Why go?
One word: sun. Not the limp, pale, autumnal sort, which is all very well if you live for the season of mellow fruitfulness and have ignored the shortcomings of summer, but the type that actually makes you want to remove a layer of clothing. The Algarve, with more than 3,000 hours of sun a year and an average temperature of 26C in September/22C in October, is the perfect last-blast-of-sunshine saloon. The coastline, which stretches approximately 100 miles from the westernmost tip to the Spanish border, is home to some of the most dramatic ochre cliff faces and unspoilt beaches in Europe. Always family-friendly, the Algarve will now also be largely family-free, so if your household is untouched by school terms, there really is no better time to go.
Travel by...
Plane. Several major airlines offer competitive prices for flights to Faro, so it is worth researching (www.travelsupermarket.com) Major delays both in and out of Faro may be anecdotal, but our 10-hour delay courtesy of Monarch airlines (www.monarch.co.uk) did nothing to dispel the myth. In an ideal world, a two-and-three-quarter hour flight should be followed by a 45-minute drive to central Algarve.
Stay at...
The Vila Vita Parc hotel, near Porches (00351 282 310100, www.vilavitaparc.com) An elegant, restful hotel, which pulls off the considerable feat of being highly absorbent of children. The Moorish-influenced architecture, set within beautifully designed, 54-acre gardens, gives this resort hotel an unusually tranquil air.
Although a trifle outdated in parts – the main swimming pool is rather tired – there is genuine charm to this hotel, not least in the exceptional level of service. The Vila Vita Vital Spa puts Sloane Street salons firmly in the shade. Family suites are bright, comfortable and wonderfully cooling. Doubles for seven nights, including B&B and return flights, from £675 through Sovereign Holidays (0871 200 6677, www.sovereign.com)
If golf is your god, head for the Sheraton Algarve, Albufeira, Praia da Falesia (00351 289 500100, www.sheratonalgarve.com) Designed around a nine-hole course, this impeccable hotel complex is so vast that a miniature train ferrying guests from bed to beach to ball practice runs around it. The family suites are not only better equipped than most family homes but are beautifully decorated and sumptuously furnished. It is a wonder that children are allowed anywhere near them. Seven nights B&B including return flights costs from £1,615 based on two adults and one child sharing, also through www.sovereign.com
Spend the morning...
Reflecting on the dignity of breakfast bingeing from an ample, shaded, armchair on the closest thing Portugal gets to a private beach. The sandy cove, accessed via steps cut into the cliffs from the gardens of the Vila Vita Parc, is the perfect spot for relaxation, offspring permitting. If, by chance, offspring are not in the mood for a quiet sit down, Annabella's Kids Parc (4-11 year-olds) offers a wider than usual range of activities from T-shirt making to baking. A bracing dip in the Atlantic – the only time you are reminded you have strayed from the warmth of the Mediterranean – provides the perfect justification for lunch.
Have lunch at...
Arte Nautica (00351 282 314875), a newly built seafront restaurant in Armaceo de Pera, serving fish of the day and other Portuguese specialities; about 80 euros for two including wine. Free transfers to and from the Vila Vita Parc. Do not be tempted to make a day of it, though. The restaurant is this shabby seaside town's only redeeming feature.
Spend the afternoon...
On a drive through pretty hilltop villages such as Loule and Silves, which are easily accessible if you hire a car – as is Sagres, the windswept south-west brink of Europe. Or silence your inner sarcasm and sign up for the Cliff Richard Vineyard tour (www.winesvidanova.com) His Adega Do Cantor, or Winery of the Singer, is situated at Guia, a few kilometres northwest of Albufeira, in the middle of the Algarve. Rumour has it that the great man himself can occasionally be seen here getting his feet dirty.
Shop at...
Any of the numerous ceramic shops in Porches for traditional Portuguese pottery. Olaria Pequena Pottery, just outside the village, produces pretty, modern and functional tableware and tiles made using traditional techniques.
Have dinner at...
The Ocean, with its terrace, winter garden and ocean view, offers the finest and most sophisticated dining of the seven restaurants within the Vila Vita Parc complex (children under 12 aren't welcome). Otherwise, the more informal Adega offers perfectly delicious Portuguese fare complete with colouring pencils for easily distracted younger diners. About 90 euros for two, including wine. When dining at any of the 14 restaurants within the Sheraton Algarve, be sure to start with a sundowner at the cliff-top Mirador Champagne Bar. There is no nicer spot from which to drink in the view.
