"ALGARVE Trip 2003" Top 5 Page for this destination Praia da Rocha by AWH

We decided to travel to the Algarve this year, as we were concerned at the time of booking, that there was going to be a war in the East, and we did'nt relish the thought of sitting on a beach watching the fighter jets fly back and forth. So we looked at the atlas, and decided Madiera was a bit exclusive, and had no beaches, so Portugal was to be our destination. We booked thru the holiday hypermarket for a two week stay in Praia da Rocha, staying at the Vila Rosa complex.

We decided to fly from Gatwick, because Luton could only offer a Thursday flight, which would make things messy with dates. So we travelled by rail to the Airport. Not once did we have to produce tickets on the journey there or later when we returned! The fare for three adults was £68! We flew from the North terminal with Air 2000. The monorail connexion was a bonus if you like to try new modes of travel! We were soon on our way, getting ready for the in flight meal. This turned out to be a plate of pasta with a bolognaise sauce. It was dry around the edges! At £10 each I felt this was a dissapointment. Single course too! We arrived at Faro Airport, which was better than Corfu, as we didnt wait too long for our baggage. We then endured a two hour journey to Praia da Rocha, which normaly takes 40 mins. We arrived at 10.15 to be shown to our room. I thought the room was shabby. The sofa-bed, had seen better days, and fell apart when it was opened. My son spent the first night sleeping on the mattress on the floor. There were cracks in the walls in the bathroom!

The next day we sorted out the problem with the bed. The rep had words with them! We found the on-site shop, which was very expensive, and a limited range of goods.The bar and pool were very nice, but again pricey. Food from here was almost always served with chips! The evening entertainment was novel to say the least. The entertainments guy, would serenade us nightly, but alas he couldnt sing in key! The town was like a poor mans Milton Keynes, one big building site! The only good thing was the beach, which was free, but the sunbeds cost nine Euros a pair for the day. We were constantly pestered by Somalian guys selling trinkets too!
The pavements were very dodgy, made up like a mosaic, but very uneven. We all tripped at one time or another.
There was not much history here in PDR, we had to get a taxi to Lagos before we found some places worth visiting. Overall we were dissapointed with PDR and would not recommend it.

• Pros:Fantastic Beaches
• Cons:Concrete Jungle
• In a nutshell:OK if you like Blackpool