Algarve Attractions

The place to visit when in the Algarve

Advantages: Fairly priced, good variety of animals which are well looked after, well kept and clean park
Disadvantages: None

When I had first met my wife we decided to take a nice little holiday somewhere so I booked us a nice week in Portugal and organised us to stay in Vilamoura and we simply loved the place but what we have remembered the best about our entire trip was the visit to Zoomarine. The theme park is situated in a fairly remote area of Albufeira and spans quite a large area of land which in turn allows for large areas for the animals to be housed. The park ...
...crocodiles, aligators, birds, tortoise and others with the animals well looked after. The park has a great variety of shows on offer aswell as a large swimming area (something we didn't know about until we were there), a number of gift shops and a large restaurant with hot and cold food on offer that was fairly priced and offered ok quality when you consider this is a theme park. The theme park offers tickets for just entry to the park or for the ...

tangoman1984 27.10.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal

Pretty Praias

Advantages: small village, relatively unspoilt
Disadvantages: occasionally dead fish

...about the ones belonging to Ferragudo, a village in the Algarve, the southern region of Portugal, situated opposite Portimão, one of the bigger tourist centres west of Faro (where the international airport is). Our hotel is at the outskirts of Ferragudo (I don’t know if a village can have outskirts) up on the elevated coastline. We walk down through the garden to a big beach ending in front of a high cliff just there. On the first day we climb up ...
...peculiarity of the beach of Ferragudo, it doesn’t face the open Atlantic, it’s the bank of the mouth of the river Arade, a wide mouth of about 500 m looking like a long bay stretching inland from the sea. The two fortresses used to protect the mouth and the incoming ships going up the river to the town of Sagres. On the bank opposite Ferragudo is Portimão, an ugly seaside resort with a skyline of high rising buildings. Only in the evenings it doesn’t ...

MALU 15.05.2007 · Read full review
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Review of Ferragudo, Portugal

Zooper fun in the sun!

Advantages: 4 in 1 park, fun for all the family, great day out, dolphin show
Disadvantages: I should have spent the whole day there, don't go in school holidays, food isn't great, expensive

You may be wondering what Zoomarine is - is it a zoo? An aquarium? A water park? A theme park? In actual fact it's all of those! On a very recent holiday to Portugal I decided to take the family. The Zoomarine is situated in the Algarve in the South West of Portugal (there is also one in Italy which I haven't visited). We had hired out a car so it was easy for us to get to, it was about a 20 minute drive from Portomao. When we arrived at the Zoomarine ...
...I soon realised I had booked our holiday during Portugal school holidays! I was so busy trying to avoid UK school holidays that I didn't even give Portugal school holidays a second thought. I would definitely avoid visiting the Zoomarine during school holidays if possible as it was absolutley packed and there were queues and crowds for everything. Before I left home I read a review on Zoomarine which stated it wouldn't take a whole day and that you ...

karalouk 17.07.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal

Great for the kids, not sure about the animals

Advantages: A great day out for the children
Disadvantages: not sure about the animals welfare

...go to Portugal we visit Zoomarine, my daughter always insists. You can get free transport with the tickets, but if you have a car you can get there earlier and stay later, I would advise buying tickets in advance at your resort, cash only for some reason. I'm unsure as to how well the animals are treated, but for children who just want to be entertained its a great experience. On arrival you'll have your picture taken, which you can purchase later. ...
...as Parrots and Birds of Prey, there is a free funfair and three free swimming pools. There is also an aquarium and a 4D (not sure why it's not 3D) cinema, which really is excellent. All shows in Portuguese and English. We normally go out of the main season in September or October, but even then the park can get quite full. My advise is see all the shows at there first showing then visit the funfair, aquarium and cinema then spend the rest of the ...

GBunner 21.02.2009 · Read full review

Review of Zoomarine, The Algarve, Portugal

Camera Obscura, Tavira, Algarve

Advantages: View is just wonderful up here.
Disadvantages: None as not open when poor weather conditions

Camera Obscura or Tower of Tavira is to be found up the hill near the castle in Tavira. It is situated in an old disused water tower, built in 1931. Accessibility is by lift or the stairs, which encase the lift and then a small walkway to the doors of the Tower. There are the old steps up the side of the Tower but not recommended. The cost of this experience is 3-50 euro. The visit inside the Tower takes about 15 minutes, and at the most there ...
...a few seconds. The Camera Obscura in Tavira is the first of it's kind in the Algarve. It works by mirrors, lenses, pullies, a very large white disk and as Harry Potter says, has he has one magic. On the very top of the Tower is the mirror which reflects the picture onto a lens which in turn projects onto the screen, disk. The screen is a large round white wooden surface which looks like a very big paella dish. The operator uses the ropes to turn ...

bostonianbeer 22.01.2009 · Read full review
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Review of Camera Obscura, Torre Tavira, Cadiz