The Perfect Algarve Portugal Itinerary: One Week Of Family Adventures

Planning a trip to Portugal with kids? The Algarve is one of the best regions for a family-friendly getaway, offering sunny beaches, charming towns, and easy day trips. In this Algarve, Portugal itinerary, we’ll share how we spent one week exploring the region with our children, a toddler and a 5-year-old.

We took a road trip from Faro to Albufeira with stops at Tavira and Vilamoura in between. If you’re looking for a Portugal travel itinerary 1 week long that’s ideal for families with young children, this guide has everything you need for a fun, stress-free family trip to Portugal’s Algarve!

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We have guides on other places in the Algarve, Portugal:
– FARO – TAVIRA – VILAMORUA –

Also Read:
OUR FULL REVIEW OF THE EDEN RESORT AND SPA HOTEL

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Why Visit the Algarve, Portugal with Kids?

If you’re planning a Portugal family vacation itinerary this summer, the Algarve is one of the best regions to include, especially when travelling with young children. From stunning family-friendly beaches to historic towns, it’s easy to build an Algarve, Portugal itinerary that suits everyone in the family.

This is a 1-week Algarve, Portugal itinerary; however, you could easily shorten it to a 5-day itinerary, which I will talk more about below. In April, a week was long enough to enjoy the Algarve. If you’re visiting in the summer and enjoy beach days, you could easily stretch this itinerary to 10 or even 14 days.

The Best Time of Year to Visit the Algarve, Portugal

Our week in Portugal’s Algarve was in April. While we had pleasant weather, it wasn’t hot. I would recommend visiting the Algarve in the summer months to make sure you get the best use of Southern Portugal’s sandy, family-friendly beaches.

I’d recommend June to August as the best months to visit the Algarve and enjoy the warm weather.

Your Algarve, Portugal Itinerary: 1 Week With Kids

This is the route we took during our week in Portugal. This one-week Algarve, Portugal itinerary worked out perfectly for us, allowing us to mix relaxation and culture while enjoying all the best things to do in the Algarve for families. If you are visiting in the summer and like beach days, you could happily extend this Algarve trip to 10 days or even two weeks.

Day 1–2: Explore Faro With Kids

Faro is the capital of the Algarve region and is also home to the main airport serving the Algarve. This makes it the perfect place to start your Algarve vacation.

Faro has a modern New Town filled with shops, a charming, historic Old Town and a lovely family-friendly beach. It is not a huge place, we spent a couple of hours in the morning exploring the New Town. We then took the ferry to Faro Beach. The ferry was a fun activity, and we really enjoyed the beach (despite it being a bit cold).

In the late afternoon, we explored the pretty Old Town and enjoyed a family dinner at a restaurant called La Forchetta.

One full day is enough to see the majority of Faro!

Posing with the Faro Sign as a family on our one week Algarve, Portugal itinerary

Playing on a family-friendly beach in Faro, Portugal with kids

EXPLORING FARO DURING OUR ALGARVE PORTUGAL ITINERARY

Day Trip to Tavira: Charming Streets and Cultural Activities

On our second day staying in Faro, we took a day trip to Tavira. This was probably my favourite place to visit in the Algarve.

We hired a car for our Algarve road trip, so we drove to Tavira. You can park for free in the Mercado Municipal Market car park (Google Map Location Here).

Tavira is very picturesque, our highlights were visiting Tavira Castle and The Tavira Eye (also called Camera Obscura Tavira). This is a disused water tower that has been renovated into a cool system of mirrors and lenses that reflect light through a small hole in the roof and project a view of Tavira’s town down onto a screen.

We had a lovely day in Tavira. If you want to extend this one-week Algarve itinerary, you could do an extra day here and take the Tavira ferry to Tavira Island. The beach here is meant to be beautiful and great for families.

The charming Streets of Tavira, a must visit on a Algarve Portugal Itinerary

PHOTOS FROM A DAY TRIP TO TAVIRA, A MUST-SEE ON YOUR ALGARVE, PORTUGAL ITINERARY

Day 3–7: Relaxing Stay in Albufeira With Young Kids

From Tavira, we drove straight to Albufeira. We’d booked the Eden Resort Albufeira and this was such a great decision! This resort was very family-oriented with 4 pools and plenty of kids’ entertainment. Including a circus tent, which was used for the kids’ discos and other shows!

