I have entitled this the Algarve rather than Carvoeiro because if your experience is limited to Restaraunt Hill and those supermarkets aimed at the tourist market and Intermarche you could perhaps think that the Algarve is expensive.

But far from It.

We look at CVO as where we spend our nights, OK we will go out for meals but in high season a hot overcrowded restaraunt is hardly my idea of a holiday.
If you are self catering use the local markets, buy your fish there or from one of the bigger supermarkets, they will clean, descale,
trim , fillet or buterfly to order.
Cooked on the BBQ with baked fresh summer veg in oil, a little garlic and balsamic vinager and salad you will have a first class meal for a fraction of the costs ofeating out.
The same will apply to ribs, chicken, pork loin etc.
The cost of wine and beer is again a fraction of eating out.

Not that this will break the bank, even without a car a short taxi ride will get you to Lagoa with its mainly locally frequented eateries
The Fatacil is incredible value.
A little further will take you to Silves, Ferragudo, Estombar, Algoz , for a day out and again offering good value if you look for it visit the bigger resorts such as Albufeira, Lagos, Pria D rocha.
When you get home you will appreciate why you chose CVO as your base but your wallet could be smiling.
Don,t believe those who tell you that the Algarve and Portugal no longer offer holidays as a reasonable price.
Great deals can be had on accomodation this year, if you are thinking about coming to what many of us think of as home, go on give it a try you won,t be dissapointed.

Hear-Hear....well said EMM.

My wife and I were only discussing it yesterday, and agreed that even if the Algarve became a little MORE expensive than the UK, we still know where we want to be.
We dont love the place because of the prices.....we love it for what it is and what being there means to us.

Agreed! Carvoeiro is still pretty good value in my book, especially eating out, with a few drinks. Yes, the supermarkets are a little expensive (bar the intermarche), but we only tend to buy a few essentials when we stay.
Portugal itself is apparently suffering re bookings, according to travel agents reports last weekend in the UK, but Spain is holding up well.
As a couple who holidayed in Spain every year for 13 years until 2004 (my wife's mum was an expat until she passed away a few years ago), i can say quite categorically that Portugal and the Algarve, esp Carvoeiro beats it every time. The two things that stand out for us are the people being so friendly and the 'eating out' experience; much better food than Spain. In particular, in Carvoeiro, the Dutch influence is prominent and most enjoyable for us, as well as the native Portuguese.

I'm guessing that Portugal, just isn't marketing itself very well and people who haven't visited before are just unaware of how lovely it is.

Be in Carvoeiro in September.

Well I totally agree with both of you, would much rather be in the area than in the UK.

wouldn't getting a taxi to Lagoa for cheaper food negate the saving making it both easier and in all probability cheaper to stay in CVO while also doing your bit for saving the planet??

Yes is still great value and you can cut costs by eating in the more reasonable priced places, drink the local beer etc and have a few bbq and packed lunches got from the local markets etc and then money for the odd blow out.
Much prefer to be there than in bloody wetncold UK

I spent most of yesterday afternoon at my computer watching the weather change every 20 minutes from sunshine to cloud to rain to hailsorms and back again then chased the ducks off my newly laid lawn which now resembled Rutland Water and thought "well in 3 weeks time we shall be in Cvo and all this will be forgotten" So I had a look at the Forum and almost all is sweet again. OK, the Square seems to have caused a bit of a stir, supermarkets may be a bit more expensive, the town may be a bit quieter, the evenings may not have warmed up yet, the pound may not be as good value as this time last year. SO WHAT !!
The sun is shining out there, fresh food and fish is great, the wine is good and cheaper, our villa owner has done us a good deal in reducing the price by almost 20% from last year. I know the Portuguese economy is in a state(thanks largely to the EU) but at least they have not had to endure the horror stories of our grasping MPs(not to say there is no coruption over there) etc..

I am not sure who it was said we are in danger of knowing the cost of everything and the value of nothing. I totally agree the Algarve is still good value.

We spent some time in Nerja, Spain over the Winter and I will be interested to see how things compare to that.

On a slight change of tack, does anyone know if golf clubs can be hired in Carvoiero other than at Vale do Milho. I may get chance to play golf but dont want to bring my clubs and not need them..

There is a golf shop on the road in to your right that hires golf clubs assuming its still there. Think the Post office has moved up near to it.

gary

We spend six months of the year in Carvoeiro, and therefore find it easy to compare living costs. It costs us much less to live in Portugal. Our wine bill alone is about is about one third. I agree that rather than giving up on a holiday, trim back the costs, by not eating out so often. We have found that for the cost of a meal in a good restaurant, we can buy food and drink for a week. Our Algarvian life style is so much better than that in the UK, even though we eat out very occasionally. And when we do go out, we always get a good reception, because they have not seen us for a while. Thanks for raising the topic EMM.

Barry wrote: Our wine bill alone is about is about one third. .

I'm not much of a wine drinker, but my typical bar bills in Carvoeiro add up to substantially more than the UK.

That's really because, I don't go out and bar hop in the UK nearly as much as CVO where the friendly welcome by owners, the swiftness of striking up conversations with your neighbour and the general laid back atmosphere of the Algarvean way of life is so much more attuned to going out and about.

Agree e-Richard.
Its 3 miles away to our pub, so we never really bother to go out.
So a blow out in CVO within walking distance, or shall I say crawling or wheelchair pushing is great and yep the money goes, but hey thats what hols are for.

My reference to wine was not related to bars, but for enjoying at home. Don't forget that when we are in Carvoeiro we are there to live, rather than holidaying. I know that is not the case for many people, but I was trying to make the point that it is possible to spend time in the Algarve without breaking the bank. You just have to do a little more self-catering, and/or use less expensive restaurants. You can have a full meal with wine at Escondidinho or O Branco for 7 or 8 euros.

Its good fun there too, trouble is the wine is a little to crude tasting for me there.
We try eating in various types of places to eat in and out of CVO, like a lot of ,be it those who live there full/pt time or in self catering hols.
Having a few drinks in over a bbq is a good fun time along with good value as is Esco....and the occassional blow out for specials.
Lets face it when one is on hols one should rock the boat a bit otherwise one might just as well stay at home all the time

We flew out from Gatwick on Monday and go back on Friday but I really don't want to return to the UK.
The weather has been superb this week and as usual I feel so much at home here in the Algarve.
Prices do seem dear in the supermarkets and we noticed how quiet the shops are. Restaurants are about the same as before but I could buy a pint for 2 Euros in a beach bar which aint bad at all.
Whereas in the past we would buy anything we need out here in the Algarve we will probably bring it out with us next time to take advantage of the cheaper prices in the UK but the idea of preferring to stay in the UK for a holiday is just plain crazy - give me the Algarve any time and it is still good value.

Don't use all the sunshine up cereza, we are out next week for 5 days and I really need some sun and warmth at the mo. I agree about chilling out when you are there it always feels so much more relaxing the minute we walk through the door to our place. I really can't wait.....