ms-havachat travel blog 11 - Algarve, Portugal, Part III - Sightseeing

We flew direct from Dublin to Faro for our 10 night summer holiday. It's less than two hours which is brilliant (perfect for city breaks and long weekends).

We asked he Hilton Vilamoura to organise a hire car/taxi to meet us and bring us to the resort (€36). which is about a 35 minute drive from Faro which saved us hassling with transport. We enjoyed looking at the surrounding areas as we drove. Our driver was very chatty about what we were seeing, and made several recommendations for restaurants, tours etc.

Vilamoura is one of Europe's largest private tourist areas, which simply means that the proprietors of the hotels, apartments, villa's and shops 'own' the area and pay a levy for want of  a better word for its upkeep, marketing etc. I'm sure there's more to it, but that's the gist of what the driver told us. You can tell something's going on there. As soon as you enter the area it's greener, lusher, quieter.

You know when you arrive.

With world class golf courses, hotels and resorts across 3, 4 and 5 star ratings, self service apartments, villas, mansions, marina's etc, there's something literally for every budget and taste. Yet, the area doesn't feel crowded or over populated with buildings or people (we were there in June, so July, August and September would be very different)

There are miles and miles of beaches, fabulous coastline and waterparks. We could not get over how many or how big these water parks were. And zoos. There's several zoos. And marine parks. I'm not a shopper so didn't bother going to the shopping centre, but I was told by a lady by the pool I was chatting with, it was great.

You can quickly understand why the Algarve is the perfect family summer destination. In fact, it doesn't get that cold in winter, so it's really an all-year-round playground.

The deal with this summer holiday was we would spend the whole time in the same place. No schlepping around with cases. We would swim, read and relax. G would play a few games of golf; MissM would swim, and we would do 'some' sightseeing.

Simple map to give you an idea of places we went.

Our driver told us that the markets in Quateria were worth going to on a Wednesday, so off I went, leaving G and MissM to have some daddy/daughter time in the pool. Not quite sure how to say this but the taxi driver either took me to the wrong markets OR they were very disappointing.

Lots of imitation handbags being sold as "Portugal's finest quality', hand sewn linen, shoes, and underwear. It was hilarious watching women try on bra's over their t-shirts or sundresses and asking their friends 'what to you think'. I tried several times to take a sneak-pic but wasn't quick enough.

It's not somewhere I'd recommend, but I would recommend checking out the beautiful, long beach at Albufeira.

Albufeira Beach, courtesy of someone else via Google images.

My pics from the market.

The Hilton offered suggestions for all sorts of sightseeing on land and water. After careful consideration we opted for a half day tour to Silves and Monchique with Follow Me Tours. As MissM said to someone who asked her how the afternoon tour was, we learned a lot about the vegetation and not much else.

Maybe our expectations were to high?

Silves is the formal capital of Portugal with a rich history.  We certainly didn't experience that. What they should have said was 'we'll spend an hour here, of which 15-20 minutes will be taken up with walking to/from the Church and Castle up a very VERY steep, slippery slope that we recommend you only do if you are sturdy on your feet, and don't have a pram/stroller. If you want to enter the Church or the Castle there is a small fee that is not included in your tour, so please make sure you have change. As it'll be very hot, if you want a drink, we recommend take-away as you probably won't have time to sit and enjoy it'

We schlepped up the hill, in the heat. We paid the entrance fee to the Castle opting no to go inside the Church. The views from the Castle were lovely, but the Castle itself was disappointing. We bought a cold drink on the way down the hill, then had to wait for the coach to return to the meeting spot as it was late!

Walking up the hill to the Church and Castle (my pic)

The Castle (that's my back)

The Church

Inside the Castle

Thank goodness the coach was air conditioned and comfortable as the drive to the next destination was about 40 minutes (G rekons we spent more  time in the bus than exploring)

Monchique is the highest point on the Algarve and the winding road up thru the hills is pleasant enough. Our guide knew EVERYTHING about EVERY tree and shrub and shared it all with us; the most interesting thing we learned was about the cork trees, and how the are cut every 4-6 years to ensure an average thickness of cork is cut; and they way the people (we still aren't sure who cuts/owns the cork trees as they grow wild) know when the tree was last cut is by painting the last two numbers of the year they were last cut so 14 means 2014, 09, 2009 etc.

Atop Monchique - not much else here to show you

When we got back to the hotel, G organised for a hire car to be delivered and we decided to self guide over the weekend.

