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Algarve Travel Blogs

Background: Following its heyday as a world power during the 15th and 16th centuries, Portugal lost much of its wealth and status with the destruction of Lisbon in a 1755 earthquake, occupation during the Napoleonic Wars, and the independence in 1822 of Brazil as a colony. A 1910 revolution deposed the monarchy; for most of the next six decades, repressive governments ran the country. In 1974, a left-wing military coup installed broad democratic reforms. The following year, Portugal granted independence to all of its African colonies. Portugal is a founding member of NATO and entered the EC (now the EU) in 1986.

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By Darvina
September 2nd 2008

Lisbon, the Algarves... Portugal is Amazing

Europe » Portugal » Algarve

My Irena

By Darvin: We arrived in Lisbon late Sunday night and caught a cab directly to our residencio (budget hotel) located near the downtown center of Lisbon. Right away I noticed that compared to Barcelona and Madrid the buildings in Lisbon were much more run down, the streets had more garbage on them, were smellier and there was more graffiti. The history of Portugal is again one of very rough times until only recently but the old historic area of Lisbon did not wear it very well. The metro was very easy to use however, and once we got out and did [View Full Entry]

By Ewa and Jill
August 29th 2008

Portugal: To the end of the world continued.

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Our Hostel in Lagos
Look up...wayyy up where there is a balcony, that was us drinking wine and watching the sunset.

We arrived in Lagos at 6:30 starved and worn out with no place to sleep. We got out of the bus station and went on a mission to find food. A swordfish dinner called our name! After we ate we went to look for a hostel; it was two hours, two police officers, too many strangers, and more windy streets than we can count. We arrived exhausted, only to dicover that the owner of the hostel had been taken to the hospital. Fortunitely a neighbour lady took us in, for 20 euros a night we got one bed, a balcony and [View Full Entry]

By Steph and Sherrie 08
August 16th 2008

The Atlantic Ocean is freezing - regardless of what Sherrie might say!

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Faro

Faro Harbour

Portugal has been great - very relaxing. We decided not to go to Lisbon but instead spend our time in the Algarve, an area on the southern coast. It is quite beautiful. English is much more common here than in Spain. We found most places we did not have any difficulty with the language. We stayed in the city of Faro. This is where the airport is that we fly out of tonight. Thursday was a nice relaxing day. We spent the afternoon at the beach which is about 6km away, easily accessible by bus. The beach was great, however, I [View Full Entry]

By Scofflaw
July 26th 2008

headquarters called

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

"that was headquarters . they want me to go to las vegas and make contact with a portugesse photographer named laserta, he has all the details. all i do, is check into my sound proof suite, he'll seek me out." - raoul duke im in lagos portugal, we lost some crew along the way to other obligations so were in search of new blood. so far our search has borne no fruit, but i remain optimistic. the weather is also proving uncoopritive, making for a unpleastant ride from here to lisbon. ill have more details on that when we get there. [View Full Entry]

By ChristopherL
July 23rd 2008

Roaming Portugal

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Porto

It is to hot over here! We have left Portugal now and in Spain and yesterday it was hitting 43deg in Saville where we are now so very hot. Well Portugal was pretty much the same heat but no way as bad so was heaps easier for sightseeing. We covered pretty much North to South in the week we had there starting in Porto up the North end. I seemed to be a very old city with all narrow streets and we got lost plenty of times wandering around this place. All the citys in Portugal seem to be very hilly [View Full Entry]

By Ezeur
July 8th 2008

A Praia do Portugal

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Day 1: Praia do Batata

I'm not sure if that title is real Portugese or not. It's my best guess at the translation of "the Portugese beach." I spent my days in Portugal alone or with the Spanish girls who shared my room at the hostel - so I didn't actually learn more than a few words of Portugese. But I didn't go there to learn Portugese. I went there to relax on the beach and that's pretty much all I did. Like Martil, I don't have much to write about in this blog. I spent my days reading, climbing around on the rocks, playing in [View Full Entry]

By jeninspain
June 26th 2008

the sleepless week...and also, PORTUGAL!

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

hola again! its been awhile, but life here seems to have increased its pace ALOT! the 3rd week, the one right after malaga and gibraltar was quite busy. it seems that i just decided to take full advantage of my vacation time here and that meant giving up some things...since i couldnt give up class or sight seeing or shopping OR hanging out with friends and going out..it seems sleeping was the first amenity to go! needless to say i got an average of 2.5 hours of sleep a night and did NOT use the siesta time wisely! eek. by the [View Full Entry]

By Damocles
June 18th 2008

Laid low, and almost out, in Lagos

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Cliffs
Enormous and beautiful cliffs lined the main beach in Lagos. There were several small caves you could easily climb through that yielded smaller, more secluded beaches for several kilometers up the coa... [more]

Yeah, so much for staying here for three or four days. We've been here for almost three weeks now, but after some serious beach, serious sun and serious partying, it's time to move on. Jay and I were very close to finding jobs here and staying until the middle of July. Eventually, though, we decided to keep moving, see most of what we came here to see, and come back next May for jobs. Lagos is a small city overrun by Australians and Canadians. Americans, Kiwis and Brits make cameo appearances. The old part of the city, where we spent almost [View Full Entry]

By TravelBuddy
June 1st 2008

The Algarve - Playground of Portugal

Europe » Portugal » Algarve

Algarve%20Flamingos

I am the traveling fanatic! Every year, my friends and I travel to different parts of the world and share our experiences with all of you. I am in my early thirties and I have visited over thirty destinations around the world thus far. The Algarve - Playground of Portugal. Words can not possibly express my experience in this beautiful part of Portugal. With all that sunshine, naturally many holidaymakers come in search of beaches, and they're not disappointed. With around 270km of coastline, including everything from wide sandy beaches to secluded inlets, there's something for everyone. Ad [View Full Entry]

By bridgeterin
May 19th 2008

Dorktown, USA: two redheads in brown North Face jackets touring Lisbon, Portugal together

Europe » Portugal » Algarve » Lagos

Saying goodbye
Notice how Donny included the "Salidas" at the top of the pic? Soo clever.

For Hallie’s last weekend in Europe, we decided to do a five-day trip to Lisbon and Lagos, Portugal. We took the midnight bus from Sevilla after saying goodbye to Donny and Julia for the last time. As we found our seats, a redheaded boy in the back of the bus gave us a knowing nod, acknowledging that we were all Americans. Ben, as he calls himself (Benji, as I took to calling him) approached us immediately upon descending the bus in Lisbon at 6 am Portugal time. We decided that we would make the journey from the bus station into the [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Europe » Portugal » Algarve