We are coming to the end of our 5 month winter stay at Barao Sao Joao near Lagos on the western Algarve. It has gone a lot better than we dared hope for.
The weather has been very mild never dropping below 2-3C, mainly in the mid/high teens most of the time. There has been no extremes of temperature like we had in Kaya. The ambient temperature has been higher and more even.
Food shopping has been on a par with the UK. We shopped mainly at Aldi's and Lidl. It was very nice to get some decent pork products.
We were surprised by the number of tourists about all winter, at the UK half term weeks the place was crowded with many young families. The cottage we rented is fully booked this summer.
Eating out was a lot more expensive than in Fethiye, and there was not the range of restaurants. We were very lucky that the village we stayed in had a very good restaurant, very popular with the locals. We would have a drink/main course/ coffee for about €20.
You can't compare Lagos with Fethiye they are so different. Each has its own attractions. Portugal on GMT is a big plus and the driving is somewhat easier to cope with.
We hope to be back in Lagos for next winter. We have not given up on Fethiye hopefully we might get back there for a holiday in the shoulder season.
DonM