Children in Algarve, Portugal by Carlos Baquero / License: Creative Commons

Children will also get much more out of any holiday if you involve them in some of the planning stages – sit them down with a map of the region and explain where you’re going and what you’re likely to see and do. You can be sure that will start a debate! Building up excitement prior to the trip is not only all part of the experience, but will also keep them going should you encounter any hitches such as flight delays. Take their interests into account too – if one child loves the outdoors while the other has more fun exploring castles and playing king over ramparts, make sure you’ve built in both options for the trip. Ultimately, whether your child wants to be a pirate or a princess, some fun preparation will help you get more out of your adventure.

The Region in Brief

If you haven’t yet visited the Algarve – and even if you have – you may think that this southernmost stretch of sandy shore is no more than a gaggle of golf courses, villa complexes and cheap and cheerful beach resorts. Up to a point, you’d be right, but Faro airport is the gateway to so much more than just the manicured greens and spotless sands of resorts such as Vilamoura, Albufeira, Quarteira and Portimão.

Head all the way west, and in a surprisingly short space of time (less than a 90-minute drive from Faro) you’re on the wild west coast, a region of endless sands, spectacular coastlines and Atlantic surf.

Praia da Marinha, Algarve, Portugal by Klugschnacker

Take off in the opposite direction, and in only half an hour you’re in Tavira or Vila Real de Santo António, gorgeous historic towns that haven’t turned into booming tourism resorts because they’re not right on the coast – but both of which have splendid sandy beaches just minutes away.

Push on a little further east and you can be across the border into Spain’s ‘sherry triangle’ and the stunning historic cities of Seville, Jerez and Cádiz, and a whole different culture of gypsy violinists, flamenco dancers and prancing stallions – and of cutting edge adrenaline water sports.

Or go inland, across the rolling plains and winding river valleys of the Baixa Alentejo. Spattered with scarlet, purple and yellow wildflowers in spring and early summer, the Alentejo’s prairies bake under endless sun in summer, but the region is dotted with dozens of freshwater reservoirs, including Europe’s newest and largest artificial lake, that are super, uncrowded family picnic spots. If you go a little further to north, you can visit the capital of Portugal, the beautiful Lisbon.

Lisbon, Portugal by Miguel Vieira

This is a region that seems a world away from the busy coast, but that is very easy to get to. And all of the holiday honeypots of the Algarve, the Alentejo and Andalusia’s western corner are packed into a remarkably compact space: none of the attractions and destinations that we have highlighted in this book is more than two hours from Faro airport, at maximum. With buses and trains linking everywhere along the coast and inland, you don’t even need a car to explore.

Further south, Monchique, around an hour’s drive from Sagres and about half an hour from Lagos or Portimão, is a pleasant enough little town for a break to let the family stretch their legs and grab a cold drink if you’re tempted to take a drive through the hills inland from the coast – but from the point of view of parents with children it isn’t really a destination worth making a special trip to.

Yes, go to the Algarve for some of the most spectacular beaches in Europe, for lovely villas and excellent family resorts – but go too to explore wild Atlantic beaches, flamingo haunted wetlands, traffic-free historic town centers, cool river valleys and the big skies of the back country. There is much more to the Algarve than the world of the holiday brochures.

Bispo is a Portuguese young man that lives in Algarve and loves to travel.

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Lisbon has earned popularity due to natural panorama, marvelous architecture, attractive tourist spots and shopping plaza. If you have already chalked out plans to visit this city to spend your holidays, you will have to prepare beforehand properly to ensure hassle free air trip to this capital city which is situated in Lisbon. In this connection, you must make a short list including the major attractions in Lisbon.

Major Attractions in Lisbon

The World Heritage Belem Tower is the pride of Lisbon as Paris is proud of having Eiffel Tower and Londoners should remember London for Big Ben Tower. However, at the same time, it will be tomfoolery if you forget to mention the name of Jeronimos Monastery which must be enlisted in your travel program as well. Every year numerous visitors arrive at international airports of Lisbon with main objective to visit marvelous monuments, castles, national parks, zoo, heritage buildings and shopping malls which have become indispensable part of Lisbon. Manueline of the Belem and Pombaline styles have made this city more glamorous in terms of architectural charisma. Lisbon always invites foreign visitors cordially. Therefore, there should not be any doubt about the gentle lifestyle in this city.

Keeping in touch with modern technology, Modern architects have upgraded this city into a sophisticated place which houses numerous luxurious hotels, restaurants, spa centers, large and extended shopping plazas and departmental stores. Broad highways with smooth drivable road surface will give you golden chance to undergo long nocturnal car drive through the towns of Lisbon.

Significant Calouste Gulbenkian Museum is devoted to old and modern art. It was established in accordance with the wills of Calouste Gulbenkian, an Armenian businessman and philanthropist who lived between 1869 – 1955 and became one of the richest people in the world. Thus he could make one of the largest private art collections in the world, which is now available to the public right here.

Finally, you must not forget to set your feet on open ground of Saint George’s Castle. It is a marvelous historical site which you can watch from Bairro Alto as well. Oceanarium is another point of enticement for travelers and tourists. In this regard, you can buy an informative travel guide book, gifts, colorful pictures, descriptive notes, reviews and feedbacks about Lisbon.

Once you are in Lisbon, do not forget to drive along the longest bridge in Europe and 9th longest one in the world – Vasco da Gama Bridge.

If you have already been to Lisboa or just know some of the “must visit” places, please let us know by commenting below.

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This has been built on the river Tagus, close to Portugal’s capital – Lisbon. The traffic was heavy here and people were suffering from traveling from one place to another one.

The length of the Vasco da Gama Bridge is about 17 kilometers and it is the 9th longest bridge in the world. It took only about three years to complete the bridge. Cable-stayed and viaducts technologies have been used to construct this bridge. Normally, it would take about twenty minutes to cross the bridge and it would surely be a pleasant experience for all the travellers.

The bridge was opened to public service in 1998 to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the invention of the route from Europe to India. By the way, Vasco da Gama was one of the most successful Portuguese explorer and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India.

Special aspect of this bridge is that it has been built within 18 months with over three thousand workers and should survive for at least 120 years. A 40 years long contract has been given to a private company to take care of the cost so the government didn’t have to spend money for the project. Though only six lanes are available at present, there is enough space to convert it into eight lanes bridge, when it is required.

If you are Technical Monuments lover, and already visited Paris with Eiffel Tower, now you should go more to the south and try driving across this technical gem.

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Photo licensed under the Creative Commons, created by leoplus

Pena National Palace was built in 19th century but its history started already in the Middle Ages when a chapel was built here and later in 1493 also monastery, however it was severely damaged by lightning and later by the Great Lisbon Earthquake of 1755. After that only ruins remained here for many decades. King Ferdinand started reconstructions and rebuilt the place into a summer residence for the Portuguese royal family in 1847.

Pena National Palace is now a place of Portuguese government and president officials. Around the Palace there is 200 hectares large vast forest with lots of paths.

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