Craveiral Farmhouse by Belong

The Costa Vicentina is the last undeveloped stretch of the Portuguese coast, a protected park of cliffs, empty beaches and Atlantic weather running from the Alentejo down into the western Algarve. Craveiral sits a few kilometres inland from it, on nine hectares of working farm outside São Teotónio.

The format is worth being clear about: this is a village of 38 self-catering houses and studios rather than a hotel of rooms. Each has a proper kitchen with a full fridge, hob, microwave and espresso maker, a private patio, soundproofing, blackout curtains and a smart television. That makes it a genuinely different proposition from most of what is on this site, and a much cheaper one for a week with a family.

The farm is real. There are vegetable gardens, animals, and a restaurant working from what the land produces, with a bakery and a shop. Children can be involved in it, which is the main reason families book here repeatedly.

Facilities run further than the price suggests: an outdoor pool and a heated pool, a sauna, a Turkish bath, a gym, bicycles, horse riding and a spa. Dogs are welcome. Breakfast is included.

For the coast, Zambujeira do Mar is around twenty minutes by car, Odeceixe about thirty-five and Almograve closer to forty. All three are among the best beaches in Portugal and none of them is built up. Surfing, walking the Rota Vicentina and the Fisherman's Trail are the usual reasons people come, and the property is set up for all of it.

Odemira is the nearest town. Faro airport is a couple of hours, Lisbon around two and a half.