Portugal Holiday Reviews

very good and clean beach. escalator and lift lead down to beach- helpful for us esp as we had to take pram down. cost of food and drink very reasonable and so were souveniers. Took for 20 euro per head trip via followme tours (historical algarve ) and this was excellent value for money

Funchal has one of the best marinas I have seen! It is not just the boats and the different varieties of flowers but also what there is on offer - weekly market, different restaurants with Portuguese food, etc. Do not miss it!

This is a good resort for fun on a night time. It has lots of bars and restaurants to choose from and plenty of shops about.

Roman ruins of the old city of Coimbra. It is outside the main city - a car is needed to get to the ruins. However, it is very worth it. There are guided tours in different languages and a fantastic restaurants to eat in!

A fantastic beach with a lot to do and a lot of people to meet. If you are British and do not want to be out of your confort zone, then this is the place to be. Nightlife is also good.

Far too many English people. Not much in the way of charm or architectural elegance. Tacky in short.

Lovely town/city, full of things to do and see. Is worth hiring a car though if you want to explore the island in more depth.

Funchal is a picturesque and friendly resort to visit. Although the beaches are not sandy there are a wealth of excellent hotels with their own pools.

I can't praise this place enough - Off season the prices are very reasonable, at the height of the season it's a little steep. But you get a good bang for your buck with lovely beds, clean rooms, super breakfast and all day catering with a vast amount of external choice on our doorstep.

One thing to mention - Out of the high season they scale the operation down a bit as far as how many restaurants are open in the hotel - We have been in Summer and they have three open, in Autumn it's only one. The food is great either way. You might want to ask first if it bothers you.

The resort is a fantastic place to spend a family holiday, with activities available for people of all ages. The room service was excellent, and the staff was extremely polite and courteous. There was lots on interesting sealife, which made my kids have an active interest in the marine life. There was great entertainment, with cable Television and lots of clowns to entertain the young children. The Nightlife was lively, providing an interesting and unique show which I sadly will probably never see again. The things to see and do were amazing, and it helped me to keep active and interested in the visit/vacation. Overall, it was amazing, and I would recommend everyone go there.

All of the staff (including the cleaners) were so genuinely charming and willing to please. The hotel bar/library is also a nice feature, with complimentary coffees, pastries, port and cherry brandy in the evening. It is also well stocked with newspapers and tourist guides to give you the lowdown on a brilliant city. Yes the hotel room had a couple of bumps/scrapes on the woodwork but it was like Lisbon itself - it only added to the charm. It may not be the swankiest of hotels around but i'd wager the service is second-to-none.

This being our fifth visit to Madeira we knew where we wanted to go see, do and eat. My daughter and partner hadn't visited before, and fell in love with the island instantly on the drive from the airport to the hotel. As usual the weather was very good even for first week in March. Plenty of eateries in and around the heart of Funchal.Cable car to the Botanical gardens is well worth a go, just for the scenic views on the way up and back, reasonably priced as well. New tunnels throughout the island now helps to get across the island much quicker, although I used to like driving around the mountain roads more, much to my wife's clenched fists over her closed eyes.

You could eat at a different place EVERY night for a 2week holiday! Our favourite is a little family run restaurant called Fontinario in a small village called Espiche, just outside Luz. The local supermarket is a short walk away, you could take the car but parking spaces are sometimes few a far between so walking seems the easiest option (my daughter was 2 when we last went and she managed it!)...the beach is only a little further on from the supermarket and it offers a wide range of watersports from banana boats to deep sea fishing. There is a local bus service that runs to the next town Lagos which is a mixture of old a new. Here there is a large marina, large fresh fish, meat and fruit and veg markets great shops plus miles worth of beaches. The nightlife here is much busier than Luz and you can find some great bars open to the early hours. A little further a field is 2 waterparks (Slide & Splash and The Big One) plus Zoo Marina and Lagos Zoo. Definately something for everyone!

If you travel with children go to the old town instead it costs about £5 in a taxi. There you will find street entertainers and a wonderfull atmosphere. The only downside was that I got offered drugs all the time. Just say no and they go away.

There are several beaches nearby. The quickest route is once you've found the oceano supermarket, to continue past it around the back and up on to the main road, turning left and walking for a few hundred metres then there's a small sign saying beach on your right with a walkway down. We didn't find the short cut until later on during our stay so if you miss it you'll still get there.

The beach itself is very pleasant. It can get very busy and we found the loungers had been booked a week in advance but the sand was nice and we were happy lying there. There are several beaches nearby and on a wander near the end of the holiday we found some lovely much quieter coves to the right of Salgados beach.

As for eating, there are several within walking distance. We ate at prima pasta which on the map is near the school and took us no longer than 15 minutes to walk to. It is run by an english lady and the food was delicious with brilliant service and reasonable prices. You walk along a main road to get there which is lit with street lights and being two women, we didn't feel at all uncomfortable walking back on our own. The best route to get there is when standing with your back to reception, turn left at the roundabout and keep walking down, you'll pass the tea shop on your left. At the next roundabout head straightover. Another restaurant on your left ( we didn't eat here as it was a little pricey for us) keep on up the straight road until the t-junction where your turn right and go a long a little, prima pasta is on your left. Yes it looks a little ram shackled from the outside but I would definitely recommend it!

We didn't get to go ourselves, but a lot of others were talking about scoobies which is about a twenty minute walk away and has a huge pool, loungers, bar, crazy golf etc. The man that runs it comes and picks you up and takes you back for free provided you buy a few drinks there. You can pick up a 'free maps' from the shop on the corner which has scoobies on it a long with lots of other restaurants etc in the area.