Carvoeiro

Compact and bijou

Carvoeiro used to be a traditional, small fishing village surviving on the catches of the day. However, with the influx of tourists over the years it has now become an incredibly popular resort and has developed to keep pace with the amount of people who choose to live and holiday here.

Saying that, Carvoeiro has still retained its original charm and is laid back and, in some peoples eyes, a prettier place than many of the Algarve’s bigger resorts. The only downside? Its size, it is small and this means that it does get full to bursting in the summer.

If you are looking to purchase a rental property then Carvoeiro is a good place to look as it is very popular for family holidays. It has all the things you are likely to want in quite a compact area around the beach and town centre.

We say town centre – by that we mean the small square behind the beach where the two in roads meet with the one out road – remember we said it was small! There is no parking in the square since its revamp in 2009 so be prepared to find parking up one of the side streets away from the centre.

The beach is a sheltered sandy bay and spreads out just in front of the square with cliffs protecting it on either side. The beach is quite small and does get jam packed in the summer, but there are some lovely beaches within easy reach of the town if you are happy to go that bit further out – Praia da Marinha (one of my favourite beaches in the Algarve) and Praia de Vale de Centianes for example. There are bars and cafés around the square and during the summer there is lots of live music and entertainment most evenings.

Even though Carvoeiro is compact, it packs a lot in for its size – there are plenty of shops for your everyday needs as well as a big Intermarché and Apolónia on the outskirts, there is a huge selection of bars, restaurants and cafés all within easy walking distance of the centre and there are cliff top walks, watersports, pedaloes and scuba diving all on your doorstep.