# Nice Coastal Villages To Stay?



## barbara.wadams (Aug 23, 2015)

Hi. We are from New Zealand and going to Portugal for a few weeks to get a feel of the place. We like boating and the water and would like to stay in a village/town that can provide this, as well as being 'typical' Portuguese.


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## travelling-man (Jun 17, 2011)

barbara.wadams said:


> Hi. We are from New Zealand and going to Portugal for a few weeks to get a feel of the place. We like boating and the water and would like to stay in a village/town that can provide this, as well as being 'typical' Portuguese.


Welcome to the forum. 

I'm hardly an expert on the coastal areas and will be happy to be corrected but to the best of my knowledge, pretty much all of the coastal areas have relatively high ex pat populations and therefore won't be particularly 'typical portuguese'. 

If you want 'typical Portuguese' you'll need to go inland at the very least. 

The good news is many of the inland areas have very large freshwater (dammed) rivers which also offer some pretty good boating.


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## Speago (Jun 27, 2013)

Hi Barbara

Do you have an idea of what area you would like to visit? I agree that most costal areas have a high ex-pat population, but there are still some real gems to be found that have held their Portuguese charm, and are not completely overrun.


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## Kiwijock (Mar 4, 2015)

Hi Barbara
I live in New Zealand and have just returned after spending about 2 months May/June in Portugal
Spent a month in Sao Martinho do Porto one hour north of Lisbon
Very popular high season but a very nice place to stay.
Also spent a couple of weeks in Viana do Castelo 
Liked Sao much better
Didn't like Nazare which is supposed to be THE tourist destination
Way too much like a British Blackpool holiday camp.
You'll note these locations are north of Lisbon and nothing like the Algarve
which I dislike because it's (with all due respect) full of Brits

I'm told there are one or two really neat villages on the coast between the Algarve and Lisbon 
but didn't get there because I chose not to rent a car

Re the Algarve area. On a previous visit I visited Sagres and there's a really neat authentic Portuguese village for you

Best of luck with your decsions


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## MrBife (Jul 26, 2009)

There are 50,000 British Expats in New Zealand but it wouldn't stop me from visiting. Please quit the 'Algarve bashing' since you clearly haven't spent any time there.

This video was filmed in the Tavira area on the Eastern side of the Algarve, the area to the west of Albufeira and the West Coast around Sagres.


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## sangerm (Apr 4, 2014)

The Algarve - most places on the west coast, whilst beautiful and unspoilt, mainly cater for surfing and not boating (for obvious reasons). The south coast is more touristy. Tavaira, east of Faro, has a nice authentic feel and boating. Faro itself has a marina just next to the airport but not really a beach resort. Villamora and Albufeira both have large marinas but very touristy. However you'd probably be able to hire something there with ease. Portimao, again, a large marina but Portimao itself is mainly a Portuguese working city and Praia da Rocha (its beach area) is a bit built up. Alvor is a nice town (avoid the main drag) just west of Praia da Rocha with limited boating. The jewel in the crown along this part of the coast in my opinion is Lagos. Although this is a relatively large town and caters for a fair number of tourists it still retains a nice atmosphere, has a large marina and copious amounts of operators offering every sort of sea borne activity you can imagine. It also has a very large beach (Meia Praia) together with some more secluded coves. It's easy to get to Sagres, the west coast or up in the mountains from there if you hire a car for the day.


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## Kevin Ennis (Aug 25, 2015)

barbara.wadams said:


> Hi. We are from New Zealand and going to Portugal for a few weeks to get a feel of the place. We like boating and the water and would like to stay in a village/town that can provide this, as well as being 'typical' Portuguese.


I can strongly recommend the Silver Coast, north of Lisbon on the Atlantic. There are sizeable marinas at Peniche and Nazaré and the resorts of Foz do Arelho and São Martinho do Porto are very much Portuguese in character. As the main season is now over you won't find too many tourists. If you go 10 kms inland you will find yourself in 'real' Portugal but with weasy access to the ocean. Hope this helps.


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