A great town in Southern Portugal. (Albufeira)

Member Name: stebiz

Product:	Albufeira
Date:	30/08/09 (82 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Great Beaches. Old and New Town.

Disadvantages: Getting Expensive

I was first introduced to Albuferia when I won free flights on a Hoover Competition back in 1993. I went with my Wife to be, who had already been on a few occasions camping. We stayed in an appartment in San Rafael which is on the edge of the old Albuferia town. We would regularly walk into thetown each night and would look in awe at a town which could quite honestly have been in a time warp back in the after war years. The roads were very steep in places and there was a great tunnel built into the cliff face, which took you onto the fantastic golden sandy beach. I remember even now how we would see an old beggar lady each day, sitting there with a bowl. Poverty was not too far away.

Fast forwarding a few years to the late 90's, I went back this time with my Wife and young baby, as well as some other family members, whom I had boasted about the suroundings. This time we also stayed in San Rafael, even nearer to the Albuferia Old Town, and the town hadn't changed at all. However on this occasion we travelled further to the other end of Albuferia. This was to an area of bars, restaurants and tourist shops on the north-to-south road just up from Praia da Oura. It really is a very busy road, which attracts many thousands of tourists a night. Here you can also expect the normal timeshare touts, like you would in other European Seaside Resorts. It was somewhere we would visit quite regularly over the holiday, although we were really glad that we hadn't booked our holiday in the vicinity!!

Since then we have been on many other occasions also, but we have always stayed on the outskirts of the town. The last time we went was in August 2009 and was a little disappointed to see the old fishermans village was no more. Aso the old windy steep steps to the beach, which I had struggled on many occasions previously carrying my daughters prams down, had been replaced by an outside esculator and the fish market replaced with an outside sqaure, for concerts.

All the boats are now situated towards the old town, towards San Rafael. In fact a marina has been built and many hundreds, if not thousands of houses, in different colours, were (or have been) built. In fact the bright colours used make it look like balamory.

There are miles of beaches in an around the area, but some can be dangerous with falling rocks, so heed any warnings!!

The area that was once really poor now seems to have attracted a lot of investment. It certainly isn't cheap, and mix this with a low rate of sterling against the euro, will make me think of looking elsewhere for holidays in future years. I still love the place. I mean I wondered have gone back time and again, if I didn't. But maybe it is time to try elsewhere!!

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