ALGARVE, PORTUGALALGARVE, PORTUGAL
My girlfriend and I have just visited the picturesque resort of Praia Do Vau. Situated just 2kms (a short taxi ride) from Praia Do Rocha. Also within easy reach of Alvor, Portimao and Lagos. The following information and pictures will give you some idea of what these places are like.
PRAIA DO VAU 
At the time of our visit (1st 2 weeks in June) this resort was quiet, lovely and fairly undeveloped. However, by the time of leaving it was getting quite busy. A lovely beach is just 10 minutes walk down a dirt track. Plenty of hotels in the area, but not many bars or restaurants, not yet anyway. It's possible to walk from the beach here all the way to Praia Da Rocha, if you have the legs for it. After walking for about 1/2 hour past the tacky cafes on the beach there is a lovely little beach bar set back within a cove. If you look up above and see a hotel called Presidente you have the right place. Its worth stopping here for a quick drink of the local lager called Sagresh. If you plan to walk back along the beach be careful the tide doesn't catch you out.
PRAIA DA ROCHA (PDR)
Busy loud and brash are just a few
of the words used to describe PDR but well worth the visit.
During the day it's a much quieter place due to large number of
people nursing hangovers from the night before or spending the
day on the beach. The beach is a wide open area with plenty of
room but something is not quite right, maybe due to the fact that
it's man made. The town itself has some shops but mainly just the
souveneir shops tempting you in with the I love the Algarve
t-shirts. 
At night though is when the
resort comes to life with many restaurants and bars touting for
business. One bar worth a visit is "On The Rocks" -
great place, friendly staff and good atmosphere. With a view over
the sea and dance music playing until the early hours this is the
place to be. Two restaurants you have to go to are the Taj Palace
and the Titanic. The Taj Palace serving various Indian dishes but
certainly doing the best Chicken Korma I 've ever had. If you
want something a little more expensive visit the Titanic, service
is second to none and the food is great. If you are young and
maybe single and looking for a great time this is the resort to
go to. One word of warning, in the space of a few minutes, as
well as being offered watches and jewellery by the streets
sellers, I was also offered drugs (which were turned down). BEWARE.
PORTIMAO 
One of the main shopping areas in the Algarve, other than the capital Faro, I personally found it disappointing. I expected more shops with a wider range of goods on sale. It's fine if you want shoes and more shoes (apparantly there are 47 shoe shops). Having said that, it is a nice place to vist. Don't forget to stop and try the freshly grilled sardines by the seafront. Talking of food, the Restaurant Kibom serves a great Tuna steak and also worth trying is the Monkfish kebab. (hmmm just writing about it brings the taste back). Fed up taking taxis and can't be bothered to hire a car? You can always take a train to pretty much anywhere. The station is about 10 minutes walk from the centre of Portimao. Personally the best thing about Portimao is the fact you can book a trip to go Shark fishing. Situated on the seafront, just before you reach the Sardine restaurants, you can book numerous boat trips. I'm sure they are all worthwhile but in my view bypass all of these and visit the stand which says "Nitucha". Nitucha is the name of the boat on which you sail. Beleive me it is not to be missed. For more info including a picture of me with a 5 foot Blue Shark click here.
ALVOR
The best things about Alvor are Michaels bar and the Pottery shops. For some great cocktails and service with a friendly smile put Michaels bar on your list of places to visit. For the cheapest pottery/china Alvor seems to be the best bet, some of it is tacky, but some is really nice. Also drink and cigarettes are very cheap. With the death of duty free save your money until you visit Alvor. A 70cl bottle of Jack Daniels cost about £9.00.
Up a steep road, past more shops, you stumble on rows and rows of fish retaurants and what seems like the worlds population of stray dogs. Don't worry about them they keep their distance. Not sure about the white foam around their mouths though. Only joking.
LAGOS
One of my favourite places and shouldn't be missed. Best to take a train from Portimao and 15 mintues later you are in Lagos. As you leave the station you enter the smart new marina and marvel at the boats you can't afford. Spending a whole day just ambling around the town is easy, stopping at various ice cream bars along the way. For the history lovers among you will find the Golden church, museum and the slave market.With enough shops to spend your holiday cash in and a cosmopolitan atmosphere this is well worth a visit.
GENERAL INFO
One of the local dishes in the Algarve is Chicken Piri Piri. One word of warning, Piri Piri is a sauce and can be very very hot. How hot varies from place to place so the best thing to do is ask for it separately.
The first week we were there the days were hot but the evenings were quite chilly, so take something warm with you. The next week had changed and was very warm at night. To give you a rough idea is was about 26 degrees the first week and 32 degrees the second week. The weather was brilliant apart from one afternoon when we had a whole 10 minutes af light rain. The sun is very strong so please heed the sunburn warnings and use that high factor lotion. I wish I'd taken my own advice.
Other things to do is to visit the reps caberat night, good harmless fun with food and wine and money raised for charity. I must admit to not remembering too much about that night for reasons I'm sure I don't have to go into.
Coach tours, love them or loath them you do at least get to see a large part of the Algarve. The one we went on lasted from 9am to about 8pm. a very long day spent mostly on the road including 2hrs to mend a flat tyre. Places visited included Monchinique moutains and spa, Cape St Vincent, Sagres and Silves. Due to time contraints we only had about 30 minutes max in each place.
Remember the Portuguese are very laid back compared to us and everything seems to take longer than back home. Relax, chill out and be patient.
They have very big tomatoes..........
The apartments we stayed in were called Estrela Do Vau, only about 3 years old. 2 adult pools and a smaller kiddies pool, tennis and golf nearby. Inside you have a games room with video machines and a table tennis table. The rooms are very clean, spacious and well equipped. You could do a lot worse than stay here.