"Summer sun - hot hot hot!" a Portimão Travel Page by kit_mc

A week in Portimao at the suggestion of a mate of mine with a place there. Having never been to Portugal I had no idea what to expect, but what I got was scorching sun and a swimming pool to lie beside... What more can a boy want.

Portimao is about 50 to 60 km west of Faro. The town itself isn't too touristy, certainly not like neaby Praia do Rocha, which is tourist hell, complete with obligatory high rises!

Alas, I wasn't as on the ball with my VirtualTourist notebook during this holiday, so managed to forget half the restaurants that I went to. A walk through Portimao Old Town will bring up some very decent local places though. Try and visit the Yacht Club, which is fine(ish) dining with a view over the water. The prices in here are actually fairly decent, at around 10 to 15 euros per dish.

And eating in Portugal you're bound to end up having cod at some point! They cook it in about 1001 different ways! Alternatively, the various Portugues steak dishes are a good bet. I can't say I ate a bad meal during my time there, so I'd advise to eat local stuff as often as you can - don't just go for pizza!!

Portimao isn't the most exciting of places and perhaps the Algarve isn't somewhere to go if it's High Culture that you're after. But the people were friendly (particularly the woman in the bakery who talked the ear off me and a friend for half and hour - it pays to be nice to the lady behind the counter in cake shops, as they might just let you sample some of the delights for free!!) and the sun was hot, hot, hot!!

If it's a holiday by the pool you're after, then I'm sure you could do worse than here!