Portugal

Felix

sawguitar wrote: »

Hi Felix.As a consequence of me working in the steel-works i have to have the shut down weeks which are the first two weeks in August.I know its probably the most expensive time to go but i have no choice.
The place i have been looking at is a small village called Quateira which is situated between Faro and Albufeira. Thank You

Quarteira is not a small village nor is it very nice. Try the area next to it called Vilamoura, it is more expensive but I would not recommend Quarteira. Unless you are not set on that area, have you been offered any others?

JJCD_2

This year we are going back to Carvoeiro, we think it is lovely and full of reasonable restaurants.
It has an excellent web site
https://www.carvoeiro.com.
Quarteira is a litle scruffy and quite urban.

planetdannii

I'm looking to move to Lisbon next year....as you guys know about Portugal are you aware of any websites with general info on apartments etc.

I have done a few google searches but nothing really has come up.

I'm so excited but have no idea where to start...nice school to learne the lingo would be my best starting point I think

skyeandeviesmummy

http://www.the-news.net/Default.aspx This is a National newspaper in Portugal aimed at the english speaking it has property listings and services so it may be of some help to you. Luck you moving to Portugal I sometimes wonder why I came back! :rotfl:

planetdannii

I live in Thailand at the mo & have done for the past 5years but I'm looking for something a little closer to the U.k and Portugal came out on top...so going to give it a try.

As you lived there skyeandeviesmummy can I ask you...are there any funky/retro/emo/punk clothes shops in Lisbon? I may be opening one but I'm not sure if Portugal manufacture many clothes?

I currently sell over the internet as my shop on the islands wore me down...but i'm missing having 'real' customers so may go back into it.

Thanx for the link going to check it out now.

Im going in August for a week can you recommend a good area of the city to stay in for that length of time? We are thinking of getting an aparment instead of a hotel.
I don't mind having to get a short bus journey into town if the costs differ greatly.

eeeeeee thanx again

sawguitar

skyeandeviesmummy wrote: »

Hi, I lived in the Algarve for 3 years 2 years in a small village near Albufeira and 1 year actually in Albufeira. I dont think its a particularly expensive place to stay. Are you thinking of renting a villa? If you are looking to stay somewhere quieter you will need to hire a car as local transport isnt very good. I know of quite a few little places so if you need any help let me know.

Yes i do need some help.Not having been to Portugal before, i dont know which resorts are ok and which are not .We are looking for a quiet area which is not as touristy as the well known ones. We usually hire a car on holiday to see as much of the country as possible .The hotel dosent have to be 5 star as we usually use it as a base ,having said that ,it does have to be clean.
Any help would be most appreciated. Thank You. Steve W (sheffield)

numberonemummy

I second carvoeiro (??)
we went end of march, loved it,

yes it was a bit quiet for our teenagers, but lovely little beach, few little shops and lovely restuarants to choose from, meals were alot cheaper than canarys, about 80 euros for 6 of us, including a couple of drinks,
most expensive is the one right on the beach, up the top, steak house, was really nice but a 3 course meal for all 6 was 140 euros,

we hired a car from faro, drove there in about an hour, easy to find, lovely motorways,
would def. go back again, also loved algarve shopping centre, as the kids could have their kfc or macs or burger king, and we could shop (zara and mango really cheap !)

sugar&spice

We are going to Porto in July - got cheap flights from ryanair and found Asiarooms.com to be by far the cheapest for a hotel. See tripadvisor.com for reviews of different places etc. For insurance we went through quidco to churchill and got £18 cashback even though the insurance was only £14 odd. Not sure if this is still going. HTH.

JJCD_2

If you do want to go to Carvoeiro I can tell you the options we used:

Flight ryanair to Seville (cheaper than flying to Faro and an easy 2 hour drive motorway all the way)

Villa/apartment with https://www.holidayrentals.com

car with https://www.premiercarjet.com

ScarletBea

As with all countries and all areas, you can find both really cheap and really expensive (and anything in-between) in the Algarve, Lisbon or Porto. And this for hotels or restaurants.

I'm portuguese and my gran lives in the Algarve, so I'm not that familiar with hotels there, but I do know that yes, Quarteira is a long long street full of not-so-nice apartments, Vilamoura has got all types, somehow more expensive, but it's really nice (don't stay at the Atlantis though: it says 4* but it really doesn't feel or look that - stayed there 1 night last year), and Carvoeiro has got a good reputation.

And just a reply to this comment:

numberonemummy wrote: »

zara and mango really cheap !

In Portugal (as in Spain, where these shops come from), Zara and Mango are cheap shops, at the same level of, say, H&M. I never understood why in any other countries they are so expensive, but good for the bosses if they aimed for the higher level market, hehe. So if you like their clothes, then definitely Portugal is the place to buy them (although you won't find many bigger sizes though they think a 14/16 is really big :rolleyes: )