Just to say that Tavira is a mile upriver and the nearest beaches are on an island, which can only be reached by water taxi or foot passenger ferry. Many of the hotels are on the northern outskirts of town and are therefore up to 2 miles from the island.

It would be good place to use as a base for travelling around and it is a pleasant town in its own right.

Cabanas was full of cranes last time I was near there but it is a nice place otherwise. Manta Rota I have been to only once and it was raining.

I stayed in the golden club at Cababas it was quite a few years ago now though so my information in not up to date. (particularly regarding cranes, building works etc)

At the time I would class this as an average three star apartment block. Although it did have a superb large swimming pool, which my kids spent many happy hours in. We also used to catch the little boat across to the beach.

I would agree that for a beach holiday you probably need Cabanas rather than Tavira. We had a car for the fortnight and used to drive into Tavira every couple of days for either a mooch or a meal. On nights we didnt drive we found plenty of nice eateries along the 'front' in Cabanas within walking distance of our apartments.

Tavira itself at that time (5 or 6 years ago) was a lovely unspoilt Portuguese Town and I was amazed to find somewhere of it's character in an area that in general is thought of as being given over to mass tourism.

Did you go to Lagos when you were in Alvor ? Lagos is also a great place, loads of info on here if you do a search. I stayed in the Marina Club last year, which was very nice. (few cranes about there as well though).

Doe

My review (and others) of Tavira is here and there are some of my photos in the Algarve gallery. I like it.

The big hotels, especially the Vila Gales, should be booked through the likes of Expedia to get the best rates. You don't need a car if you stay in town but will if you use the V-G Albequora. Both V-Gs usually provide some form of transport to a beach in good weather, what and which beach depends on season.

If you want to stay in town and make excursions by public transport consult cubsur's website. Tavira is a good location for this

Hi Taddy,
I know all of this area really well especially Cabanas as I go twice a year. It is a small fisshing village and yes, there is a lot of building work BUT it is at the back of the resort where all the housing developments are. The main front is unspolt. You get over to the beach across a wee river 1 euro 10 cents each way. We love it there, plenty of restaurants/bars and the people so friendly. You can get to Tavira by bus easily from there.
Altura is about 15 mins further east and is lovely too. The beach is gorgeous and there are plenty of restaurants/ bars. You can walk along the beach to Manta Rota and further on to Monte Gordo which is lovely. Monte Gordo is a lot bigger but I still really like it as it's not too commercialised and you can go to Vila Real do Santo Antonio which is the last town before the Spanish border. You can go across to Ayamonte and even go on to Seville if you wish as there is a bus direct from Tavira to Seville.
Any more questions about the area.......ask away and I'll see if I can help.
Pat