Located on Portugal's Algarve, just 25 miles from Faro airport, the popular beach resort of Albufeira attracts a wide range of visitors. The beautiful beaches and lively nightlife brings both the young and old, and families with children flocking to the resort on their bargain holidays to Portugal. The resort has plenty of restaurants serving a choice of traditional Portuguese and International cuisine, cafes and bars.
Try some traditional fish and seafood dishes at the restaurants around the Fisherman's beach for a taste of the real Portugal. Along the seafront, towards Praia da Oura there is no end of lively music bars which stay open until the clubs and discos open at night.
A 20 mile long coastline and 20 excellent beaches, 7 of which are in Albufeira, are waiting for visitors to explore when visiting the Algarve. Each of these 7 beaches is separated by amazing coloured cliffs.
Close to the resort centre are the two main beaches: the wide golden sandy Albufeira beach and the sheltered Praia da Oura beach. There are more secluded beaches at Santa Eulalia, Maria Luisa, Sao Rafael, Castelo and Olhos d'Agua. Albufeira offers a wide range of water sports, including windsurfing, jet-skiing and sailing.
Away from the beaches there are some great cliff-top coastal paths which run all along the coastline of the Algarve and some beautiful countryside to explore where you will find quaint villages, market towns, peaceful orange and olive groves, and fig trees to shade under. The Algarve offers some first class golf courses for golfing enthusiasts, including the popular courses at Vilamoura and Quarteira. Golfers are particularly attracted to Albufeira during the winter months when the courses see plenty of warm sunny days with temperatures rarely dipping below a pleasant 15C. For culture vultures there are lots of Roman ruins along the Algarve to explore, along with historic towns like Lagos, Tavira, Silves and Monchique.
Visit some theme park of Albufeira
The whole family, especially the children, will love the Zoo Marine Centre at Guia, just 15 minutes from the resort. Here you will see sharks, turtle, alligators and beautiful tropical birds. Then there is Krazy World which offers hands-on animal attractions, fairground rides and swimming. Not to be missed on your holiday packages to Albufeira is a day out for the family to Aqualand, one of the best water parks in Portugal. Enjoy the thrills of the Congo River, white-water rafting, the Kamikaze and the Anaconda Corkscrew. The Slide and Splash in Lagos also makes a great day out for the whole family.
Of course the main attraction of Albufeira holidays is the magnificent beaches but make time to visit the resorts old town with its narrow cobbled streets, traditional fisherman's cottages, traditional Portuguese bars and interesting churches. Albufeira enjoys hot, dry, sunny weather which is the best in the Algarve. Although the beaches are lapped by the Atlantic Ocean, the Albufeira climate is typically Mediterranean. During the summer months sea temperatures reach over 20C and coupled with the constant gentle sea breezes makes ideal conditions for water sports.
Emma Healey is the co-founder and owner of holidayholiday.co.uk, specialists in holiday packages and last minute holidays to worldwide destination. Thanks for taking the time to read my article and be sure to watch out for more of my articles as I'm writing many travel blogs and have some great topics coming soon.