The Algarve is a beautiful destination that is suitable for everyone, you have a large new town called Albuferia which is very commercialised and is very lively most stag and hens dos take place here! The transfer time is approx one hour by car but very easy down the A22, which is a long stretch of motorway that is never busy. The old town of Albufeira is suitable for the adult couples and older families with a beautiful beach and a few steep hills with magnificent views over the sea, definitely one for the camera!

I liked the Algarve very much as it it would suit anyone. The Algarve Shopping Centre is the main place in the Algarve for the shopaholics, where you will find all your shops from Zara to C&A. It’s only ten minutes from Albuferia, which is great. For Golf lovers, Vilamoura and Qunita Da Lago are famous for the Golf championships and their five star hotels.

A lot of the towns in the Algarve start with ‘Praia’ which means beach. The beaches are always cleaned around 6am ready for the day ahead and is clean and family friendly. Food is great value; for a three course meal it would cost you approx 20 Euros each – and that’s with a free glass of wine! If you go back to the same restaurant, they never forget a face.

In fact the locals admire the English, and will often chat to you and ask lots of questions about London. They like it also when you attempt to speak Portuguese, like ‘Obrigade’ (for a woman) and ‘Obrigad’ (for a man) which means ‘thank you’. Try it if you are venturing to this beautiful country.

Hopefully this is where I’ll retire when I’m old! It’s somewhere I am very fond of, and I will return year after year as it will always be special to me.

Jules and I enjoyed the walking the most, in particular walking along the “lavaders”. These are little walkways that make up part of the irrigation channels that make all their way around the very fertile hills of Madeira. In places these take you up some very steep cliffs and you can feel quiet exposed – so not all of the routes are suitable for everyone.

There are lots of hotels of varying standards. We stayed in a nice four star on the outskirts of Funchal, the Madeira Palacio, and the room had a lovely view over the sea. Funchal itself is a pretty little costal town with lots of bars and restaurants. If you like fish then Madeira has plenty to offer on the menu for you! 

If you enjoy destinations with lots of things to do then Madeira is a great island to visit, but if you are looking for lots of wild nightlife then Madeira is probably not right. We know lots of people who go back to Madeira year on year, in particular in September and October when the weather is not as hot as in the summer months.