East vs. West

The Algarve, I mean.

Doing our research, we first read about the "big" city (pop 120000) Faro, the capital of the Algarve. So we went there first by train from Lisbon.

We really liked Faro. It is a coastal city with all sorts of goods and services, a major regional airport, and, for us, a good vibe.  It is in Eastern Algarve.

We liked the old town, the Centro pedestrian shopping area, the Marina. There were Summer concerts in the park near the Marina. Great  restaurants, people are super friendly and largely multilingual. It is safe.

And affordable. Big mall, IKEA, lots of optometrists (seriously) and hair stylists and barbers (equally serious). Hospitals, doctors, major services. Check. Note medicine is about 50% cheaper than the USA - but where isn't?

On the train from Lisbon, there is a junction between the national rail and the regional rail. The train emptied with the announcement for the connection to Lagos, in Western Algarve. Hmmmm. And, friends liked Carvoeiro, also in the West.

We decided to visit. We got a car for a day to explore Western Algarve. Uh-oh, nice, too. There's a modern East-West freeway. We also took the regional rail all the way from Faro to Lagos one day.

Lagos is vibrant and right on the coast. (Faro is coastal,  but has barrier islands - the Ria Formosa).

Lagos went on "the list". So did Carvoeiro but it is probably a little too expensive.

It is nice to have choices.

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