Our Portugal travels

Well, we have been on our travels again. We have driven to Portugal on the Algarve, which is about 1,600 miles each way!

We crossed over to France via P&O Ferries to Calais, staying two nights in Le Touquet, then further into France and staying at a Campanile hotel near Bordeaux, and on to Spain, where we stayed at another Campanile hotel (one of only two in Spain) in Alcala de Henares - a suburb of Madrid with a beautiful square full of restaurants - very popular. We love it there and it gives us a respite from the hundreds of miles of driving on motorways.

The continental motorways are really quite good, not so much traffic as in the U.K even though there are usually only two lanes and not three. They are probably not used as much because of the toll charges - no camper vans - hooray! We noticed that the land became more and more arid as we got further into Spain, no wonder they have had those terrible fires. Every where looks as if is crying out for some rain.

We finally arrived in Altura, on the Algarve, right by the beach which is really beautiful, miles of golden sands and sand dunes. Altura is near Villa Real de San Antonia, right next to the Guadiana River which marks the border between Portugal and Spain. We are about 17 miles from Tavira which is always worth a visit, and 35 miles from Faro, the capital of the Algarve.

All of the towns have lovely little squares with cafes and bars where you can enjoy fresh local seafood, fresh orange juice, local beers, wines, etc. In the spring the square in Villa Real D.S.A. is full of the scent of orange blossom - heaven!

More to follow on our travels later.....