Praia da luz, Algarve - June 2008

It has taken me a while to get round to this review for a myriad of reasons.

We stayed in Praia da Luz in the Western Algarve in June 2008.  The weather was fantastic, and the accommodation was absolutely lovely.

Staying at the Beach Park Apartments in the quiet area of the Park da Praia.  They were reasonably priced, modern, clean and nicely furnished (straight out of Ikea).  The design of the complex of around 8 apartments was stylish and reminiscent of art deco in design.  Each apartment had it's own outdoor seating area, which was well equipped.   The pool area had an abundance of loungers, lovely potted plants and was very private and secure.

Very early each morning, I took a long walk on Luz beach collecting seashells, and one particular morning there was a guy playing the haunting traditional Fado songs on a classical guitar, it was very moving.  I sat for some while, a short distance away, listening to the sound of the crashing waves mingled with the ebb and flow of the beautiful mournful melody and was completely lost in peaceful contemplation.  Sometimes the simple pleasures in life have the most impact, I will remember that moment forever.

Very noticable on this holiday was the terrible exchange rate of GBP vs Euro, it seemed like the hard earned spending money was stretched very thinly.  For that reason we did not eat out so often and made good use of the self-catering facilities.

One highlight was a visit to Zoo de Lagos near Bensafrim.  This is a well laid out zoo and all the animals seem to be well cared for.  

Another brilliant find was the beach at Martinhal, an absolutely stunning long stretch of soft pale sand and with a lovely restaurant/bar on the beach.

At this stage I don't think I will go back to the Algarve again in a hurry, feel like I have done it to death!  Next year I will probably go back to Greece.  I have really missed not going there this year, for the first time in many years, and there are so many islands and parts of the mainland that I still want to explore ... only next time I will be doing a Shirley Valentine!  Now where are those 2009 holiday brochures???

Zante Airport Departures - Virtual Tour

The departure lounge is the last place you usually want to think about as this signifies the end of your holiday, and for those of us who have experienced the old departures at Zante airport will know what a dismal experience this has been in the past. There are some people whose experience of the airport deterred them from returning to this beautiful island, which is a shame as this is only a miniscule part of the experience and should have been treated as a brief uncomfortable few hours compared to the wonderful time you have had in such a mesmeric place. I have to admit that my final experience of the departure lounge last September did leave me feeling a little deflated and ever so slightly grubby!!

However, as I have previously blogged, the new departures is open, and by all reports is a thousand times better. For those of you who are eager to see this, there is a virtual tour on http://www.justzante.co.uk/. I just want to say that this is a long awaited necessity for continued tourism in Zante, and along with the new bus terminal, should make travel on this island a far more pleasant experience.

Aegean Airlines

The good news is that Aegean Airlines have introduced a new route from London - Stansted, with 2 daily flights, to Athens and the flight prices are very cheap indeed (comparable with Easyjet methinks). Here is the press release http://www.aegeanair.com/aegeanen/news/. I emailed the airline and asked if they intended to introduce any routes to Greece from any other airports in the UK and received this reply ...

"Regarding your inquiry, please note that no new destinations in the UK have been announced. However as Aegean Airlines is a growing company, most probably in the future more destinations will be added."

This is a move in the right direction and I will be keeping my eyes peeled for more info on other routes with this company. Here is their website http://www.aegeanair.com/aegeanen/home/

For prices and route information from Stansted to Athens go here:- https://eticket.aegeanair.com/itd/itd?_channelLocale=en

Euro Vs Sterling

Is it really May already?! The tourist season has kicked off and I am relieved to see the Euro is back up a little on the £ sterling. Last week when it was Euro 1.21 to the pound and predicted to drop lower still I was beginning to think that the spending money was not going to stretch very far at all! Nice to see today it is up to Euro 1.28 and hopefully with the start of the tourist season as from 1 May, this will continue to rise. You can check the latest exchange rate here http://www.xe.com/ucc/.

Holiday Booked

Next holiday is booked ... we are going back to Praia da Luz in the Algarve in June. While we have stayed in the Algarve every Christmas for many years, it has been 7 years since we stayed there in the summer, so I am sort of looking forward to it!

Usually we like to go to Greece in June, it is a great time to go, the weather is lovely and the sea is beautifully warm. In my heart I would dearly have loved to have booked a break in Greece. However, it seems this year that flight prices to Greece are more expensive than ever. I booked with Easyjet to Faro and it cost both of us around a third of the price of any flight to Greece I could find.