Early Saturday morning we took off to explore Albufeira, and the coast. We learnt on the tour that the oranges grown in Portugal are too small by EU standards for export, so they are all kept for domestic sale. The JUICE from the small oranges is very sweet and this is exported instead. The tomatoes grown in the north of the country are too big by EU standards for export, so they are all sold to Heinz and made into Ketchup (even tho it was kinda boring, we did listen to the guide)

Anyhow, back to Saturday's adventure .........................

I was thoroughly entertained by the orange sellers on the side of the road. They were every few meters, with their umbreallas to shade them from the sun, their iPhones to help them wile away the hours, and of course bags of oranges. G amused me by stopping every so often to allow me to take photo's  (I was thinking of you and this chat)

Here's a few pics of the beaches

Imagine how busy this would be in high tourist season!

We went back to the hotel around 4pm for a much needed swim to cool off, and had room service for dinner.

Sunday we headed to Cape St Vincent, the most south-westerly point of mainland Europe. You must be prepared with sunhat, cream, sturdy walking shoes as there's no shade and you need to walk over rocky ground to get to the very edge of Europe.

G and I literally stood on the edge of the continent to take some photos, not thinking for a minute 'anything could happen'. MissM kept asking us to come back ...... we made sure she was a safe distance back but we just kept clicking. In hindsight we were bloody stupid, but the photos are amazing!

Every time we see a map of Europe we know we've stood THERE,
on the very pointy bit.

Up close and personal with the edge of Europe

That's me, taking another great photo over the edge.

We then drove to Lagos and walked around Forte de Ponta Bender. Not much to see, but the views were great and the walk around the perimeter of the Forte gave us opportunity to stretch our legs (you still your hat and suncream, still no shade). We were in awe of the fisherman as the cliffs were very high; and the vegetation was very unusual and pretty.

MissM is a great tourist! She loves reading the boards.

G and MissM watching the fisherman casting their lines down the cliffs

More stunning coastline  we never tired of it

Cool photo, eh?

Going home ........

When we were at Cape St Vincent, MissM bought a keyring for her collection with a unifold postcard of places; she asked G if we could go to Ponta de Piedade, so we did.

Oh My Goodness.

Mother Nature really outdid herself here.

We absolutely HAVE to come back here and do a coastline cruise, and kayak between the caves. I would think, if you were here peak tourist season you would be well advised to BOOK your tours before arriving as this place is one of THE places to visit on the Algarve coast.

Our self drive weekend was a huge success.

The hire car and sat nav worked like a charm; G felt comfortable driving on what we call the wrong side of the road; and we were at our leisure to stay and explore places for as long as we wanted and not be dictated to.

There are probably lots of places we didn't see, but that's ok. We thoroughly enjoyed what we did, and when we go back for a second visit, we'll do a bit more.

Monday was our final all day pool session, while G played his last game of golf in the afternoon.

Tuesday we caught the plane back to Dublin and our summer holiday was a memory .............. thank goodness for our 683 photos which I'm now sorting to make an album with the online mypublisher (another chat)

With friendship
x

ms-havachat travel blog 10: Algarve, Portugal Part II - Food

Wish I'd taken this photo - it shows off Vilamoura Marina so well.

This summer, we spent 10 nights in Vilamoura on the Algarve coast in Portugal. We opted for a two bedroom apartment in the Hilton Vilamoura Golf and Spa Resort so that we could avail ourselves an easy, relaxing breakfast and lunch routine in between sitting/swimming in the pool.

The Hilton provided a courtesy shuttle bus to the Marina from 7pm with 15 minute intervals. Not knowing what was there, but thinking must be good if the hotel is offering this service, off we went.

Vilamoura Marina has the capacity to berth over 1,000 boats. The marina is a C-shape, with hotels, apartments and restaurants completing the area.  There are a few tourist shops selling quality items, and several 'High Street' retailers, and several tour operators selling tickets for everything from cruises, to para-flying, swimming with dolphins, deep sea fishing, golf and more.

As were were there in June, before the annual high season of tourists we probably didn't experience the area at it's best, but I have to say, I'm pleased. I think this place would absolutely heave in summer.

Our first impression as we walked down the stairs, past Haagen-daz ice cream (haven't seen that for years!) was WOW - the boats are super cruisers, majestic in their size and power. The berth areas are locked for security so you can't wander by the boats but merely stand and admire them.

To your left, and to your right, there is restaurant after restaurant after restaurant. We quickly realised every restaurant has an 'inside' seating option and a 'outside' seating option (overlooking marina) which in reality cuts down the number of restaurants we thought there were by half.

The waiting staff, and food runners go back and forth across the crowds as the kitchens are in the 'inside' restaurants - can only imagine what this must be like peak tourist season!

