What to do around Carvoeiro, The Algarve

lowonmoney

Hi,

We're going to Carvoeiro in August for 2 weeks and wondered whether anyone had any tips for places to visit in the area or restaurants to eat in. We have hired a car, so can travel. I'm going with my husband, my parents and my 2 daughters who are 7 and 9.

Any help would be appreciated!

u109230

We've got 2 boys of a similar age & we all liked Silves Castle http://www.algarve-portal.com/en/cities/silves/castle/

Also the most south westerly point in Europe is nearby http://www.algarve-portal.com/en/cities/sagres/

sillygoose

Stayed their a couple of years ago with a 5 and 7 year old, had a fantastic time.

Zoo Marine is a brilliant day out (about 15 mile drive) the dolphin show is amazing and the rides etc, its not cheap but a very special day. a must.
http://www.zoomarine.pt/index.php

If the kids like water aqualand waterpark is olny about 10 miles and is again an amazing day out (except some of the waterslides scared me to death the kids loved them!)
http://www.aqualand.pt/index.php

Go down into the town, and on the small busy beach you can hire a boat ride, pair up with other family if you can but not too costly on your own. A friendly local will take you along the dramatic coastline and in some of the caverns, don't forget your camera and flash.

Restaurants in town are pretty easy to sort out, the poor ones have plenty of free space, the popular ones are very busy, worth eating early before too busy.

The sand sculptures at Pera are well worth a trip truly incredible images made out of sand, sounds dull but has to be seen to appreciate
http://fiesa.org/

A trip to Silves is a great day out the castle is brilliant and the town with its narrow old streets to explore, then have a leisurely lunch on a street cafe and watch life go by.

sillygoose

Forgive the indulgance, posted some pictures I took....

sillygoose wrote: »

Stayed their a couple of years ago with a 5 and 7 year old, had a fantastic time.

Zoo Marine is a brilliant day out (about 15 mile drive) the dolphin show is amazing and the rides etc, its not cheap but a very special day. a must.
http://www.zoomarine.pt/index.php

http://img69.imageshack.us/img69/2944/dscf0880v.jpg
http://img708.imageshack.us/img708/5240/dscf0924.jpg

If the kids like water aqualand waterpark is olny about 10 miles and is again an amazing day out (except some of the waterslides scared me to death the kids loved them!)
http://www.aqualand.pt/index.php

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/9978/dscf1056tw.jpg

Go down into the town, and on the small busy beach

http://img843.imageshack.us/img843/8706/dscf1075b.jpg

you can hire a boat ride, pair up with other family if you can but not too costly on your own. A friendly local will take you along the dramatic coastline and in some of the caverns, don't forget your camera and flash.

http://img600.imageshack.us/img600/9564/dscf1130v.jpg

Restaurants in town are pretty easy to sort out, the poor ones have plenty of free space, the popular ones are very busy, worth eating early before too busy.

The sand sculptures at Pera are well worth a trip truly incredible images made out of sand, sounds dull but has to be seen to appreciate
http://fiesa.org/

http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/8383/dscf1189mo.jpg

A trip to Silves is a great day out the castle is brilliant

http://img27.imageshack.us/img27/4885/dscf1023a.jpg

and the town with its narrow old streets to explore,

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/2174/dscf1051u.jpg

then have a leisurely lunch on a street cafe and watch life go by.

http://img692.imageshack.us/img692/6196/dscf1047v.jpg

lowonmoney

That's great - thank you! Lovely pictures! Any restaurants you can recommend?

sillygoose

lowonmoney wrote: »

That's great - thank you! Lovely pictures! Any restaurants you can recommend?

erm.. well my kids were mega fussy so sadly restricted to #anywhere# that had something on the menu they both liked.

We have moved on a LOT last two years so now it would be vastly different, going to Corfu in a couple of weeks and actually looking forward to dining out!

All the restaurants we used were fine, clean enough, friendly and happy to accommodate.

Shopbot_2

I would also recommend Zoo Marine,
Slide and Splash is great for all ages.
Try driving to some of the smaller quiter beaches such as Albandeira - beautiful scenery all along the coast.

Restaurants:
Our favourite is Tia Ilda. If you look at the photo that was posted of the beach it is the yellow restaurant slightly up the hill on the left (looking from beach).
Dracula Kebabs are great - Huge portions and great view.

If you are staying up near Monte Carvoeiro on the west side of Carvoiero there is a lovely Italian that is very reasonably priced and lovely food. - A long and steep walk up from the beach though so would only recommend if staying that side!

Enjoy the holiday. - We will be there again too in a couple of weeks.

lowonmoney

Might see you there, we go on Friday. We'll check out the restaurants thanks x

mchale

http://www.carvoeiro.com/ If you thinking of going to zoomarine google "the cove" before you go, also opposite zoomarine is a piri piri chicken restaurant well worth a visit, take run down to the west coast as well, at Lagos you can take a boat trip to see dolphins in their natural habitat