Easyjet have recently put some new routes to Corfu, Crete, Mykonos, Rhodes and Thessaloniki onto their schedule from London Gatwick Airport, great for everyone in the south of the country. When will one of the budget airlines to put some routes to Greece from the Midlands? (preferably East Midlands airport!)

Additionally, XL Airways have taken the route to Kalamata off the East Midlands and Manchester airport schedule, which is an absolute crime for those of us who love the mainland Pelopponese and live in the middle of the country.

It seems to me more and more that Greece and the Greek islands needs tourism to enable businesses to stay open year after year and survive through the winter. Every year, when we go to Greece, we hear tales of shorter holiday seasons on the cards, slower business and lower visiter numbers and it is terrible to return to a place and see lovely tavernas and bars going out of business or changing hands.

The new departure lounge in Zakynthos has been finally handed over and should be open for the new season this year, so come on budget airlines let's have more flights into Zante. I have sent a couple of emails to Easyjet, Ryanair and BMI Baby but have had no reply.

When the day comes that we can go to Zante for a long weekend, as often as we wish in the summer, for less than it would cost us to go to Skeggy for the weekend, then my life will be complete!!!

Things to do in the Mainland Peloponnese

Here are some recommendations, for things we enjoyed and learned in the mainland Peloponnese ...

These are just our recommendations, from personal experience, and I am sure there are some we have missed. Please feel free to let us know your top choices.

Oh and take a copy of 'The Rough Guide To Greece' with you, if you need further suggestions of places to visit, it is such a helpful piece of reading matter and is right on the mark!

• Drive the 60 km route from Sparta to Kalamata over Mount Taygetus - it is breathtaking.
  Visit the tower houses at Vathia they are beautiful, stunning and at the same time quite moving when you know the history behind them.


• Read as much of Patrick Leigh-Fermor's book 'Mani - Travels In The Southern Peloponnese' as you can muster over a glass of ouzo, it is very wordy but some of the historical stuff, folklore and traditions detailed will make you see the Peloponnese and Greece in a different light.


• Go to Mystras, 5 km north west of Sparta - it is a spectacular sight.


• Have lunch in Gerolimenas and watch the rat race of tankers pass by the most southerly point in europe.


• Visit Koroni, it is a lovely little town with wonderful tavernas in the harbour and great little shops in the centre.


• Take a ferry to one of the islands, it is the Greek way to travel.


• Visit Agios Nikolaos, it has a charm of it's own and the tavernas on the harbour provide appetising but inexpensive food and drnk. The chill out cafes are really great places to take stock and get into greek mode further!


• Visit Gythio - it is a charming little harbour town, a place to stop and watch the world go by, and reminiscent of a Cornish fishing village! (This is a good place to stop on your way to Monemvasia).


• Spend the day at Voidokilia, arguably one of the most spectacular and beautiful beaches in Greece (although for me Koukounaries in Skiathos is up there at the top also!!).


• Watch the amazing red sunset from the Mani over Mount Taygetus.

View from Stani Taverna, Kalamaki

Over the time we have been visiting Kalamaki we have always enjoyed stopping at Stani Taverna for a brekkie or coffee after an early morning dip in the lovely sea off Kalamaki beach.

On one occasion, we took out a pedalo and saw Terry the Turtle going about his business blowing bubbles and generally showing off for us, on another occasion we stopped in at Stani Taverna, early and exactly where we had been snorkelling 5 minutes before, there was a dolphin jumping high out of the water. We rushed down to the shore, abandoning coffee and towels but as quickly as the dolphin appeared it was gone.


We have spent some happy hours sitting in this taverna admiring the view and some relaxing times on Kalamaki beach.

As I was sorting through some pictures, I found these three taken from almost the same place in the taverna - the first one is from 1995, the second from 2000 and the final one from 2007.

It is really interesting to see over 12 years how much the view has changed.


In 1995 there were virtually no umbrellas on the incline down to the beach, the middle picture shows the start of the unbrella invasion and now they are almost all the way back to the road.

I personally like the first picture, it reminds me of a time when Kalamaki was not so touristy and the view is very unspoilt.

It's Kalamaki Jim, but not as we know it!

Believe it or not this is Kalamaki main strip!!

For those of you who think that Kalamaki as it stands today has been like that for some time, then here is the proof that not so long ago the main strip was made up of a few bars and tavernas, fields and goats!

These photos were taken in 1995 on our first visit to Zante, in fact our first time in Greece.

