Tavira region holiday villa

We spent 10 days in Little Vineyard in early September. After a couple of windy days, the weather was perfect. The villa is excellent, high spec, brand-new, all conveniences, bags of room with a view of traquil Portugese countryside from the verandah. Just a few upmarket villas dotting the surrounding hilltops

10 mns drive through a piece of national park (look out for the two dogs that like to doze in the middle of the road!) brings you to the N125 at Tavira, which takes you to coastal settlements with great beaches all the way to the Spanish border. Tavira is very attractive, with some great restaurants in the narrow cobbled streets at the eastern end of the Roman bridge. We liked catching the cheap ferry to Tavira's enormous sand-bar beach and the novelty of the narrow-guage train ride across the tidal estuary to Pedras del Rey's stunning beach. Both have all the facilities and eateries you could wish for.

Seville, at 1hr 45mns, is well worth a day trip - the motorway past Tavira takes you almost into the stunning historic centre. No border formalities but check that your car hire company permits and insures trips to Spain at no extra charge (I think most do). Beware - it gets very hot in Seville, which makes a return to Little Vineyard and the pool all the more welcome.

The owners were a pleasure to deal with, as were the agents in Tavira.