The Adega produces the Vida Nova range from three surrounding Quintas, Quinta do Moinho, Quinta do Miradouro and Vale do Sobreiro. The aim of the winery is to produce the highest quality wines that the region can offer using a combination of traditional and innovative modern winemaking techniques.

The Cellar Door shop sells the full range of Vida Nova wines as well as a variety of wine merchandise and souvenirs.

Call for a reservation as bookings must be made in advance. There is a charge of €7.50 per person for the tour and wine tasting. There are several tour times throughout the day, depending on the time of the year and availability. Please contact Quinta do Miradouro on 00 351 968 776 971 or email adegadocantor@mail.telepac.pt.

The winery is open Monday to Friday, 10.00 to 13.00 hours and 14.00 – 17.00 hours.
Closed weekends and public holidays and December 24th to January 2nd.

Our Overseas Director, Kathleen O’Brien, said of her visit ‘Adega do Cantor was truly enjoyable and I will definitely return with friends – I spent a couple of hours touring, learning about wine, followed by some great tasting & purchasing, can’t get better than that. The only thing missing was the man himself! Growing up with Sir Cliff’s music has meant that I rather recklessly consider him an old friend and would have loved to congratulate him on turning a vision into such a great working success. There’s always next time, I guess.
I recommend you visit, I’ve visited lots of vineyards and perhaps Adega do Cantor’s combination of its status as ‘new kid on the block’, their success as wine producers (several prestigious accolades to their credit already) and the wonderful location, makes their enthusiasm, just that bit more special. So if you’re looking for some respite from the sun or its early season and the weather is not all you hoped, this is a really interesting way to spend a few hours’.

“Can too much choice be a bad thing?”, “Can having a massive selection of villas for rent actually hinder people from finding what they want?”

Well, we hope not, but we do understand that when you have a lot of things to consider it can be difficult to keep track of all your options. But instead of limiting your choice, we’ve recently added a shortlist section to our website where you can pop properties you like the look of as you browse. Then when you’ve had enough of searching, all your favourite’s will be in one place for you to look at or send as an email to yourself or someone else.

There’s no signing-up to be done. No forms to fill in. Anyone can use the shortlist functionality (as long as you have cookies enabled), and you can come back to the site at any time and your list will be preserved.

But that’s not the end of things. Keep an eye out for the other exciting changes we’ll be making to the site over the next few months – all to make your holiday research easier…

Travel companies are already reporting that their summer 2010 bookings are ’strong’ or ‘ahead of expectations’, with many holidaymakers choosing Turkey for its cheap prices and fabulous climate.

So what are you waiting for?  Take advantage of Villas to Go’s current ‘Book now, Pay 2010′ offer and secure your dream villa or apartment in the sun!

According to the Daily Telegraph, the Post office was recently offering 200 Euros for £194.70 whilst a Travelex airport bureau de change quoted £202.98. A spokesman for Travelex said this was due to high rent, stocking and staffing costs – you can apparently avoid this by pre-ordering your currency online from www.travelex.co.uk before you travel and then picking up your cash at the airport.

If you have a debit card, it can actually work out cheaper to draw your holiday money after arriving at your resort. Choose your card with care as many card providers charge extra fees for cash withdrawals and purchases abroad. The Nationwide remains one of the best value card providers for foreign travel (along with the Post Office), with no European usage fee and no cash withdrawal fees when you use its debit card, although it has just introduced a foreign debit and credit card fee for purchases made outside Europe.

Using a Nationwide debit card in a European cash machine, that same purchase of 200 Euros in mid April would have cost £188.60 – a potential saving of nearly £15 on other choices at the time. If you are using a card to make purchases abroad, it is generally safer to use a credit card as you’ll have protection under the Consumer Credit Act for any purchase between £100 and £30,000. Do remember to advise your card provider of your travel plans, however, so that their fraud department doesn’t put a very inconvenient stop on your spending!

Don’t forget to take out travel insurance in case of any emergencies. Again, it is worth looking around for the best price – comparison websites such as Moneysupermarket.com and Confused.com are useful for this. You will find online companies now offering annual family policies from as little as £39.99 for a family of four, with the option to add on cover for ski-ing or other ‘high risk’ activities if appropriate!

If you’re travelling in Europe, always remember to take your European Health Insurance card with you – apply free at www.nhs.uk/ehic or call 0845 606 2030. This should be in addition to comprehensive travel insurance but will entitle you to state-provided health care in all European Economic Area countries and Switzerland. Remember to retain any invoices for doctor’s fees etc and also to keep the barcodes on the packaging of prescribed medicines as you may also be able to claim for these on your return to England.

Praia Dona Ana, Algarve

“It’s the most photographed beach in Portugal – and drop dead gorgeous. Dive from spectacular rock formations, swim in clear, calm water and laze on wonderful golden sands.”