The resort also had a free shuttle to take you to Albufeira Old Town. It was also possible to walk, but it was a bit of a hike, so try to take advantage of the shuttle!

We spent an afternoon in Albufeira’s old town. It’s very touristy, with lots of shops selling souvenirs and plenty of places to eat. Many restaurants had Western food options, which is great if you’re travelling with picky eaters. There were also lots of bars with all-day happy hours.

Albufeira has many beaches, the main one is conveniently located on the coast of the Old Town. We didn’t venture down, but it is in a cove you have to go down to by stairs or elevator, which should make it sheltered from the wind.

READ MORE: OUR GUIDE TO ALBUFEIRA

Day Trip to Vilamoura: Beaches & Marina

The final stop on our one-week itinerary in Portugal was Vilamoura. We drove here on one of the cooler days. This is known for being an affluent area of the Algarve with a beautiful marina.

While the marina was nice, it’s not the nicest marina we’ve visited (Tivat, Montenegro) was much nicer, there are lots of restaurants here to choose from, but they were more expensive than in Albufeira and not as family orientated.

Again, if you have the weather, the beach would be great, however, it was very windy, making it quite cold, so we didn’t stay too long.

Other than the marina and the beach, there’s not a lot in Vilamoura, and we found it didn’t live up to its hype. We would happily skip Vilamoura next time!

A wide view of Praia dos Pescadores in Albufeira with golden sands

A day trip to Vilamoura during our Algarve Portugal Itinerary

THE BEACH IN ALBUFEIRA | A DAY TRIP TO VILAMOURA | ONE OF THE POOLS AT THE EDEN RESORT

Where to Stay in the Algarve With Kids

We stayed in both Faro and Albufeira. This worked out well for us. Staying in Faro was great as it was so quick to drive there once we arrived. In Faro, we stayed at the Donna Simone Suites, which is a boutique hotel. It’s in a great location for exploring Faro and has free parking on the street outside.

Note: In the photos, it looks like it has a kitchen, but it’s actually a communal kitchen (should have read the small print!) The room just has a fridge. This was fine as we were only there for a couple of days but if you’re staying longer, you might want to choose somewhere else.

BOOK DONA SIMONE APARTMENTS OR SEARCH OTHER OPTIONS

We debated whether to stay in Albufeira or Vilamoura and finally decided on Albufeira as our 5-year-old loved the look of the kids’ pool at the Eden Resort. Personally, I think this was the right choice. Albufeira has a bit more going on for families, it also has better food options at cheaper prices!

BOOK THE EDEN RESORT ALBUFEIRA – OR READ OUR FULL REVIEW HERE.

Best Things to Do in the Algarve for Families

I have mentioned most of these things earlier in the post, but I thought I would summarise again, the best things to do in the Algarve for families here:

Head to the beach – The Algarve has so many family-friendly beaches along the coast of southern Portugal that kids and parents alike will love. Visit in the summer months.
Best things to do in Faro – Take the ferry to Faro Beach, wander the beautiful Old Town or relax in Park Jardim da Alameda Jojo de Deus.
Best things to do in Tavira – Take the ferry to Tavira Island Beach, climb the walls at Castle Tavira or marvel at the Tavira Eye.
Best things to do in Albufeira – Enjoy relaxing at a family-friendly resort, happy hour drinks in the Old Town or head to the beach.
Best things to do in Vilamoura – Stroll around the Marina or relax on the beach. There’s a crazy golf place that is perfect for older kids, but not much else!

Is the Algarve a Good Destination for Toddlers?

Finally, is the Algarve good for toddlers and little kids? Our children are 5 and 2 years old, and they had the best time! This one-week Algarve, Portugal itinerary allowed them the time to explore cultural sights while also having fun, playing on the beach or in the hotel’s pool.

The Eden Resort in Albufera was especially toddler-friendly, and staying there was the highlight of my children’s Algarve trip!

Thank you so much for reading about our perfect one week in the Algarve, Portugal itinerary. We hope we’ve heloed you plan your famiy Algarve trip and you have the best time!