Portugal

[Sunflowergirl1]

Would really appreciate recommendations for a location somewhere where we could rent a villa or nice apartment with swimming pool.

Would need to be near the coast, so a walk or short taxi to the sea. Nice bars and restaurants within walking distance.

Reasonable distance from airport

Quality location. Not full of large travel companies

Many thanks.

Vilamoura

Which airport op?

Sesimbra.

Praia da Luz ticks all those boxes, it's a really lovely little town with a fab beach, around an hour from the airport. Restaurants are great, there's a bigger town close by to visit if you want a bit more nightlife.

We would need to fly from an airport in the North, ie Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds etc who tend to fly to the mainstream airports. Open to work around it if the location good.

We are looking for large village/small town size. We are very used to travelling independently and hiring a villa privately. If the likes of TUI or equivalents go there, we tend to avoid

Thanks for recommendations so far. More welcome please

Tavira

Tavira or Alvor are both lovely.

Viana do Castelo is gorgeous with a couple of beaches and lots to see. It's within an hours drive of Porto.

We stayed in a place near Colares once. The village we were in happened to have 2 of the highly recommended places to eat in the area (unplanned by us). The nearest beach (Adraga) was a very short drive away (5 minutes). You fly to Lisbon. So much to do and see in that area. So I'd use Colares as a reference point for places to stay if I was looking again.

Tavira - we have been coming for at least 10 years. Lovely small town.

Tavira. We rented a villa this year which was about 20 mins walk from the town centre. Lots of lovely restaurants and very pretty. You can get a ferry to the beach which takes about 30 mins and costs €2 and the beach is amazing

www.amivac.com have villas in Portugal. Might be worth a look. I've found 3 through them, but in France.

Carvoeiro.

We loved Portimao, apartment from airbnb 5 min walk from the beach, but had a pool anyway.

Quinta do Lago or Vale do Lobo next door. Easy Uber from Faro, stunning beaches and great restaurants.

My brother lives Vilamoura
Puts me right off going if it’s his sort of place as we like very different holidays.
Alvor is lovely but you could also consider going over the border into The Spanish Algarve. It’s easy to get to and as close as some of the Portuguese resorts. Look at Isla Canela/Ayamonte

Many thanks for the suggestions. Really helpful and please keep them coming