Algarve Summer Holiday 2020 - A Lucky Escape!

On 8th August 2020 we were fortunate enough to travel to the Algarve on our annual summer holiday.

It had been “touch and go” as to whether we would be able to travel with the restrictions in place, but as Easyjet didn’t cancel our flight and we were staying at a friend’s holiday home, we took the decision to travel with extra travel insurance on board!

As a family we had never visited the Algarve previously and on the two occasions I had been there previously (aged 16 on a college trip and latterly on a travel conference weekend) I hadn’t been able to see a huge amount of this stunning coastline.

We stayed at the wonderful residential complex known as Quinta Boa Nova located between Ferragudo and Carvoeiro and within days we fell in love with this area of the Algarve.

During our stay we hired a car for two weeks and were able to venture out a little into Ferragudo, a beautiful traditional Portuguese fishing village, with fabulous charm and not to mention music piped into the streets through speakers, and also explore our neighbouring resort on the other side, Carvoeiro.

Within a short distance of where we were staying, we had the choice of some fabulous beaches, our closest one being Praia Dos Caneiros, we also managed to visit the stunning beaches of Praia Grande, Praia Do Pintadinho, Praia Da Angrinha, this was one of our favourite beaches backed by Fort Sao Joao, a stunning backdrop and great for photo opportunities, plus Praia Da Carvoeiro beach too.

Having a hire car meant it was easy for us to access other areas and we took a trip over the bridge to Praia Da Rocha, where the girls spotted an inflatable, so on another day we drove to Ferragudo and took the water taxi across to Praia Da Rocha had lunch there then an in inflatable day, rather them than me as with it being the Atlantic the water was somewhat fresh!

Our lovely friend who owned the holiday home we stayed in recommended some fabulous restaurants for dinner these were in and around Ferragudo area, such as Le Paradis – the “Portuguese mixed grill” on the menu is to die for. We also had wonderful meals at O Canto in Central Ferragudo, Sikandar Indian restaurant, Italia Restaurant to name but a few.

On Sunday’s “Club Nau” on Praia Grande beach offers music nights, we were too late to book in for Sunday even though we called early in the week, but we did manage to dine there another night and made an effort to get there early and have “sundowners” on the terrace whilst watching THE most amazing sunset.

This area of the Algarve has absolutely stunning coastline and views, with hidden beaches (some only accessible by boat) caves and archways.

From were we were staying we were also able to access the “cliff path” walk into Ferragudo, a fabulous journey, a little hilly in parts especially in the heat, but we rewarded ourselves with a late lunch at the hidden gem of a café/restaurant that is O Velho Novo with a wonderful squid in garlic dish with salad and a few beers to boot, before taking a taxi back to our accommodation.

We made a visit to Porches pottery, managed by an Irish family for many years, who sell the most amazing painted pottery, we bought a few tea light holders, and the girls bought some small dishes for their bedrooms.

On the way home we went to “Sand City” where the girls absolutely loved the Sand Sculptures, with everything from cities to fairy tales to Star Wars – you name it, all in sand. On another day we travelled inland to the beautiful and historic town of Silves, previously the ancient capital of the Algarve. Silves has lovely little pavement café’s and streets, a castle, a cathedral plus much more – there is usually a festival in the month of August – the Feira Medieval De Silves, but this was cancelled during the pandemic, but we hope to get back there one day to see the festival.

We didn’t have lunch in Silves, but our friend recommended “Mosaiko” so perhaps we will try that when we next go to this part of the Algarve.

As well as visiting several beaches, we did some shopping, some sightseeing, and some water sports too.

The highlight of our trip came for me on the last day when we had booked a dolphin watching trip, from Ferragudo, we were keeping our fingers crossed that the weather stayed fine so the trip could go ahead and it did. There were around 14 of us on a rib that took you out to sea, not only were we able to see dolphins (Freya my 9 year old spotted them first) we also saw a Minke whale which was just fabulous, the girls loved it.

I think its safe to say that the Parry’s absolutely loved the Algarve, in fact we loved it so much that we would buy a house there IF we could afford it!

With a short 2hr 40 minute flight from Manchester, this is the perfect destination for a week away or even a short break, we hope to be back there soon.