We recently returned from a 10 day holiday in the Algarve with our 2 children. We have travelled a number of times to this part of Portugal and have to say that we find it extremely child friendly. For starters the flight times from Dublin are great when travelling with kids. Both Ryan Air and Air Lingus operate this route.
The restaurants are pretty much all child friendly and we even had some fantastic meals out with the kids at candlelit tables! The area we stayed in was Vale Do Lobo and I would highly recommend it. We were 5 minutes walk away from the beach and the Praca which is an area full of various restaurants and bars by the sea. There is entertainment on every night during the peak season and most weekends all year round. You can finish off your meal in peace whilst your kids make friends and dance the night away. If you want a meal without the kids there are many fantastic restaurants to choose from within a 10 minute taxi ride and babysitters can be organised through your booking agent or the Penguin Village. Remember to pick up the FREE Algarve magazine from the airport on your arrival.
These are lots of things to do with kids in this area around the Praca. Apart from the beautiful beach and tumbling down the sand humps, there's crazy golf, tennis, swimming and the Penguin Village which is a great place for toddlers. It has a safe playground, a kiddies swimming pool, an indoor section with heaps of toys, kids kitchen,books, educational stuff etc. and our kids favourite was the minature racing track where they can take out any of a number of trikes, bikes etc and burn off some energy. You have the option of going in the village with your children or dropping them in for the same price. It is fully supervised.
Further afield, a 25 minute drive takes you to Zoomarine which is a mini version of Sea World and this is highly recommended. You can arrange to swim with the dolpins here too. We would highly recommend a car for this holiday if you don't want to be stuck in the resort.
We have been to the Algarve and stayed in a complex of villas where you have all the facilities and security of a hotel but on this occasion we booked an independent villa. It was much more cost effective this way but a word of warning; make sure you book with a reputable company and that all property maintenance is included in the rental. Also make sure you check out if air conditioning is included as there can be supplements for this during low and mid seasons.
You will find lots of family friendly travel tips and advice in our research and advice section to help you book the right family holiday. Check out also the experiences of other parents and travellers in our parents forum and add your own experiences as we are a great believer in real parent's experiences as the best measure of whether somewhere will suit you for your family holiday.
Sign up for our free newsletter to be kept updated with all of the latest special offers for family holidays and family travel news. Remember to enter our fantastic competitions which have super prizes and best of all are free.