CARVOEIRO is a picturesque seaside village, situated in the middle of The Algarve coast and ideally located for exploring the area, tucked away behind high cliffs which rise steeply from the square and beautiful beach. It has many fine restaurants and bars, a good choice of shops and a nightlife which includes a disco and various live entertainments. The village is surrounded by rural countryside and there are some wonderful cliff top walks - the famous Algar Seco with its amazing rock formation is only 20 minutes walk from the apartment.   Carvoeiro Beach If you love the sun The Algarve is the place for you. With over 3,000 glorious hours of sunshine a year you can take a holiday at virtually any time of the year. The Algarve is known as the garden of Portugal. One of The Algarve's greatest attractions is its beaches and along its 150km varied coastline there are many to choose from. They range from glorious long sandy stretches, almost deserted even in summer, cosmopolitan beaches with ample facilities to tiny isolated coves. The scenery is pleasing: almond blossom in the rolling countryside in February, pretty whitewashed houses, impressive white and blue chrches, and thousands and thousands of olive and orange trees. There are three types of terrain. Just a few kilometres north of the coast you will come to the mountains where there is a great abundance of water providing spas, forests and gardens.The land to the west of Faro has sandstone cliffs that back beutiful sandy beaches. These are full of grottoes and strange rock formations. As you continue westward the beaches become more deserted until you come to Cabo Sao Vicente called by the Portuguese "World's End" because it was thought that the world was flat and if you sailed beyond the horizon you would fall off the end. This area is exciting and very wild. East of Faro the land is flatter and the beaches are wider all the way to the Spanish border. The Ria Formosa Nature Reserve is a haven for for wildlife, especially birds. The Algarve has much of culture and other interest to offer. The name comes from the Arab domination from the 8th to 13th Centuries. Roman remains can be seen at Faro and Vilamoura, Arab ones at Silves and Tavira and again Faro. It was from this coast and Sagres in particular that the Poruguese sailing ships departed on their voyages of discovery in the 15th and 16th Century under patronage of amongst others Henry the Navigator. Their success made Lagos an important trading post with Africa. Its strategic and commercial importance led to various battles, amongst them one at Cabo Sao Vicente, won by Admiral Lord Nelson. The Algarve weather is ideal for vitually all outdoor sports including golf, tennis, horse riding, windsurfing and sailing, big game fishing, scuba diving, yacht charters, cycling, jeep safaris, walking. There are 24 major golf courses in The Algarve most within easy reach of Carvoeiro. The nearest are Vale do Milho, a relatively inexpensive pleasant 9-hole par 3 layout, Quinto do Gramacho and Vale de Pinta. There are excellent tennis facilities at Carvoeiro Clube de Tenis. The complex has 12 courts and a double sided practice wall. 9 of these courts are an all-weather surface (Flexi-court), 2 Canada Tenn Clay Courts (American Clay) and one artificial grass court. The courts can be rented by the hour. Tennis 'mix-ins' take place every afternoon at Rocha Brava some 3 miles from the apartment and this is a good place to meet people and have a social game..