Great place for a holiday (Albufeira)

Member Name: gpollock

Product:	Albufeira
Date:	08/02/09 (327 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great weather, beaches and friendly people

Disadvantages: None

Albufeira is located in the Algarve area of southern Portugal which is well known for its amazing beaches, great weather, numerous golf courses and great seafood such as grilled sardines and Cataplan! It's a very popular location for Britsih and Irish tourists.

I've been three times to Albufeira and absolutely love it! The beaches are amazing - endless sand and very clean. They range from the larger beaches with sunbeds that you can hired for about Euro7 per day to the more secluded quieter beaches which you can chill out on with very few people around to disturb you. There are plenty of watersports available to take part in on the beach such as banana boating, pedalo boats and parasailing. I've only ever had the guts to do the banana boat and the pedalo boats but next time i'm going to try out the parasailing!

There's plenty to see and do in the resort and a lot of restaurants and bars to choose from catering for all sorts. The main strip in Albufeira is the more lively area with endless bars, restaurants and discos. This part of the town is slightly tackier and the crowd tends to be quite young and mainly english and irish with some portuguese students on their holidays. For a change I would recommend visiting the old town which is much more traditional and better for those with families. The restaurants in the old town are much nicer and theres a more relaxed atmosphere with people strolling about late into the night as opposed to the pumping music and the kids hanging around the strip.

Most tourists tend to go to Albufeira on package holidays but it is also a very easy place to get to if you wish to book your holiday independently. Easyjet flies to the nearest airport, Faro from a range of locations such as London and Belfast and it's easy enough to book your own accommodation online and possible to get some good deals at the moment. Last time i stayed in Hotel Montechoro at the top of the strip and got a good deal online. I've written a separate review on this hote. There are also plenty of companies you can book with online to arrange your transfer for much cheaper as taxis from the airport are a real rip off! The locals are all very friendly and the area is generally very safe. I would definitely go back again.

Summary: Great place for a holiday