All the restaurants have their menus on display in Portuguese and English. We noticed one or two had French and German menus. Maybe if you asked for other languages you might be offered but as we are mono-lingual we were fine.

The prices are not-so-touristy, but higher than other areas for obvious reasons. We didn't feel once that we had an expensive meal as the service, quality of food, atmosphere etc was great. There was one meal, where MissM ordered chicken and chips and it was clearly from a frozen box and not prepared by Chef.

Here are our highlights, and therefore, our recommendations if you are ever dining here.

Primo Steakhouse. We sat outside, and as soon as the sunset, we realised (a) we need to bring a light wrap or cardigan cos it gets real cool real quick, or (b) sit inside next time. The service was fun. The wait staff were cheeky with MissM who loved the attention. MissMs chicken was so succulent, she ordered a second helping (they were small); G's surf'n'turf was yummy (for some reasons prawns are very expensive, but having them with the lamb not-so), and my beef was cooked to perfection.

As we had burned off heaps of energy in the pool, NO WE DIDN'T - we spent the morning at the medical centre because MissM had hurt her foot in the pool and couldn't walk!!!!!!!!!!! She was fine, thank goodness. The x-rays showed inflammation, so a bandage, medicine and rest and she was good as new.

Getting back to dinner - we had desert. It was, well, look at the photos!

Primo Steakhouse. 

Desert @ Primo

Dinner at La Frigate was nice, it was probably the least favourite of the one's we ate at. Just our opinion. See what I mean about the chicken - those square pieces of food on the bottom left pic. My prawn salad was nice as was the salmon (not sure where G's main meal pic is)

The driver who collected us from the airport recommended a few places for dinner, and this Thai place  was one. It's set back off the marina, out of the rujja-bujja (aka crowds), and the outdoor dining area is set in a courtyard within an apartment complex. All the doors to the apartments overlook the courtyard so I'm not sure eating there in the height of the tourist season would be fun .... might be wrong.  The food was delicious and the only reason there's one food photo is simply because it got very dark very quickly (we ate late this night cos G returned from golf late). The service was quiet and polite, the food was authentic and tasty.

The best meal of ALL was here at TAKU Japanese - wow wow wow.

Best sushi and sashimi we have had since leaving Japan (other than Sakura in Winchester, UK which was pretty awesome). The Chef had trained for 12 years in Germany and was so precise with his placement of the food on the platters it was like watching a dancer perform. His 4 assistant Chefs were masters of their skills too, slicing and placing delicate morsels of food onto beds of rice, or creating a tortoise from strawberries for MissM, complimentary of course. She knows how to milk our time in Japan very well when required.

Had we eaten here first, we'd have not eaten anywhere else for sure. It was absolutely delicious and very reasonably priced.

I can't find the photos of the two meals we had at Mayflower - the grilled sardines for entree were out of this world, as was my monkfish. G didn't need a knife with his steak, it was so soft and buttery; MissM's chicken (she is starting to cluck as she enters puberty) was yummy.

Our second meal there, we opted to sit outside, and G and I shared the Cataplana of mixed fish and shellfish for our main. It was brought to the table in a silver bowl with a dome lid. As soon as the waiter lifted the lid, the most amazing aroma's filled the air, so much so, several diners near us turned to look to see what it was - two tables of diners asked to change their orders!

Not 'our' Cataplana, but you get the idea. 

As always, there are several Irish themed pubs scattered around the Marina, and one or two set back from it.

A few suggestions, if I may if you are ever in this part of the world for dinner. This list was put together by G and I:

• If you are in a group of 6 or more, make a reservation ahead of time, or be prepared to wait. The restaurants are set for tables of 2's, 4's and 6's and work to a high number of covers per evening. I'm sure for later dining you could sit and ponder, but in the high season, it's doubtful.
• Walk around the entire Marina and compete your research of what's on offer, price ranges etc. There are several Indian restaurants for example, and numerous Italian/pizza places, so make sure you choose the one to suit you.
• The restaurants along the 'back' of the Marina, near the hotel tended to be less busy and the atmosphere was completely different. 
• From our observation, kids of all ages are welcome at all restaurants. They are well equipped with high chairs. It's difficult to get the prams/strollers into the 'outside' dining areas as you are pretty squashed in so indoor dining would be your best option tho we did see the staff take a couple of prams from parents and put them inside for safe-keeping.
• Talking of safe keeping we felt very safe on the Marina, and didn't hear anything negative about it, but again, best keep your wits, especially in high tourist season. 
• Take something to wrap around shoulders as once the sun sets, it's very cool.

We thoroughly enjoyed our evening stroll along the Marina before and after our meals.

Hope you do too.

With friendship
x