Where to go in Portugal ?

[workshy44]

Teen and a 11 year old. Someplace by the sea with a bit of action for the Teen but not overly built up, ideally a pretty town with good restaurants, not solely catering to English tourists
Any ideas most welcome !

If you want Algarve, Alvor is lovely, would go again like a shot. Went to Lagos for the day and it looked a bit more lively.
I was with DD aged 16.

DD said she'd love a week in Lagos.
Olhos d'Agua looked nice too. Further along (Vilamoura, Albufera) it looked much more Brits abroad.
In Alvor there were mainly Portuguese guests in our hotel.

I have a house in Gale, a quiet but touristy area 10 mins from Albufeira. Mostly private villas and some apartments, nice restaurants nearby and local shops. Lots of smaller beaches and one long big beach which has watersports. Albufeira Marina has karting and a few other bits that teens might like nearby and Albufeira old town is pretty and lively but mostly with restaurants and family friendly bars rather than the clubs that are found in the strip area.

Porto. It's a city break with loads to see as it's a UNESCO heritage city.
Has beaches too and great wine.

We love the area around Tavira/Monte Gordo, Castro Marim. Very Portuguese (I don't think we've ever seen/heard more than a handful of other English people), lovely beaches, good outdoor music scene in the summer, good local restaurants. We usually fly into Seville and visit the water park there on the last day before flying home.

Went to Alvor ages ago and it was lovely but very quiet. Really loved a couple of daytrips to Lagos, great fish restaurants and boat trips.

Fly into Lisbon and spend a couple of days there before taking a train (think it was 30 minutes) to Estoril/Cascais on the coast. It’s a very pretty area with lots of restaurants for eating out and a decent beach. From here you can do a day trip by train to the old Palace at Sintra which is beautiful.