Portugal Experts

[HolidayBurden]

We are planning to sail to Spain in the summer, and having never visited Portugal we are considering incorporating it in to the trip. We are used to travelling through Spain and big distances, so that's not an issue. We would like to go somewhere budget friendly and don't mind hotel or self catering - we do need parking and access to a swimming pool, otherwise very flexible.
(2, possibly 3 adults and a mature teenager)

Porto? Lisbon or Algarve. Sailing from uk to Spain on ferry or sailing yourself. Pick any area of Portugal and you can find a very reasonable holiday . You need to narrow it down a bit. I am a bit of an expert on East Algarve .

Have a look at northern Portugal - the Peneda-Geres national park is amazing, and Ponte de Lima, Ponte da Barca, Braga, Viana do Castelo etc are all interesting places. We tend to do a couple of nights in a place.

Alternatively, the Santiago do Compostela area of NW Spain is very scenic and is fairly good budget wise.

Cabanas de Tavira is close to the Spanish Border and we love it there. Very good budget wise, a small working fishing village overlooking the Ria Formosa Nature park. You need to get a water taxi to the beach, which is long and sandy and not a lot there - bliss. You can walk or cycle along the salt beds to Tavira

We usually book a private apartment at the Golden Club hotel - an all inclusive apartment hotel. Most the apartments are privately owned and you get to use the pools / bars and entertainment , plus the free boat taxi to the beach

Thank you, all really helpful. We need the advice in order to narrow it down, we have a great deal of freedom because we can drive to any destination really, so happy to research most suggestions.
we love Salamanca so might squeeze in a visit there on the way down. All completely open at the moment.