Portugal
FOR SALE
€1.55m
Quinta do Mar
This four-bedroom, five-bathroom villa is located in a small luxury development between Quinta do Lago and Vale do Lobo, only 500 yards from the beach Knight Frank (020± 7629 8171;
www.knightfrank.co.uk/international)
also offers extensive watersports, horse- riding, colourful local markets, shopping centres and walking or biking (or birding) around the large protected areas, such as the Ria Formosa wetlands. If you can' t stomach life on a golf resort, there are more than a dozen small develop-
ments nearby, offering detached villas from €1.5 millionÐ or you could gaze down on resort-land from the distant tranquillity and privacy of a home in the hills around the ancient town of Loulé. ` For those who intend to spend half the year or more out here and can' t afford Quinta, the smaller resorts would be a better option than Vale do Lobo, which is full of hustle and bustle in the summer,' says Mrs Mangan. ` Varandas do Lago, Vale do Garrao and Quinta das Salinas all have beautiful houses on gated developments
Ð without the extensive facilities you pay heavily forÐ and Vilas Alvas is especially well located to get to everything.' Mrs Man- gan also recommends The Village, a small development behind Vale do Lobo, where a new four-bedroom villa selling for €2.25
54 Country Life International, Summer 2010
million would fetch closer to €3.95 million if it were on a prime site at Quinta. Miss Hojberg says Quinta VerdeÐ ` a mini
Quinta do Lago with security and attractive villas' Ð has been very popular, together with Dunas Dourades beach club, where apart- ments with sea views cost from €720,000 (
www.ddbc.pt). ` It' s very good for young families due to its superb location smack on the sandÐ compared with the larger resorts, where you have to get into the car to go to the beach,' adds Miss Richards. Having everything within walking dis-
tance can be a priority for prospective renters, although Mrs Mangan estimates that only about 10% of owners in the Golden Triangle rent commerciallyÐ most don' t need to. Miss Hojberg concurs on Quinta,
` but you can get £10,000 a week if you' ve got a good-sized villa [six bedrooms, six bathrooms, pool] during July and August' . Vale do Lobo, however, has a much more
active rentals side, and two-bedroom apartments tend to let for £800± £900 a week in peak summer.
NEED TO KNOW
Insider tips for the Algarve
Lunch Try Paixa, Vale do Lobo' s sleek new tapas bar and share mini bacalhau and pigs' ears (00 3 51 289 394 699)
Shop For MaxMara and La Perla, go to Quinta Shopping (at Quinta do Lago), but the market at Loulé is best for local farm produce, crafts and fish
Ride Trek through olive groves and cork forests on a Lusitano horse from a stables such as British-run Pine Trees (
www.pinetreesridingcentre.com)
Dine A former ambassador' s villa accommodates the Michelin-starred Sao Gabriel, one of the region' s best restaurants (
www.sao-gabriel.com)
Explore Hire a boat to get to the barrier islands of the Ria FormosaÐ the Ilha Deserta (desterted island) offers only a simple wooden fish restaurant
www.countrylife.co.uk/international
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