Algarve in winter?

[Emeritus]

DW was just invited to speak in Frankfurt in February. I also have an invitation there. But we've been in Germany in February. It is cold and wet and dark. So I promised to take her somewhere a bit better as part of the trip. One option is the Algarve in Portugal. We've never been there.
We were in Greece last year and we go to Italy in November.

Any thoughts?

 

[chris2008]

How about the Canary Islands? Lots of Germans go there to avoid the winter.
Madeira is also wonderful. Flying out of Germany and back you might get very attractive deals.

 

[hogtied]

We were in Algarve in late winter 2 years ago. Weather was delightful, 75-85 degrees, it's a big destination for Brits now. Our relatives live in London and that's where we departed from. All inclusive trip (except dinners) was $400 each for the week, a very good value. You'll get a much better price if you book out of a British travel agent. Cost is enormously higher from the States. Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think!

 

[kcowan]

We just got back from Frankfurt. It is early fall there now. I think you should have your friends shop for local deals to the Algarve or southern Spain or the islands already mentioned and select the best value.

 

[FIREd]

Portugal, Southern Spain, Canary Islands, all good destinations to relieve the winter blues. I'll add 2 more that may be off your radar: Morocco and Tunisia. They are favorite destinations for European snowbirds on a budget.

 

[F4mandolin]

I would add a bit of a warning on going to the Algarve that early. It might be nice.....very possibly not so warm. I have been to the coast of Spain+Port at the beginning of April......hit and miss from my experience. If you want almost "for sure" decent weather I would say N Africa or Canaries. Algarve getting VERY built up from when I had gone there in the early 80's.

 

[brett]

You can access some of the deals from the UK by getting on the Thomson holidays site and a few others

We booked a few days in the Algarve last year (we did not need air as we were on an extended vaction through Spain and Portugal.

The Thomson site will provide you with details on holiday packages, air, as well as let you book individual hotel stays.

When we first tried to book, the site would not accept our booking because we did not have a European address. We changed our address to that of the hotel where we were staying in Seville prior to going to the Algarve. Once we did this, the 'system' accepted our reservation, charged our credit card, and spewed out a reservation without any issues. We also found on our arrival at the hotel that the rate included 'half board'. This turned out to be a complete buffet breakfast and an excellent evening meal. I am not certain what would happen with a reservation that included air as the information required for air is much greater than that required for a simple hotel reservation. We have also booked on line tickets for discount carriers such as easyJet. No issue whatsoever and far cheaper than the full service carriers. You just have to be aware of the luggage weight restrictions. We are light packers so this is not an issue for us.