marim are worth a visit and a ferry trip over to Ayamonte is a pleasant diversion - it only takes 10 minutes and you get to visit another country although, as said above, remember the time difference.

Vila Real was once a major centre of the sardine and tuna fishing industry. This collapsed almost overnight in the early 70's and the unfortunate legacy is several large canneries etc now falling into ruin. The commercial wharves and docks are now also almost devoid of activity. There is a little museum in town that charts the history of the fishing industry with some interesting exhibits.

The town is laid out in a grid pattern and the central area is quite pleasant. And yes, every shop sells towels! It's a popular destination for Spanish people to come shopping for whatever is cheaper in Portugal than in Spain. There are also a lot of shops selling kitchenware, so perhaps those sort of things are cheaper here than in Spain.

I'd be interested to know where michelle 45 and her people are staying. I have been to Vila Real several times and have never seen holiday hotels, villas to let etc.