If you can tear yourself away from your book and sunbed, you can enjoy a boat ride through the fabulous grottos at Ponte de Piedade. Alternatively, take a trip into town and explore the historic city of Lagos, which ‘rocks’ according to AOL. Street entertainers and holidaymakers fill the streets at night, with souvenir shops, cafes and restaurants doing a roaring trade. Stroll around the chic marina and admire the luxury yachts and cruisers bobbing gently in the breeze – the explorer Prince Henry the Navigator set sail from Lagos in the 15^th Century.

Browse our selection of Lagos villas and apartments at Villas to Go.

]]> http://magazine.villastogo.com/2009/05/12/looking-for-a-fabulous-beach-holiday-in-the-sun/feed/ 0 http://magazine.villastogo.com/2009/05/12/holidays-are-meant-to-be-perfect-arent-they/ http://magazine.villastogo.com/2009/05/12/holidays-are-meant-to-be-perfect-arent-they/#comments Tue, 12 May 2009 09:22:14 +0000 adam http://magazine.villastogo.com/?p=79 Expectations always run high and it can be very frustrating if things don’t go quite according to plan. Have a chuckle at some of these extraordinary complaints taken from a list compiled by the Daily Telegraph (source: research done by Thomas Cook and ABTA)….. we’re sure you’ll agree that there are times when you really can’t pin the blame on your hapless holiday provider!!!

“The beach was too sandy”

“Topless sunbathing on the beach should be banned. The holiday was ruined as my husband spent all day looking at other women.”

“No-one told us there would be fish in the sea. The children were startled.”

“It took us nine hours to fly home from Jamaica to England it only took the Americans three hours to get home.”

“I compared the size of our one-bedroom apartment to our friends’ three-bedroom apartment and ours was significantly smaller.”

“There are too many Spanish people. The receptionist speaks Spanish. The food is Spanish. Too many foreigners.”

“On my holiday to Goa in India, I was disgusted to find that almost every restaurant served curry. I don’t like spicy food at all.”

“We booked an excursion to a water park but no-one told us we had to bring our swimming costumes and towels.”

Totally transfixed, I couldn’t help but read on and browse through ‘20 stupid questions asked by tourist’ to find gems such as:

“Are there any lakes in the Lake District?”

Or, my personal favourite;

“Why on earth did they build Windsor Castle on the flight path of Heathrow?”

• Value for money – Affordable accommodation and no Euros to buy!  The Turkish Lira is currently weak against the pound, making Turkey an even more economical choice for travellers from the UK.
• Choice of flights – Getting there has never been easier with UK regional airports now offering low cost direct flights lasting around 4 hours.  This is comparable to flying to the Canaries and is bearable even with a young family in tow (I speak from experience!).
• Outstanding climate – Turkey is a year round holiday destination offering plenty of sunshine and some sizzling temperatures for sun lovers.
• Stunning scenery – Miles of beautiful coastline, rugged mountains, tranquil pine forests and sun-drenched olive groves to explore.  Or maybe you’d prefer to relax by your pool and admire the view from your villa!
• Fascinating culture – Turkey has some astonishingly well preserved ancient cities and monuments, but even modern day Turkey is an experience to be savoured.  Try haggling for bargains at a bazaar or visit a hamman for a traditional Turkish bath.

Take a look at the new Turkish villas on our updated website.  Resorts on the Bodrum Peninsula have lots to offer if you’re looking for a beach holiday but if you’d prefer a little more peace and tranquility, how about Kaya Village, nestled amdist stunning mountain scenery near Fethiye?

1. Go off peak – Save yourself £100’s by travelling outside school holidays if you can. The beaches will be less crowded too!
2. Fly low cost – Make sure you register with the low cost airlines to receive their latest offers and book as soon as they launch. Look out for especially good deals on non-preferred days and times.
3. Book early – For the best villa deals, beat others to your chosen property during the cheapest periods. Don’t be disappointed!
4. Group holidays – Travel with friends or another family and you could find yourself cutting the cost of your holiday by half. Kids will entertain each other and you’ll have some grown-up company over dinner.
5. Use your BBQ – Why pay expensive restaurant prices when you can enjoy delicious meals cooked on the villa’s BBQ. All our villas are well equipped for self-catering and you can stock up the fridge with drinks – what’s more, nobody has to drive home!

1. Buy local brands – You’ll pay a premium for UK brands in foreign supermarkets so if you can’t wake up to anything other than PG Tips in the morning, take a packet with you.

1. Travel Light – Carrying less luggage means no excess baggage fees and you can hire a smaller car at your destination. Many of our villas have washing machines – especially useful if you’re travelling with a baby or young children.

1. Compare Destinations – Villa prices vary from resort to resort and country to country so if you want lovely accommodation with all mod cons but aren’t too fussed where, you may get a better deal say, in Portugal than in Mallorca. This applies to flights too.

1. Ask for Advice – We have a team of people who’ve ‘been there’ so let us know your requirements and budget and we’ll tailor a holiday to suit you.

Faro is one of the top ten most-searched destinations for people travelling between April 8th and April 15th, according to flight search engine Skyscanner.