January isn’t the most exciting month - Christmas is over, and the dreadful January diet is already marked up on the calendar to start on Monday! Fortunately, Casas do Barlavento has the perfect antidote for those post-Christmas blues! Put a hold on your New Year’s Resolutions, which are a struggle in the wet and cold weather, and put new plans into action. This is the perfect time to think about your holidays in the sunny Algarve.

If you didn’t have the oportunity to go on holiday this Summer; didn’t have the time to enjoy the sun and relax at a beach bar at sunset then maybe it's time to think about some time out for yourself this winter.

Twenty years ago this month the 'Via Algarviana - Algarve Way' was walked for the first time: so what is it and how did it come about?

In AD 303, Vincent, a devout and active Christian from Zaragoza in Spain, was tortured and martyred in Valencia for his beliefs under the orders of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.

Last year, the Spanish consulates rejected a total of 134,394 Schengen visa applications, which was 70% higher compared to rejected visas at the Portuguese embassies, SchengenVisaInfo.com reports.

Both Spain and Portugal attract a large number of visitors coming from all over the world every year. Altogether, their embassies shared almost 12% of the total Schengen visa applications load recorded worldwide in 2017.

I became infatuated with the Netherlands in the seventies. Its geography and the human interaction were so different to what I had grown up with that I really enjoyed my new way of life.

I'm very happy to relate that its attraciion is still there. It has been on display, big time, during our recent visit to Amsterdam.

Under the title, 'Your Next Vacation: 7 Reasons to Love Olhão, Portugal,' Forbes contributor, Ann Abel has pushed the Algarve city into the international arena in her article released on May 7th.

Clearly having enjoyed the city, Abel has given Olhão a glowing review as a fine example of 'bohemian sophistication' and features Casa Fuzetta, street art, seafood, the revamped Re-Critiva, Casa Modesta, artists' studios and the city's burgeoning restaurant scene.

VILA VITA Parc Resort & Spa, located in Porches, in the Algarve, has been nominated in 23 categories in the forthcoming 25th annual World Travel Awards, receiving the highest number of nominations for any property in Portugal.