Yes, CJ, prices in Portugal are higher, but you get what you pay for. Just because something seems comparatively cheap to us does not mean it represents good value. My partner has a villa in the Eastern Algarve @ 10 miles from the Spanish border. Great area for old fashioned family beach holidays; miles & miles of pristine beach, no high rises (apart from the carbuncle of Monte Gordo) no discos, theme pubs, karaoke bars etc, but lots of reasonably priced good restaurants, all less than an hour from Faro airport; great daily food market in historical Tavira (very picturesque town). We've had 18 weeks of lettings this year (we use it inbetween thanks to Easyjet !) and interestingly have had a number of Portuguese families from Lisbon; one group has been three times !. This rather illustrates my point - they wanted a sunshine beach holiday, but are counting the euros, so why fly somewhere when they can drive down at their own pace in a few hours. To be fair we are talking detached villa on a large plot with a pool, but a two bed apartment near to Tavira could prove worthwhile. Just my thoughts.
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