Carvoeiro

[Costacoffeeplease]

I know there are several mnetters coming to Carvoeiro on holiday this summer, as I live here I thought I'd start a thread for any questions anyone might have?

Silves Medieval Fair starts tomorrow, until 16 August, every day from 6.30pm

Booked Onze -so will let you know !

Oh yes, please do! There's quite a bit of interest in Onze and we haven't been!

Also, the Portimão sardine festival is on next week, Wednesday until Sunday, with live music as well as plenty of grilled sardines, from 7pm

Oooh I'm in two minds whether to tell dh about the sardine festival. He's been talking about them all week. Decisions decisions....lol

Well, there's other stuff there apart from sardines, but they are the main focus

Hi Costa we had a lovely meal in Onze -think we may even squeeze in another visit. There was music on in the square too so we went and watched for a bit and bought the kids those light up thingys and played on the beach whilst listening to music-nice evening !
We usually stay in Burgau area and we can't believe the difference especially in the evenings -no cold wind !
We have visited Burgau during our stay and as always needed our jumpers and jackets and the beach bar blankets -we do love it there but nice to be able to sit out longer and enjoy the warm evenings too !

That's great, glad you had a good time! There's something different on in the square every night, usually from June to September, so it does become the focus of the village. Hope you manage to squeeze in another visit during your stay!!

Does the entertainment in the square continue into September?

On a separate note, is it worth bringing snorkelling gear with us for swimming off the beaches?

Yes, it's worth bringing snorkelling gear, and the entertainment usually goes on into September - although I haven't seen a programme yet, so don't quote me!!

When do you arrive? In time for the Nossa senhora procession on 30 August?

Yes we are there for the end of August and the beginning of September.

Is the weather still hot or is it beginning to cool down slightly?

Last week was a bit cooler, but today is quite hot again - by the beginning of September it should feel a bit fresher!

Hi! We have been here since Saturday- having a lovely time. I'm not sure if you can help Costa, but we are wanting to visit a waterpark while we are here- would you recommend slide and splash or aqua land? We have 5 kids between us aged from 5-11. Thanks so much!

I have consulted the oracle (my husband!) and he thinks slide and splash is probably better for younger children - get there early, get the rubber rings if you can, and keep them all day so you can get on the rides quicker, take a picnic and some shade if you can! Have fun!

By the way, Fatacil starts tomorrow in Lagoa, and goes on until the 30th, a bit like a country fair with a combination of craft stalls, farm animals and horses, exhibition stands for aircon etc, and in the evening live music and lots of food stalls - if you're not going, avoid lagoa from about 2pm

Hi Costa we're arriving in Lagos on Sunday (at last! it's felt like the longest school holidays ever waiting for it to come round ).

Do you have any recommendations for out that way? Particularly for dinner with 3 kids, we have a car and are happy to travel a bit.

Also although we've visited this area for the last few years we've never visited Lagoa or Carvoeira - is there something we shouldn't miss like a fab beach/cafe etc?

Thank you!

Sorry, I don't have much in the way of recommendations for the Lagos area, the marina is nice, and you can go on dolphin watching boat trips but I don't know any particular restaurants to recommend as I haven't been to Lagos for a few years

There's lots fab about Carvoeiro but not one specific thing that you must see or do!

Have a great time!

So tonight is the Bye Bye Summer party on the beach, tomorrow is the Nossa Senhora procession, and Monday we get back to normal

I hope everyone who came to Carvoeiro had a good time, and if anyone's interested, there are a couple of webcams of the square, if you need another Carvoeiro fix - or just watch a bit of the procession tomorrow evening

Maybe we can do it all over again next year

Finally managed to log back into the site.

Can I just say a huge thank you to Costa for recommending Carvoeiro. We have recently got back from there and had a lovely family holiday. Loved the evenings in the town, trying out as many restaurants as we could and dancing in the square.

Tried a number of your recommendations for restaurants. Our all time favourite was A Vela, went there twice. Food was lovely and the staff were so friendly. We also loved Taste, A Fonte and Ele & Ela. Also went to Onze but weren't as impressed, although it was still good.

Gosh, that's great, glad you enjoyed the restaurants - we still haven't tried Onze, so can't comment, but the others are regular haunts! Antonia at A Vela will be pleased she came top!!

Did you manage to see the procession and fireworks?

Antonia was lovely, she was so friendly with all the customers and we told her we very impressed with her language skills, as she swapped between various languages effortlessly. DS(10) and DH loved the fish cantaplana.

We ate at Onze on the night of the procession so had a good view and then watched the fireworks from our apartment.

Hopefully we will revisit sometime in the future

I've had a skim of the thread but may have missed it - is there anywhere you would recommend for people who don't want to drive? We can, but find it stressful, so I'm looking for a self-catering apartment within a 4yo's walking distance of a beach and a few restaurants (and some sort of basic supermarket). If you can give me any names of villages or small towns that might suit, I'd be so grateful, I've been googling for several evenings and not really got anywhere.

To be able to walk to the beach and restaurants I'd look at monte dourado, Colina Verde, monte Carvoeiro, there's quite a few properties within those developments - at a push, some parts of Quinta do Paraiso and Areias dos Moinhos. If you want to pm any links I'll check them out for you

Yes Antonia is lovely, she is Portuguese but speaks excellent English and German as she has worked in Switzerland

Glad you got to see the procession and fireworks - we made sure we were home as the dogs get a bit upset

For everyone who's been to Carvoeiro - a blast from the past, although I'm not sure how old it is

Hi Costa, we stayed in Monte Dourado a few years ago (pre-DS who is now 4) and we are considering it again for next summer school holidays (as he's in Reception now). Would you recommend Monte Dourado over Monte Carvoeiro or are they very similar? I remember going for some lovely meals at Monte Carvoeiro when we were there. We had a fab apartment by the pool and I love the idea of him being able to use it so easily.