We stayed at Dennis Studios, behind the Dennis supermarket near the crossroads, and spent most days louding around Sofia's pool. We fell in love with the island over that week and have been returning ever since.
In the first few years we returned at two yearly intervals and by the time we returned to Kalamaki, staying at Sofia's in 1999, it had started to change beyond all recognition.

In the lower picture you can see Sofia's (Sports Bar) on the left hand side in the distance. The road was a lot narrower in those days too.

It is a matter of opinion whether the changes are for the better. Please let me know if you have any thoughts on this. Jools x

Christmas 2007 in the Algarve

On arrival at Quinta da Colina, near Tavira in the eastern Algarve, we were greeted by warm winter sunshine and it was lovely spending the first day unwinding like lizards in the afternoon rays. The accommodation here is wonderful, very tastefully renovated and decorated with additional luxuries of a welcome pack, plus big fluffy white towels and bathrobes add that extra special touch during your stay. With an endless supply of logs for the wood burner and all the home comforts you could ask for, this was an excellent choice of accommodation.


Set in very peaceful surroundings, with dozens of orange and lemon trees, this really is a rural retreat and the hosts George and Tassie are very welcoming and accommodating.

We were told that there had been no rain for 3 months, however the second morning I excitedly opened the shutters expecting to squint at bright sunlight streaming in and was greeted with dark ominous clouds. It started to rain and rained torrentially for 5 days and 5 nights. We were grateful for UK freeview television to see us through the bad weather! After the rain, came the mosquitos who made a meal of me, so insect repellant is recommended, even during the winter if you are a mozzie magnet!

Overall if you are looking for peace and tranquility in beautiful surroundings with first rate accommodation this is the place to stay. You will not be disappointed.


The nearest restaurant is in Almargem, the menu is meat-tastic and you would struggle here if you are a vegetarian, although the food was good value and very tasty. There is a supermarket within a 15 minute drive and other well stocked supermarkets in Tavira and Altura. The local piri piri chicken is hot and spicy and very inexpensive.

We spent some time in Vila Real de Santo Antonio where there are some lovely cafes and restaurants and Monte Gordo whose beach is the longest stretch of pale soft sand I have seen and there are some fantastic seashells on this beach.

Worth seeing is the small fishing village of Cacela Velha. Perched on top of a fortress and with a great panorama of the Ria Formosa. This lovely little village built within the fortress walls is a taste of old Algarve and is worth a visit to see the church and traditional houses. There is also a restaurant in the village.

When the rain subsided we drove across the western Algarve to Praia da Luz so that Mr Deany could get a pint of proper beer although he did discover that the local brewers of Super Bock and Sagres lager beer also brew a stout beer which he took quite a shine to. We also set out across the border into Spain enroute to Seville. The long journey through unspectacular scenary was disappointing and Seville was a driving nightmare, we did not stay long and soon made our way back to the Algarve!

On a clear evening the sunset from the accommodation is wonderful and there are more photos of this accommodation on the Flickr photos link.

The eastern Algarve is a totally different ball game to the resorts found in the western Algarve from Faro. It is more traditional and not as geared to tourism. Ideally you do need to have a car in the eastern Algarve and be prepared to travel a little further afield to find what you are looking for. Despite the weather's best efforts to dampen our spirits this was a lovely relaxing break and if you are looking for a haven of calm, away from the tourist hub then this would be an ideal place to stay.

Additional note re car hire - when you book car hire online you should be aware that, in some parts of europe (I have never experienced this in Greece), in the event of an accident, there is a 1500 Euro excess and in the face of such a large amount of money you may have to stump up, you feel obligated to cover this with fully comprehensive insurance. On this occasion it amounted to more than 160 Euros on top of the car hire cost for our 11 day car rental period. When I made the booking I paid extra for the 'refundable excess' option to be advised on arrival that this did not cover everything in the event of an accident and the only option was the fully comprehensive insurance. It is time the full cost of car hire, including details of the excess and the option to take fully comprehensive insurance, is included at the time of booking so there are no further unexpected expenses :(

Christmas in the Algarve

For the past 6 years we have spent the Christmas period in the Algarve. In previous years we have spent time in the Western Algarve, this year for the first time we are going to the Eastern Algarve staying in Tavira. This is very exciting as we will be hoping to explore the area around Tavira which is supposed to be the second most historic town in the Algarve after Lagos. The location is also close to the Spain border and we are hoping to check out the sights of Seville.